Andoni Iraola admits he is having to temper the intensity of his training sessions at Liverpool as he adapts to a three-game week schedule
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 08: Andoni Iraola, Manager of Liverpool, smiles during the training session on day ahead of the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 at AXA Training Centre on September 08, 2026 in Kirkby, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Andoni Iraola pictured on the Liverpool training ground in Kirkby (Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
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Andoni Iraola admits he is having to temper the intensity of his training sessions at Liverpool as he adapts to a three-game week schedule at Anfield.
Between September 9 and 15, the Reds beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, drew 0-0 with Fulham in the Premier League and secured a fourth-round place in the Carabao Cup courtesy of a 3-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur.
Iraola's players have regularly talked up the ferocity of the head coach's sessions since they reported for duty during the pre-season period and that style is one of the reasons Liverpool were determined to secure him as Arne Slot's successor back in June.
The Basque coach, however, says he is having to adjust to a calendar that sees his new club battling on all fronts, having previously never taken charge of an English side in European football prior to this term.
"You have to get used to not being able to train," Iraola said. "Obviously when you play every three days, most of it are doing video (work), on the tactics board. Sometimes it is just saying what the team needs. "We will definitely need more than 12, 13 or 14 players in this schedule. After the international break, we have four games in nine or 10 days or something crazy.
"Even if I want to repeat the same [team], I wouldn’t be able because there is a moment where the players cannot go again.
"For me the demands on the players and positions are the same. I don’t give different instructions to one player because he is more expensive than another player because he has cost us less money.
"The demands are the same. But I also have to adjust to the things that some players can do and others cannot do. The strengths and weaknesses of players are different, so we have to always adapt the team to try and maximise the collective side of this.
"In Bournemouth, we had players who could run forever and other players who could not do it. It was not like everyone in Bournemouth was running.
"Some of them were faster, the others are slower, some of them score more goals, the others score less goals. Some are good at set pieces. There is no standard player.
"All the players want to run and I feel all the players here are doing everything to try to win and to try and get where we want as quickly as possible. But sometimes I need to adapt too to the players that we have."
Young forward Lewis Koumas drew plaudits and won the player-of-the-match award for his hard-working display against Spurs on Tuesday but Iraola stopped short of suggesting the 20-year-old should now be the yardstick for the rest of his squad. Iraola added: "I love the desire of Koumas, I love what he gives, but every player has different weaknesses and strengths. "He is a good example especially for the players coming from the academy, he is grabbing his opportunity and doing everything to try to gain minutes, he is ready to play as a No.7, 11, 10 or a 9 or wherever we put him.
"Everything is very positive but also I have to work with Koumas a lot in other areas. There are things he has to improve.
"His energy is good for the team, it is contagious but he knows also he must improve in other things and we are doing this."