Andoni Iraola has MAJOR PROBLEMS as Liverpool squad weaknesses become worryingly apparent
Arne Slot, prior to his sacking, spoke about Liverpool’s upcoming summer and anticipated the squad undergoing “another little transition” but “probably not as drastic as it was last summer.”
Last summer, the Reds spent over £400 million, twice breaking their club record transfer fee, adding eight players to the first-team squad and seeing five first-team players depart.
The departures of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz, two players who made 75 starts between them in the title-winning campaign the year before, only became more apparent as the season progressed.
Key replacement
Replacing Alexander-Arnold and Diaz is something that, over a year on, the Reds have still not been able to do.
And now, new head coach Andoni Iraola not only seeks to replace those two key players but also Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson.
That’s five of the starting XI that won the title 15 months ago gone from Anfield, plus Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Jarrel Quansah and Caoimhin Kelleher, with Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott potentially adding to the departures this summer.
Welcome to Liverpool, Andoni. No wonder owners FSG warned the incoming Spaniard that “everything is not perfect” during initial talks, with an admission that he would face “some challenges.”
Those challenges are clear. Liverpool’s squad, and coaching staff, has been completely dismantled in the last year. There hasn’t been a period of transition so deep as this in a long time.
Liverpool’s Squad Situation
The squad that Iraola inherits is one that certainly doesn’t look capable of challenging for the title.
“We need more players. We know this,” admitted Iraola at his first press conference. “The club is working on this.”
The Spaniard also arrives with five players unavailable due to long-term injuries; Hugo Ekitike isn’t expected to be involved this side of Christmas, Conor Bradley won’t be available any time soon, centre-back Giovanni Leoni isn’t back from an ACL injury, and youngsters Stefan Bajcetic and Jayden Danns remain out with hamstring issues.
Jeremy Jacquet, the £60m signing from Rennes, is a vastly inexperienced replacement for Konate, having played fewer league minutes in his young career so far than his fellow Frenchman played in the Premier League last season alone.
Victor Munoz is a similarly inexperienced signing. The 23-year-old has never played in European competition and his natural position on the left is one of the few where Liverpool actually have some depth in Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha. Continued links to Bradley Barcola add to the puzzle, with the PSG winger also most comfortable on the left.
It’s on the other side of attack where Liverpool lack any clear first-choice winger following Salah’s departure. “It is clear we need a player there, I wouldn’t say to replace Mo Salah, but we need one more winger,” outlined Iraola
As Liverpool fly to Chicago, where they’ll be based during their pre-season US tour, Iraola’s options for the right wing are Harvey Elliott, Jeremie Frimpong, Federico Chiesa or a youngster such as 16-year-old Josh Abe.
Given that Frimpong is the only right back in the squad, he’ll be needed there during the early friendlies, with the Reds taking on Sunderland in Nashville, Wrexham in New York, and Leeds in Chicago.
Chiesa is the only first-team centre-forward on the tour, so he’ll be needed there. Beyond him, with Danns still sidelined, 18-year-old Will Wright, a £200,000 signing from Salford last summer, should get plenty of opportunity.
Abe, meanwhile, is a prodigiously talented winger who could have an Ngumoha-like breakthrough in the next two seasons. Still, having just turned 16, he isn’t a solution for Iraola’s debut season.
It’s clear that a right-sided attacker is Liverpool’s clear priority this summer, with Yan Diomande having been the first-choice target but he seemingly prefers a move to Paris over Merseyside.
“It is not easy; it has to be players who have shown a good level,” says Iraola, who has the unenviable task of replacing Salah’s output, with the Egyptian contributing 22 goal involvements despite a poor final season.
From the title-winning squad of just over a year ago, 81 goals have been removed with the loss of Salah, Diaz, Jota, Nunez, Alexander-Arnold and Konate.
What Liverpool Need This Summer
It’s clear that right wing is the priority, by a distance, but there are other areas of huge need for Liverpool to address.
Of course, much depends on whether Iraola can get more from the current options than they performed last season, but Liverpool’s midfield looked incredibly open throughout last season.
Most supporters would like the club to add a true No.6 to finally replace Fabinho, who left three years ago and whose arrival transformed the midfield under Jurgen Klopp. A player whose primary role is to protect the defence and has instincts to do so is missing in this squad.
Slot changed Ryan Gravenberch’s role last season, encouraging the Dutchman to get forward more, which only led to bigger gaps in midfield and less protection for a defence that conceded a whopping 78 goals in all competitions.
Adam Wharton was linked and seemed like a strong candidate, but links to the Crystal Palace man have quietened since Slot’s sacking and he isn’t exactly a combative player with defensive instincts.
Adam Wharton was linked and seemed like a strong candidate, but links to the Crystal Palace man have quietened since Slot’s sacking and he isn’t exactly a combative player with defensive instincts.
Meanwhile, right back was a problem position last season, with Frimpong proving to be far from an adequate replacement for Alexander-Arnold. Most fans aren’t sure where the Dutchman fits in; he isn’t a full-back, but equally he isn’t a right winger. That’s the problem you get when you sign a wing back for a team that doesn’t play with wing backs.
Frimpong, Bradley, Szoboszlai and Jones all played right back, with Szoboszlai arguably the best of the lot but the Hungarian clearly isn’t happiest playing there and wouldn’t be expected to do so under Iraola.
Bradley, even if able to return from his serious injury, won’t be in a position to play every week. A robust, reliable solution is needed.
And yet, there are few credible links to right backs so far. Given that three of the regular back four from 16 months ago have left, you’d expect it to be a priority to get a right back in sooner rather than later in order to build some sort of relationship with Jacquet.
Iraola may opt for a more solid right back, given Kerkez’s attacking qualities on the other side. A player like Brentford’s Michael Kayode would have been ideal, but he signed a new contract. Marco Palestra was also linked before he moved to Chelsea.
And while Jacquet, Leoni, Joe Gomez and Van Dijk make four centre backs; two of them (Jacquet and Leoni) have never played in the Premier League, Leoni has been out for 10 months with an ACL injury, Gomez cannot be relied upon to remain fit, and 35-year-old Van Dijk just played the most minutes of his career, clocking over 6,000 minutes for club and country.
An experienced centre-back would surely be advantageous, reducing the reliance on Van Dijk and also not needing to rush Jacquet and Leoni. Marcos Senesi seemed an ideal candidate, leaving Bournemouth on a free transfer, an experienced Premier League player who knows Iraola’s methods, capable of stepping into Van Dijk’s role when the Dutchman leaves next summer. But he moved to Tottenham, who also have Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven. Such strong options are something Liverpool would dearly like.
It could be that Liverpool look to a versatile option capable of playing more than one position in defence. There’s also an argument that Kostas Tsimikas, who is returning from a disappointing loan spell at Roma where he started just six league games, isn’t of the quality required.
Then there’s the centre-forward conundrum, with Ekitike’s injury meaning only Alexander Isak can be considered as a first-team No.9 – and the Swede’s injury record doesn’t exactly instil confidence.
As things stand, beyond Isak, Liverpool’s options going into the season would be Chiesa (should he not leave), and youngsters Danns and Wright. And Danns isn’t currently fit.
Again, a versatile option might be the solution; somebody can play wide and also through the middle in attack. But it would surely be a risk to go into the new season with the current central options.
All this, without mentioning the effect that the loss of the experienced trio of Salah, Robertson and Konate will have around the training ground, plus a change in goalkeeper coach for the third summer in a row and a new coaching staff for the second time in three years.
Interestingly, Iraola says “we are here to solve these kinds of problems and to try to maximise what we have” – possibly hinting at in-house solutions to the problems he inherits.
“I trust myself a lot, and I’m ready for the challenge that I know is very big,” says the new head coach.
The challenge is certainly bigger than many may realise.
