BRONX, NEW YORK — A patchwork Liverpool secured a 1-0 victory over Wrexham on Wednesday in a preseason friendly from Yankee Stadium.
It was a truly tragic 90 minutes overall, as hardly anything happened on either end of the pitch. There were a few half-decent chances for either side, but the goalkeepers were largely able to snuff out most of the quality opportunities in front of goal, while midfielders worked incredibly hard to retain, regain, and blow up possession throughout.
Even the winning goal was a fluke, as halftime substitute Rui Ngumoha found a shot that took a wicked deflection, looping up and over Wrexham goalkeeper Danny Ward and into the back of of the net.
While there was hardly anything to savor from the game on the whole, The Sporting News takes a look at one of the things which could be gathered from these proceedings at a baseball stadium, which may indicate that Liverpool could take some time to settle under new manager Andoni Iraola.
Liverpool are playing Andoni Iraola's way, but it's not quite there yet
It was clear that Andoni Iraola had Liverpool playing the way he wants them to.
Not well, mind you, but the style of play was distinct enough. Wrexham sure noticed how aggressively high the Reds' front line was pressing, trying to win the ball in dangerous areas.
"It's just the high-intensity pressing," said Wrexham goalkeeper Danny Ward, a former Liverpool player, after the game when asked by The Sporting News what he saw Liverpool doing to cause problems for their defensive line. "It seemed as soon as the ball was turned over, they were straight on you. That was obviously an instruction from the new manager, and if they can get that right, it can be difficult to play against."
It wasn't tough to see what Ward, a former Liverpool player, was talking about. Throughout the game, Liverpool were pressing high and causing problems for Wrexham's buildup.
The problem for Liverpool was, once they won the ball, they didn't quite know what Iraola wanted them to do with it. With mostly youth players on the field, and many stars still yet to return from World Cup duty, the attacking pressure sputtered at best unless Dominik Szoboszlai touched the ball.
If attacking possession flowed through the likes of Josh Abe, Lewis Koumas, or Calum Scanlon, there was little threat to Wrexham's goal. Even Harvey Elliott struggled to find avenues in behind.
"He's been incredible," Elliott said after the game of Iraola. "Him and his coaching staff have been great, they've been very in detail with what they want to do and what they expect of us players. It's still kind of early days, but once the majority of the group joins back...when the squad's together, everything will start to come together."
It's a nice thought from Elliott, but there's no question that the starters will need time as well to grasp Iraola's pressing triggers and his attacking philosophy for once the ball is successfully turned over.
"He's allowing us our freedom on the ball," said young midfielder Trey Nyoni after the match. "Off the ball as well, as soon as we lose it, we have to win it back straightaway."
Experienced Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson was keenly aware of what Liverpool were trying to do once they got the ball, and thought his side did mostly enough to hem it in.
"It's difficult to assess [what Liverpool do under Andoni Iraola] because it's only the second game really, but obviously they looked to go in behind and they looked to stretch the game, and they did that well," said Parkinson after the game about Liverpool's approach. "We had to be alive to those runs, and I thought in the main we were. He's done a brilliant job at Bournemouth and he's looking to take that on to the next level at a club of Liverpool's stature."
It's going to take real time for Iraola to get this Liverpool team to play how he wants, but unlike under Arne Slot last season, attacking struggles don't equate to defensive frailties on the other end. If Liverpool are struggling to attack under Iraola, it doesn't cause leaks down the other end, since only the forward line is pressing forward in an aggressive manner.
Reds fans may need to be patient to begin this new 2026/27 season.