CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 2: Liverpool FC Head Coach Andoni Iraola concentrates after the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Leeds United at Soldier Field on August 2, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Miller/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Liverpool's new head coach Andoni Iraola, pictured on the club's tour of the US(Image: Michael Miller/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
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As Andoni Iraola likely reflected on his first pre-season period at Liverpool on Sunday evening, the head coach probably concluded that it was characterised by sweeping change.
It's now nearly two and a half months now since Iraola was swiftly confirmed as the successor to Arne Slot as the club looked to inject a more urgent and aggressive playing style into a squad that had been assembled at some cost to limply finish fifth last time out.
In some respects, the Basque coach will feel his methods are beginning to translate but it would be wrong to suggest Liverpool are now purring like a team who will rival Arsenal for the Premier League title.
Expecting almost overnight results after last season's despondency, of course, would be unfair on Iraola and some elements across pre-season are enough to suggest it is going to be a fun watch under his guidance.
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But it would take a leap of faith on the week of the Premier League's return to suggest the Reds have improved enough to battle Mikel Arteta's Gunners for the crown right now. However, none of that reflects poorly on Iraola at least.
A week on from speaking to the media for the first time as the club's new boss, Iraola and his charges flew to Chicago where they would be based for the entirety of their two-week Stateside jaunt.
Liverpool took the decision to remain in Chicago and fly in and out of Nashville and New York for their games, against Wrexham and Leeds United respectively, in the same way they would a European fixture, returning to base immediately after the match has finished.
It was a plan aimed at maximising time on the training pitch for the players rather than having to adapt and adjust to new surroundings every few days 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.
News of the owners Fenway Sports Group's talks with an Amit Bhatia-led consortium quickly became public, however, once Liverpool landed in the USA. Iraola was around an hour away from a sit-down interview with a handful of reporters when Bhatia confirmed he would be stepping down from his role with Queens Park Rangers after close to 20 years at Loftus Road.
At that point, the developments felt too soon to have infiltrated the head coach's thinking and he was generous with his time both on and off the record on the 10th floor of the club's Park Hyatt Hotel, in downtown Chicago.
"The most important thing that we can deliver is our performances," Iraola said. "It doesn't matter if I speak well, if I don't speak well, if I say the right things or if I don’t say the right things. At the end people just want to see the team play well and deliver good results. I know this is 90% of my job.
"For me, now, it is about creating a very good team to beat, a very difficult team to beat. The team that I envision now, that I see and think of, if we become that team, I think we are going to be successful."
A deal to sign Victor Munoz from Osasuna had been sorted around a month earlier, when his £34.5m release clause was triggered, but the Spain international's involvement as an unused substitute at the World Cup final meant he only joined up once the club were back on Merseyside.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 16: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Jeremy Jacquet of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Como Calcio at Anfield on August 16, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
Jeremy Jacquet celebrates scoring his first goal for Liverpool on his debut for the club (Image: Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
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Jeremy Jacquet was also sidelined during the trip to the States meaning there were no new players for Iraola to work in a squad that had been shed of Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konate and, most pointedly, Mohamed Salah.
Still, those around the group spoke enthusiastically about the intensity of the sessions and the foundations that were being laid down at Chicago Fire's Endeavour Health Performance Centre.
Milos Kerkez, in a chat with reporters on the rooftop of the team hotel, said: "What makes him a special coach? The intensity.
"It’s the intensity. He’s not scared to play one-on-one all over the pitch, to press high and to be on the front foot always.
“If you see footage of how we all are after training, all lying down, then you can see what he is preparing us for. You definitely need legs and good condition for what he wants us to do, but we will be all right."
"I mean it is early days but the training has felt good," said Alexander Isak, the following week. "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."
Liverpool dazzled in the second half of their 4-2 win against Sunderland in Nashville, with Dominik Szoboszlai running the show at times at GEODIS Park, before a rather more mundane affair at New York's Yankee Stadium ended with a 1-0 victory over Championship Wrexham.
A full house of Stateside victories was denied in Chicago when, after taking a 2-0 lead in at half-time thanks to goals by Luke Chambers and Florian Wirtz, a more experienced Leeds outfit punished the raft of Reds changes. Daniel Farke's side eventually ran out 4-2 winners at Soldier Field in a game overseen by swimming legend Michael Phelps, one of the greatest-ever Olympians with 23 golds.
In a brief chat with reporters outside the training facility on Friday, July 31, FSG president Mike Gordon confirmed that he was due to meet Iraola for the first time at the Leeds game.
The American executive was always known as the most hands-on of ownership team and has returned to the fold at Anfield this summer, having taken a backseat following the return of Michael Edwards in a bespoke role as FSG's CEO of football in 2024.
Gordon remains based in the US, hence the lack of face-to-face meeting with Iraola prior to the tour, but it was here where further details of the impending investment from Bhatia and his 1892 Holdings group were likely revealed in more detail to the head coach.
An inability to hold a two-goal advantage once more became evident when Monaco stormed back to win 3-2 at Anfield last week but it was worth making the point that the numerous changes - often involving younger, fringe players - significantly contributed to Liverpool losing their way once more.
The addition of Ronald Araujo, on loan from Barcelona, at least firms up the centre-back department for the coming campaign. The Uruguay international brings experience and leadership to a group that needs as much of both as it can get just now and Jacquet's delayed debut, in Sunday's 2-0 win over Como, was enough to suggest he can be an important player this season too.
Yet still, months on from confirmation of his end-of-season departure, the Reds have no replacement for Salah and their midfield blend remains in question too. In those respects, it's a critically important end to the month for the club, particularly sporting director Richard Hughes, who is expected to move to Saudi Arabia once the window closes.
The final weekend of the summer schedule brought with it that confirmation of FSG striking a deal with Bhatia and his consortium that contains Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of Facebook, who was unsuccessful in an attempt to take control of Chelsea in 2022.
Liverpool had been valued at £5.5billion, meaning the agreement, understood to be worth 30%, was somewhere in the region of £1.65billion. In that sense, it is a remarkable deal for Fenway, who still retain the overriding say at Anfield nearly 16 years on from their £300m purchase of the club.
But there is apprehension among some supporters, particularly given they are just months removed from a tooth-and-nail fight about ticket prices.
From the dressing room to the boardroom, it's fair to say Liverpool are now fully in the grip of a transition period. Iraola might look at the positives from the summer and conclude that this needn't be viewed in negative terms.