Jamie Carragher has highlighted a few concerns within the Liverpool team, following the opener against Newcastle, with Andoni Iraola addressing those ahead of the clash with Nottingham Forest.
Andoni Iraola head coach of Liverpool during a press conference at AXA Training Centre
Andoni Iraola has addressed a Liverpool concern(Image: (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has claimed that he is working "intently" to solve concerns over counterattacks and the midfield following his side's opening day draw with Newcastle, while he also revealed that he isn't surprised by the critical reaction to the performance.
It came after the manager finally got his reign underway, as his side fought back from being behind twice to rescue a point, courtesy of Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Despite rescuing a point to get the team up and running, there was criticism levied at the overall display, most notably surrounding the midfield balance within the team.
Former defender Jamie Carragher was among those discussing it, as he claimed on Sky Sports: "I don't believe that midfield can function with the personnel in there. For me, it doesn't work. And it's not just about personnel, it's the structure the manager is asking."
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"All they think about is going forwards. All three of them. And that's why it can't work," Carragher continued, criticizing the roles of Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, and Florian Wirtz in the process. "I don't think I've ever seen a more offensive team, or players who think offensively in the Premier League than that. There's only the two centre-backs who don't think about going forward."
With a clash against Nottingham Forest coming up, the discussion over those counterattacks is likely to rumble on, with that being the main form of attack for the visitors.
As the spotlight focuses on that, and the midfield, Iraola was asked in his Liverpool pre-match press conference what he made of the debate, to which he told the press: "Not surprised, I expected when I came here that everything is going to be magnified for the good and the bad.
"I am starting to understand everything that happens but it is just one game where we did a lot of very good things, even the midfielders did good things.
Andoni Iraola was asked about Bradley Barcola after Liverpool agreed a deal to sign the PSG winger
Andoni Iraola isn't finished in the transfer market yet(Image: Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"There are things we need to improve, we talk about the goals we conceded but I have no doubt they are all top players. Now it is a matter of myself, the coaching staff and players how we can maximise the level of the players we have in the midfield because you analyse one by one and they are all very, very good players.
"This is football. At the end we go to the goals always. If you make exactly the same mistake we will be talking about it. When you concede two goals because of the transitions it is normal that we have to talk about it. I think in the second half we were much better in that aspect in having the numbers. I hope we improve but then we will be talking about something else."
On the balance of his team, Iraola added: "We don't want to lose the offensive side, the fluidity, the arrival with numbers, but we were punished the other day especially with the first goal we didn't do a proper lockdown.
"We have been intently working on it. It's nothing new, we always want to control that. But there is a balance, we can't go from one way where we send a lot of people forward to putting everyone back so we don't arrive with numbers and everything looks stale.
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"It's a matter of identifying the situation. The players who are very good, they smell when there is real danger, whether they can take the risk of going or whether they can stay, it's the quality of the player who takes those decisions.
"I don’t like when one full-back thinks the other has gone (forward) they have to stay. Depending on the situation or your opposition, if the opposition is defending very low and we have the numbers at the back, it's probably safe to go, but if they are leaving players in behind you have to be careful."
It shows Iraola's offensive mindset, which will seemingly continue to focus on pushing forward and getting the most out of his players in an attacking sense.
It remains to be seen whether that will work for or against Liverpool this weekend, with the second clash of the season set to reveal more information about how the manager's style may work with the club.