Iraola's Early Reality Check: Liverpool's Tough Choices Ahead

Four league games into the Andoni Iraola era and Anfield already feels restless.

Two home matches, two draws. For only the third time in 63 years, Liverpool have failed to win either of their opening league fixtures at Anfield. That is not the script the new head coach walked into, especially on the back of a statement Champions League win over Atletico Madrid.

The contrast has been stark. In midweek, Liverpool were sharp, aggressive, relentless against a side moulded by Diego Simeone and hardened by a run to last season’s Champions League semi-finals. Three days later, against a Fulham team low on confidence and leaking goals, they looked flat. Physically and mentally drained. Almost unrecognisable.

Iraola didn’t hide from the issue.

Asked if he could simply go full strength every three days, he cut straight to the point: no.

“You can decide and put the same players in every game,” he said. “The problem is there'll be a moment when they're really tired. And there is more risk of injury.

“There are players who play every three days with no issues. They are very robust, their performances don't change too much.

“There are other players where the risk is bigger and the performances are different. I have to learn who is ready to play games every three days and who needs a rest so their performance level isn't affected.

“I thought I had it quite clear in my mind with some, but with others, it's new, even for them, because they haven't played as many games. We are learning.”

Right now, that learning is happening in real time, under the floodlights, with points on the line.

Fulham Frustration Exposes Early Cracks

Fulham arrived at Anfield with three defeats from three under Alvaro Arbeloa and a manager already under pressure. They left with their first Premier League point of the season and the feeling they might have taken all three.

Liverpool, less than 72 hours removed from that high-octane win over Atletico, never found top gear. They failed to score for the first time this season and never truly pinned Fulham back for long stretches.

Iraola shuffled his pack, making three changes: Kostas Tsimikas, Ryan Gravenberch and Victor Munoz came in for Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister and Rio Ngumoha. Arbeloa responded with two of his own, handing a debut to Austrian centre-back David Affengruber in place of Joachim Andersen and bringing in Sander Berge for Cesar Palacios.

The early warning signs for Liverpool were self-inflicted. A mix-up between Alisson and Gravenberch almost handed Fulham the lead, Gonzalo Garcia’s effort needing a goal-line clearance from Jeremy Jacquet to spare their blushes. It was entirely of Liverpool’s making.

Fulham were the better side in that first half. Josh King forced a save from Alisson inside the box. Antonee Robinson headed wide when well placed. Liverpool, disjointed and slow, offered flashes rather than pressure.

Munoz saw a header beaten away by Bernd Leno. Bradley Barcola’s volley was deflected behind by Timothy Castagne. Half-chances, nothing more.

Tsimikas, who struggled badly, was hooked at the break for Kerkez. By the hour mark, Gravenberch and Munoz had also gone, replaced by Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo as Iraola tried to jolt his side into life.

The numbers told their own story. The £364m attacking trio of Alexander Isak, Barcola and Florian Wirtz started a league game together for the first time, but the chemistry was missing. Liverpool had decent looks, but nowhere near enough for a team with that kind of firepower.

Isak, especially, cut a lonely figure. He managed just 16 touches in 90 minutes – the second fewest for a Liverpool outfield player on record, having set the unwanted low of 14 against Nottingham Forest a fortnight earlier. Wirtz, so electric in midweek against Atletico, looked a shadow of that player. Barcola and Isak produced a few encouraging moments, but this is a front line that clearly needs time.

Isak did carve out one opening, only for Leno to save comfortably. The Fulham goalkeeper also parried a powerful strike from Dominik Szoboszlai. Iraola threw on Ngumoha and Jeremie Frimpong with 18 minutes left, chasing a late surge that never really came.

Isak headed wide from an injury-time corner. At the other end, Fulham still threatened, with late chances for King and Kevin. Arbeloa’s side held on and, on another day, might have done more than that.

Liverpool remain unbeaten, but six points from four games, with home draws against Forest and Fulham and another stalemate at Newcastle, is not the standard this club expects. The only league win so far came at Ipswich. For a team with title ambitions, that is a slow start, whatever the mitigating factors.

Rotation, Risk and a Different Kind of Cup Tie

Now comes Tottenham in the Carabao Cup. Not a lower-league side, not a gentle entry point, but a fellow Premier League opponent with their own problems and their own point to prove.

This is where Iraola’s dilemma sharpens.

In most early EFL Cup rounds, managers can turn to fringe players and academy graduates, give minutes, protect stars and still feel confident of progressing. A home tie against Spurs changes the calculation. Rotate heavily and you run a real risk. Go full strength and you drive already tired legs deeper into the red zone.

There is also the emotional angle. After a flat, goalless draw at home, there is a strong case for sending out a powerful XI to restore rhythm and edge. But the schedule is unforgiving. With at least seven more Champions League matches guaranteed and the domestic calendar tightening, Liverpool cannot simply ignore the warning signs of fatigue.

Iraola knows it. He has said as much. Some players can go again and again, barely dropping a level. Others cannot. The trick now is identifying which is which before results suffer.

Liverpool’s history in this competition only adds weight to the decision. No club has lifted the League Cup more often. Ten times the trophy has ended up in Anfield’s cabinet.

The first came in 1980-81, the start of a remarkable run of four straight wins that ended in 1984. The fifth arrived in 1995, Steve McManaman scoring twice against Bolton at Wembley after more than a decade’s wait.

The new millennium brought more silver. Gerard Houllier guided Liverpool to the 2001 title, then added another in 2003 by beating Manchester United in the final. Kenny Dalglish, in his second spell in charge, delivered the next one in 2012, edging Cardiff City on penalties.

Then came another long pause until 2022, when Jurgen Klopp’s side won an extraordinary 11-10 shootout against Chelsea. Klopp added a 10th League Cup in 2024, again at Chelsea’s expense.

That is the backdrop to Iraola’s first crack at the competition. This club treats the League Cup as more than a side project. It is part of the modern Liverpool story.

So the question almost asks itself: does he lean into that tradition and go strong to chase trophy number 11, or does he protect his players for the bigger picture?

Learning on the Run

The early evidence is clear. Iraola’s high-energy style can rip through elite European opposition on a good night, but the demands of two games a week are already biting. The Fulham draw felt like the first real stress test of this new Liverpool under a congested schedule – and they laboured.

He has admitted he is still working out which players are “very robust” and which need more careful management. Some he thought he knew. Others are surprising him. That process cannot drag on for long.

The fixture list will not slow down. The Champions League will not wait. Tottenham will not turn up at Anfield on Tuesday as a sparring partner.

Liverpool’s new era is being shaped on the run, between recovery sessions and tactical meetings. The margin for error is thin. The expectations are not.

Can Iraola find the balance between intensity and durability quickly enough to keep Liverpool in the hunt for honours – and maybe add an 11th League Cup to that already crowded trophy room?