How Andoni Iraola is relying on one player to make everything work at Liverpool

It very much feels like a new Premier League era with the Klopp-Guardiola axis gone.

With title winners Arsenal perhaps the only Big Six side that we know for sure are any good – and even they were thrashed by Brighton – this is one of the most fascinating Premier League seasons because we’ll get to see whether newly appointed managers in the summer can grab the opportunities they’ve been presented with.

Could that manager then be Andoni Iraola? Fantastic at Rayo Vallecano, even better at Bournemouth, and oh, what’s this? He’s famed for his pressing? That should suit Liverpool’s ethos.

Arne Slot won the title in his first season and then spent his second dealing with a team in transition and heavily grieving the tragic loss of Diogo Jota.

Klopp left Slot with a team primed to win the title, but the Dutchman had to afterwards deal with trying to establish a new one, and it feels like Iraola, with his philosophy, is having to do the same.

So, how is the pressing? How is Wirtz getting on? And can they finally build on THAT expensive summer? We’ve had a look…

Sometimes maybe good press, sometimes maybe bad
Bournemouth’s Iraola side were physical and brilliant out of possession, pushing teams further and further towards their own goal.

There were always going to be teething issues for him to overcome when using these methods at Anfield, but what may concern Iraola is that the squad built for him may not be capable of doing this.

Think about their team for a second; apart from the midfield, Virgil van Dijk and Jeremy Jacquet, it’s a little bit weak. You can’t really be a weak team in a physical league.

Against Bournemouth and Fulham, there were times when the Reds attempted to press defences, pushing up with a midfielder and full-backs, but Bournemouth could get out easily with one throw wide, and Fulham knocked it over the top of their press.

The problem with this is, their press isn’t so intense at the moment. Even against Atletico Madrid, when Liverpool turned the ball over, it was often when they were roared on by Anfield.

But there have been other moments where the press has worked. It tends to be when teams look to play out from the back when going wide, allowing Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister to push up and rush teams into a pass.

Against Bournemouth, when the outball went to a wide winger, Ronald Araujo pushed up to win the ball in the air. For the goal Liverpool scored vs Ipswich Town, it was the same play, rushing a defender and pushing a right-back up to dispossess them in an awkward area of the pitch.

It’s a huge factor for Iraola because, as Liverpool’s press isn’t up to the point he would like yet, at times, they’re also being more patient and slower on the ball.

The issue will be whether Iraola can get them to press frequently with intensity, and on a more rigorous schedule. It will help him figure out whether he wants to continue risking being played through.

Progression Problems and Cody Gakpo
The best part of the season so far for Liverpool has been Cody Gakpo.

Everything he’s done thus far this season has been purposeful and direct, but he’s also directly providing a solution to a tactical conundrum.

With Mac Allister or Szoboszlai dropping in, it leaves Wirtz and another midfielder pushed up high.

It means the German is high in attack, so it’s tough to get him into the game unless Liverpool pin a team back into their own half.

Gakpo solves this by dropping deeper for the ball, as the rest of Ipswich’s defence or midfield are busy tracking Wirtz and Liverpool’s midfield. It allows him to find space, turn and play Alexander Isak in.

This is something the Dutchman has been doing frequently. If Liverpool can’t find a central midfielder, Gakpo drops. If he’s marked in the centre, he receives wide, dribbles past defenders and crosses the ball (like against Bournemouth for Isak’s goal).

What it may do is give license for Wirtz to eventually find more space. Liverpool don’t really have much of a choice but to hope the very expensive players they signed in the summer of 2025 come good, as the team is built around them.

The problem with Wirtz is that, though he is still a classy player, he is not confident enough and looks timid at times. With Gakpo’s form, eventually teams may look to shut the former PSV Eindhoven forward down, freeing up Wirtz or allowing him to get more of the ball.

Well, where do they go from here?
This piece is an assessment of a team building towards a manager’s philosophy whilst also trying to establish synergy, as they’ve lost many key players and the new signings from last season and the summer just gone need to find their footing.

There have been some tight matches where they’ve eked out a result that could’ve gone either way (Fulham, Bournemouth, Newcastle United).

The points that they’ve picked up could be crucial, as it may just take one huge game at Anfield where they press a team to give them a boost. Hosting Manchester City after the international break should sort that.

But the season for Liverpool will largely depend on how they can adapt to Iraola’s pressing style, execute what he wants out of possession and how often they can do it.

So far, the results are mixed, and the compromise the Spaniard has had to go with has been dependent largely on one player.

He does have time to get things right from the board and the fans, but he may have to try something different to what he normally does to get the best out of a Liverpool side that doesn’t look like a typical Iraola team.