At the beginning of this Premier League season, considerable attention was on Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool after Arne Slot was sacked in the summer.
Could he get the best out of Florian Wirtz? How would he handle building a new Liverpool team? And would he bring his infamous out-of-possession work to Anfield?
I gather that’s quite a few questions, but the win v Brighton may have provided us with timely answers.
Or at the very least, a clearer picture is emerging in terms of what the Basque manager wants to do and, more importantly, whether that’s possible with this Liverpool squad.
Brighton are one of the form teams in the league. They’ve scored a staggering 23 goals; that’s why what Iraola attempted in the victory at Anfield was fascinating, bold and crucially, it worked.
Aggressive full-backs
I was wondering when we would see Liverpool press like Iraola’s Bournemouth and Rayo Vallecano. It took some time, and he is having to adapt because the Reds have more of the ball compared to those teams.
There were some teething issues at the beginning of the season as Liverpool played the ball in a more ‘patient’ (slow) manner drummed into them by Slot.
But perhaps because they had less of the ball v Brighton, they were willing to push up and close them down with aggressive full-backs Ronald Araujo and Milos Kerkez.
Ronald Araujo pressing high v Brighton
Ronald Araujo pressing high v Brighton
Araujo has been something of a revelation; the right-back is tall and physical, so when he pushes up to attack, he can win duels and bustle the opposition full-back off the ball, pushing the attack forward.
Kerkez on the other side has been willing to push up and meet the ball all the way from full-back. When Brighton tried to build up from the back using the wings, both of them pushed up to intercept; Liverpool transitioned from defence to attack with speed.
Risky pressing
Liverpool pressing high v Brighton
Liverpool pressing high v Brighton
Now bear with me on this one, because there were two sides to the pressing coin. Let me explain: as Virgil Van Dijk pushed to follow Charalampos Kostoulas, Araujo joined Bradley Barcola, Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz to press in one zone.
It’s bold to try to suffocate the league’s top scorers with a press in one zone, and there were times Brighton got out with a clipped pass.
But, with this bold move, it meant they forced Brighton into actions and passes from defence that led them to turn the ball over. With the intention of pressing high, it means you put the emphasis on the opposition to try to get out.
Bradley Barcola pressing v Brighton
Bradley Barcola pressing v Brighton
The whole team, including the attackers, worked to harry Brighton (with the Anfield crowd helping them), forcing errors.
In the above shot, Olivier Boscagli gets shoved off the ball by Barcola and dispossessed, which leads to him crossing for Isak to score.
Barcola out of possession is useful, but what helped is committing in the press; fortune favoured the brave and rewarded Liverpool for their risk, aggression and enthusiastic work without the ball.
Big signings coming good Sometimes it’s as simple as this: Isak converted from a Barcola assist and Wirtz, though he may have cruelly been robbed of a goal (attributed as a Pascal Gross own goal), still hit the shot that led to the goal.
Wirtz, Barcola and Isak all involved in creating or scoring is a huge positive for Liverpool and Iraola.
It’s not that any of those three big-money signings are bad players or were bad players when they arrived; they simply haven’t been able to replicate their excellent form and absolutely need boosts like the Brighton match to gain confidence.
The more they play together, the more they will build synergy and connection on the pitch. They will elevate each other. Or at least they should.
Liverpool conclusion
A gritty away win and brilliant victory over Brighton indicate that slowly, Iraola’s influence is beginning to show. The gritty side of his Bournemouth and Rayo teams was on show during Liverpool’s victory over Brentford as they refused to give in and be bullied.
The riskier, exciting pressing was also on display in the win vs Brighton. So, you have Liverpool markedly improved out of possession and showing that they are a team that is not bullied easily off the ball (which I thought was going to be a problem as they don’t have many physical players) – two crucial characteristics for a typical Iraola team.
There were some tight matches early on in the season that could have easily gone the other way. Think of the draws to Newcastle United, Fulham and Nottingham Forest. But the Reds got results out of them and are now using that to push on in the season as Iraola’s vision comes together.