It has certainly been an interesting time in the USA for Liverpool and new boss Andoni Iraola
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As Liverpool left Soldier Field for their trans-Atlantic flight on Sunday evening, the sounds of pop superstar Zara Larsson could be heard booming out the nearby Lollapalooza extravaganza.
The Swedish songstress was not live, having headlined the enormous Grant Park festival on Friday, but Andoni Iraola will still have been forgiven for thinking it wasn't the only Pretty Ugly performance in Chicago that day.
Liverpool had oozed class during an impressive 45 minutes against Leeds United with Florian Wirtz pulling the strings and Trey Nyoni looking like a first-team star in waiting.
But after goals from Luke Chambers and Wirtz had given the Reds a healthy advantage at the break, a raft of changes disrupted momentum and a lack of options at centre-back was suddenly exposed by the Premier League experience of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored twice alongside goals from Sean Longstaff and Brenden Aaronson.
A 4-2 loss was a sour end to what had otherwise been a productive couple of weeks for Iraola and his team, who had seen off Sunderland and Wrexham prior to their second-half Chicago capitulation. But the manner of Liverpool's wilting, particularly from long throws into the box, will have alarmed Iraola at a time when defensive numbers are so stretched.
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Jeremy Jacquet, the new £60m signing from Rennes, didn't kick a ball in America and Joe Gomez's entire tour lasted just eight minutes after he injured himself in the 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville last week. A huge opportunity to reassert his importance slipped by Gomez, who is now set to be out for around a month.
Teenage defenders Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, in particular, will feel they gave a good account of themselves and Luke Chambers played well but the centre-half conundrum for the curtain raiser at Newcastle United on August 23 has no obvious answer right now.
"I particularly hate this month of August," Iraola said after Sunday's game. "Because you start the competition, you still don't know if some of the players are going to leave, who's going to come, there is a lot of uncertainty.
"It's difficult to build a proper team with a lot of question marks, but it is what it is. It's the same every season, and I particularly enjoy when it’s 1st of September, then, oh, yeah, this is where we are. But we have to deal with this month of August that, I think, a lot of the coaches, if not all, we don't like it."
Iraola may feel a sense of unease while the window remains open but there is no question that Liverpool now need to accelerate their plans in the transfer market. Bradley Barcola has been earmarked as the primary target out wide and the France international has indicated he would be open to leaving Paris Saint-Germain if the clubs can agree a fee.
But Iraola needs to be empowered with much more than one winger before the transfer window closes on Monday, September 1 and Liverpool's squad looks a bit of a mess right now. Sporting director Richard Hughes has been out on the tour with the rest of the club and it's a potentially defining month for him regarding how supporters come to eventually view him and his tenure.
The former Bournemouth chief is still expected to leave for Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal and with so much work seemingly to do this month before the window shuts, there is no sense that Hughes is - or should be - winding down. Liverpool aren't equipped to push Arsenal and Manchester City for the Premier League title next term as things stand right now.
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola reacts during the second half of a pre-season friendly against Leeds United at Soldier Field on August 2 2026
Andoni Iraola watches on during the loss to Leeds United(Image: Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)
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At this level, the pre-season tours of the United States are as much a commercial venture as a training exercise, however, and that arm of the operation has been flourishing Stateside, most notably the unveiling of their new Adidas away kit in Brooklyn, New York, last week.
The 10-year agreement with the German firm is worth £600m to Liverpool and their partnership appears to be going from strength to strength, even if the first-team squad were unable to take part in the Skylight at the Refinery event having been left grounded in Chicago due to storms on the East Coast that night.
Liverpool took the decision to remain in Chicago for the entirety of their trip and fly into New York and Nashville for their games in the same way they would a European fixture, returning to base immediately after the match has finished.
It was a move designed to maximise time on the training pitch for the players and while it was a blueprint that was drawn up before Iraola's appointment in early June, the head coach made the most of the time in Illinois.
Double sessions were the order of the day at the Endeavour Performance Health Centre, to the west of the city, and the familiar theme emerging from the players spoken to was the intensity of the workouts designed by Iraola and his staff, particularly De la Torre, who was a visible and audible presence at open training on Friday.
"I think the intensity, what we need, it's here now," Dominik Szoboszlai told a press conference on Thursday. "What we have been missing, it's back. From the coach's side, from the players' side as well. So now we have to put this together with the quality of the players we have."
"When we play some games with three or four teams he calls it ‘consequences’ and the losing team and the team that finishes second has to run," Milos Kerkez revealed in a chat at the team's hotel in the first week.
"How much you have to run depends on what he decides in that moment, but there is always running for the team that loses. He’s intense and he likes details."
Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool during a training session at Endeavor Health Performance Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool during a training session at Endeavor Health Performance Center in Chicago, Illinois.
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Comparing this summer's fitness and preparatory work to last year's trip to Asia is unfair. While some have wilfully attempted to view Szoboszlai's comments as a thinly-veiled jab at the previous regime, criticising Arne Slot and his backroom staff would be in poor taste.
Liverpool were a club in mourning this time last year, following the passing of Diogo Jota, and Slot was cautious when handing out workloads to players who were struggling to come to terms with the shock death of their much-loved colleague. Framing last year as Slot and his staff not putting in the hard yards is inaccurate and harsh given the context of their summer.
One player who is taking his first tentative steps on a Liverpool pre-season, however, is Alexander Isak, who returned to action in a 45-minute cameo against Leeds.
Much is expected of the £125m striker this season and beyond. It was a decent enough run-out with the expectation that he will get sharper and fitter the closer it gets to his return to St James' Park for the first time since that acrimonious departure on September 1 last year.
"I mean it is early days but the training has felt good," Isak said. "We all like his game ideas, it feels positive but there is still a long way to go. There is a lot of work to be done.
"Of course I hope to be in good form as early as possible and to be able to help the team achieve success. That's the plan."
Alexander Isak during the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool and Leeds United at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois on August 2 2026
Alexander Isak is hoping to have a much more impressive second year - one free of injury(Image: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
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Earlier on the tour, Iraola explained his philosophy over coffee with a handful of reporters at the team's hotel. It was a fascinating insight into the mild-mannered but quietly driven personality that has taken him this far in what is a relatively short coaching
"There are a lot of different styles in Spanish coaching," said Iraola. "With the national team, they always say tiki-taka, passing, but even in the World Cup you could see them pressing very well, pressing high.
"Yes, they controlled the game with the ball, but it's the other part without the ball where everyone was doing their job. It's being proactive without the ball. They ask me a lot why a lot of Basque managers especially have arrived to this level and why a lot of Spanish teams are winning a lot of things.
"I always say that a sense of collectiveness is very important. Spain has never had the best athletes. If you analyse, in swimming, track and field, they don't normally win medals.
"But in collective sports they are very good. In football, basketball, handball, hockey. Normally they have good teams. We always put the team first.
"An example is someone like Rodri. He didn't score or make an assist but at the end they won the World Cup and he won best player of the tournament. Team first was always integrated in how we're raised."
Iraola met up with Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon for the first time in Chicago. The American executive has returned to the fold at Anfield having taken a backseat following the return of Michael Edwards in a bespoke role as FSG's CEO of football in 2024.
But Edwards' decision to stand down this summer after plans to launch a multi-club model were shelved by FSG has led to Gordon once more becoming prominent behind the scenes and having watched open training on Friday, the Boston-based director was planning to meet Iraola at Soldier Field before Sunday's game.
Having removed himself from the day-to-day operation over two years ago, Gordon is back in situ ready to place a steady hand on the tiller during a period of such uncertainty on and off the pitch right now.
That aforementioned uncertainty extends to the boardroom where FSG are currently considering proposals from an Amit Bhatia-led consortium seeking a stake in the club.
FSG sources have refused to place a figure on what is being asked for by the Bhatia group, referring to it as a "significant minority." However, a number of influential American finance publications, including Bloomberg, have reported it is as high as 30%.
“John Henry has been very up front about the fact that if there ever was an opportunity for investment that would help the club, then they would seriously consider it,” CEO Billy Hogan told The Athletic last week. “In this case, and what was communicated last week, a consortium led, managed and represented by Amit Bhatia has come forward to make a minority investment in the club. That’s kind of it. There’s not much else to say about it at this point.”
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Bhatia owned Queens Park Rangers for close to 20 years, a detail that clearly appeals to FSG given the experience the British-Indian businessman gained at Loftus Road, but reports that Amazon owner Jeff Bezos has also been approached have so far been met with silence from sources close to the consortium.
FSG sources have likened any potential deal to the agreement they struck with Dynasty Equity in 2023, which was worth somewhere between £86m and £164m. Any agreement with Bhatia and his firm, however, will be worth much more. Liverpool, according to Forbes, are currently valued at £4.6billion, meaning a 30% stake would roughly be worth around £1.38billion to FSG.
“We have always said that if there is an investment partner that is right for Liverpool then we would pursue the opportunity to help ensure the club’s long-term financial resiliency and future growth," Gordon said when Dynasty came aboard three years ago.
That soundbite is perhaps as relevant as ever as FSG look to evaluate their next move where Bhatia and his team are concerned.