Andoni Iraola reacts to Liverpool's 3-2 defeat to Monaco and provides an update on Jeremy Jacquet and Curtis Jones
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Andoni Iraola, Manager of Liverpool, looks on before the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and AS Monaco at Anfield on August 09, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Andoni Iraola looks on before the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool and Monaco at Anfield(Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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Andoni Iraola has played down the injury that kept Curtis Jones sidelined for Sunday's 3-2 loss to Monaco at Anfield. And the Liverpool boss says he expects new signing Jeremy Jacquet to feature against Como next week for what will be the £60m defender's first minutes as a Reds player.
Jones, who is wanted by Serie A giants Inter, missed the defeat to Ligue 1 side Monaco with what was described as a minor hip complaint.
And Iraola says it made little sense to risk the midfielder with the Premier League curtain raiser at Newcastle United now less than a fortnight away.
“Curtis has trained every day, but yesterday (Saturday) he finished with some issues in the hip, but nothing big," the new head coach said. "It didn’t make any sense to risk him.
“Jermey Jacquet, we were in doubt. We decided not to put him, but he should be fine for the next one. Taking a bit more time than we were expecting."
Liverpool raced into a two-goal lead against Monaco following goals from Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz but for the second Sunday running they threw away their advantage.
Goals from Aleksandr Golovin, Mika Biereth and Paris Brunner gave Felipe Luis's side the win in what was Iraola's first game at Anfield as Reds boss.
And he added: “I think we are right now, especially conceding we won the first two games.
"But the last two we cannot sustain the level we want for all of the game. Soon as we made some changes, players start to get tired we cannot sustain that level.
“I think they were at the same level. Mostly they were in a good place. I think the ones that it was their first game and even the ones who are playing the second game they had energy.
“The problem right now is they don’t have the energy for 90 minutes. They start to get tired, and it will take time for them we need more training with them. But we can take a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives.
“It was quite similar to the game we played against Leeds (United, who came from 2-0 down to win 4-2). We played a good first half, especially a good 30 minutes.
"Right now we probably don’t have much more, in terms of the levels required to play like this, and they were much better in the second half. They deserved to turn around the game."
On his first experience of Anfield as a Liverpool head coach, the Basque added: “It was lovely, especially in the first half when we were pushing and everything was going so well.
"The second half has been harsh, because when they are expecting, you know to go, and you are not able, and you cannot give them what they wanted – it is frustrating.”