Andoni Iraola wants more from Alexander Isak after Liverpool winner at Bournemouth
Andoni Iraola wants more from Alexander Isak after Liverpool winner at Bournemouth
The Reds were in European action on Tuesday night as they hit LASK for six. But it was not quite all rosy for them, with that match the second in a gruelling period which will see them play twice a week, every week until early November.
Iraola is already working with some fitness headaches - Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak all missed the trip to Austria - and has now admitted he is worried his players might be lacking sleep ahead of their trip to face Brentford on Saturday.
"I think obviously it's more difficult when we have played yesterday night, we arrive here [at the training ground] quite late at night and we haven't slept the hours we normally sleep," he said on Thursday, mere hours after getting back from Linz.
"But this is the challenge of playing, no? It's competitions like the Champions League and it's not going to just happen this week, It is going to be a constant thing this season so we have to adapt.”
Iraola was at least able to rest some key players against LASK. Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister both started on the bench and made brief cameos, while Milos Kerkez was not involved at all.
The Basque continued, challenging his squad to rise to the occasion: "We have to be ready, the same way it was a quick turnaround after Manchester City, this is going to be a quick one, the next one, we have like four that are just two days in between games.
“That is not normal but has happened this time and we have to adapt to these circumstances.
"But I think we could rest some minutes or some players yesterday (vs LASK) and I expect everyone to be at their best mentally and physically. Because you know, Brentford, you cannot play comfortable against them, we know this, so we have to be ready for a battle."
Iraola added: “In this period especially, when we are basically playing every three days – almost less than three days – you need more players. That’s why we changed the team a little bit yesterday.
“We need everyone, we will need everyone in one moment or the other. Everyone has to be ready because we will need him probably.”