Liverpool's New Era Under Iraola: Training Insights and Player Updates

Robert Lewandowski was rifling penalties into the Chicago sky as Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool era quietly took its first real steps.

On one pitch at the Chicago Fire performance centre, the 37-year-old Pole – now the Fire’s marquee name – sent one spot-kick sailing over the bar under low, grey clouds. On the adjacent field, Liverpool’s players were just beginning to stretch, jog and joke their way into Iraola’s first open training session in charge.

Different careers, different stages. Same backdrop. And, for Liverpool, the start of something new.

Szoboszlai, Jones and a storm in a social-media teacup

The lingering question from midweek was not about tactics or fitness. It was about a clip.

A video from the win over Wrexham had done the rounds, showing Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones in a heated exchange at full-time, with Kostas Tsimikas also in the frame. The flashpoint centred on Szoboszlai handing the captain’s armband to Tsimikas instead of Jones – a small act, magnified by slow-motion replays and online commentary.

By the time Liverpool emerged for training in Chicago, the tone had changed entirely.

Szoboszlai, Jones and Tsimikas walked out together, laughing, juggling the ball between them, playing up to the cameras. No cold shoulders, no distance. Just three players clearly comfortable enough to poke fun at the fuss.

Szoboszlai had already brushed off the incident on Thursday, stressing that everyone was “in the same boat” and driven by what is best for the club and the group. On Friday, the body language matched the words.

The episode still carried a lesson for Iraola. In a world where any supporter with a phone can broadcast a touchline argument, some things are better handled out of sight. It also underlined a practical issue: with Andy Robertson gone and the vice-captaincy vacant, the new manager needs to make a call on the leadership hierarchy – and soon.

Returns, absences and a squad taking shape

On the football side, there was a significant boost. Record signing Alexander Isak has rejoined full training with Liverpool this week, adding a major attacking presence back into Iraola’s plans.

Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch all missed the trip to New York, where Liverpool edged Wrexham 1-0 in their second pre-season outing. All three are expected to feature on Sunday against Leeds at Soldier Field, a more substantial test in front of a bigger crowd.

Not everyone is ready.

Jeremy Jacquet sat out the main session, confined to gym work as Liverpool continue to manage his recovery from the shoulder injury he suffered in February. Iraola had suggested earlier in the week that the centre-back would be involved at the weekend; now, he is a doubt.

Joe Gomez, already ruled out for the start of the Premier League season, was also in the gym, working separately from the main group.

The picture is familiar for any manager in late pre-season: some players pushing to catch up, others being held back, the balance between sharpness and risk being judged session by session.

Iraola’s imprint: intensity, detail and constant noise

Once the warm-up cones were cleared away, the tone of the session changed quickly.

Iraola was loud, active and relentless. He stepped into drills, gestured constantly, and drove the tempo with sharp, repeated instructions. “Play in possession.” “Quicker, quicker.” The phrases cut through the murmur of training-ground chatter, setting a clear standard.

The drills themselves were tight and intense, with small-sided games that demanded fast decisions and aggressive pressing. Each goal in the mini-matches drew celebrations, high-fives and shouts. This did not feel like a gentle fitness top-up; it looked like a manager trying to wire his ideas into the group at speed.

When something needed correcting, Iraola went straight to the player, talking positioning, angles, choices. There was no sense of distance. He was in the middle of it, shaping it.

Eventually, the squad split. One group moved to a smaller pitch for a nine-a-side game, where the competitive edge stayed high. The other peeled off to work on set-pieces with assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper.

Wirtz took charge of corners, whipping deliveries in as Elphick – bib on, boots laced – joined the action himself to challenge and organise. For a pre-season session under heavy skies in Illinois, the detail was striking.

Watching from the sidelines, arms folded and taking it all in, stood Mike Gordon. The Fenway Sports Group president is back overseeing Liverpool’s operations and is expected at Soldier Field on Sunday, an important figure keeping close tabs on how this new chapter unfolds.

Old legends, new man, same expectations

Off the pitch, Iraola has wasted no time acknowledging the club’s past.

On Thursday evening, Liverpool held a team dinner. Afterward, the new head coach shared a beer with Phil Thompson and Robbie Fowler, two men who know exactly what it means to carry Liverpool’s colours through eras of expectation.

Thompson, who lifted three European Cups with the club, later said they spoke about the coming season and about family – simple topics, but telling ones. Iraola was not even born when Thompson won his third European Cup for Liverpool, yet he understands the weight those medals still hold around Anfield.

This is not a manager trying to distance himself from history. It is one who recognises that the club’s legends still shape the standards by which he will be judged.

Three weeks remain before Iraola walks out for his first Premier League game as Liverpool manager. The tactics will evolve, the fitness will build, and the squad will change shape again before then.

But in Chicago, under gloomy Midwestern skies and with Lewandowski blazing penalties in the background, the first clear outlines of his Liverpool were visible. The seeds are in the ground. Now comes the test of how quickly – and how strongly – they grow.