Andoni Iraola had to do without Curtis Jones through injury, with the Liverpool midfielder absent against Monaco, but it was not linked to ongoing transfer interest
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola spoke after Sunday's game
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola spoke after Sunday's game(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)
Curtis Jones missed Liverpool's pre-season friendly against Monaco with a very minor issue that will not keep him sidelined for long, Andoni Iraola has confirmed.
The midfielder, who remains of interest to Inter Milan, has picked up a hip issue, and it was determined that it was best not to risk him. Jones, 25, has featured in all three previous games this summer but was left out of the first Anfield game that Iraola took charge of.
"Jeremy Jacquet, we were in doubt whether to put him in today or not," Iraola explained. "We decided not to put him in, but he should be fine for the next one; he’s taken a little more time than we expected.
"Curtis, he has trained every day, but yesterday he finished with some issues in the hip. It doesn’t look like anything big, but it didn’t make any sense to risk."
Liverpool went 2-0 ahead in the game, with Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz both scoring. But Alexandr Golovin halved the deficit before half-time, and the Reds conceded twice more after the interval.
For the second game in a row, it was evident that with a first-choice starting XI on the field, Liverpool was able to impress. Once the changes began to come, the tide changed.
Alexander Isak scored his first goal of the summer for Liverpool against Monaco
Alexander Isak scored his first goal of the summer for Liverpool against Monaco(Image: Getty Images)
"I think quite similar to the game we played against Leeds," Iraola added.
"I think we played a really good first half, especially the first 30 minutes, but right now, probably, we don’t have much more in terms of the level required to play like this.
"And then they (Monaco) were much better in the second half in the same way we were better in the first half, and they deserved to turn around the game."
Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo were among the players to feature for the first time this summer. The pair both returned for preseason training last week.
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"I think they were mostly in a good place," Iraola, speaking to LFCTV, added.
"It was their first game, or even the ones that played in the second game, they had energy. The problem right now is they probably don’t have energy for 90 minutes.
"They start to get tired, and it will take time for them, we’ll do more training with them. We can take a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives from today."