Liverpool's Spanish head coach Andoni Iraola smiles during the pre-season friendly football match between Liverpool and Monaco at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on August 9, 2026. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
Andoni Iraola during the pre-season friendly between Liverpool and Monaco at Anfield(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
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Meet the new team. Same as the old team.
While the faces were very different in the dugout, there was a worrying sense of deja vu among those who stepped out for this penultimate Anfield pre-season friendly.
Indeed, the only new signing to start, 18-year-old centre-back Ifeanyi Ndukwe, isn’t even eligible for the forthcoming campaign with a season-long loan in the offing for the teenager.
It will therefore be frustrating for both player and head coach Andoni Iraola that Ndukwe continued his impressive pre-season with another dominant showing against Monaco in a position that is already proving a headache before a competitive ball has been kicked.
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Iraola will hope the loan arrival of Ronald Araujo from Barcelona will ease that discomfort, particularly with £60million capture Jeremy Jacquet yet to feature for Liverpool and both Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni ruled out for the start of the season.
At least Virgil van Dijk was back in action here, but inadvertently helped highlight one of the many issues that ultimately cost Arne Slot his job earlier in the summer.
The Reds were comfortably in control heading towards half-time when Van Dijk needlessly upended Aleksandr Golovin inside the area to allow the Monaco man to score from the spot.
When Ndukwe departed at half-time, that it was Wataru Endo - who hadn’t played for Liverpool since February - who stepped in further underlined the selection concerns, and then was at fault for Mika Bierheth’s equaliser.
And after two self-inflicted wounds, Monaco’s late winner came from a corner headed in by the unmarked Paris Brunner, very much in keeping with matters of recent times.
For the second friendly in succession, the Reds lost having been two goals up, their strength in depth questioned by the manner in which they fell away in such dramatic fashion the longer the game progressed and more substitutions were made.
Yes, pre-season is a time to iron out kinks. But such defensive failings have been a recurring theme for Liverpool.
Given Iraola has had mere weeks working with his new players, it's understandable the Reds are still making some of the same mistakes as last term. Getting Araujo up to speed quickly and finally having Jacquet available will offer something different.
The real stuff is now only two weeks away. And the sooner Iraola can address the leaky rearguard, the easier he can impose his overall ideas. Moving forward starts at the back.