Iraola's early impact: Liverpool's form, tactics and rotation ahead of Arsenal visit
Liverpool have won nine and drawn three of their 13 games in all competitions under Andoni Iraola and will host Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday (16:30 GMT). That sequence of results and a revived home atmosphere have been central to the club’s improvements since Iraola took charge.
Arsenal have not won at Anfield since 2012 and Mikel Arteta, who played for the Gunners in those years, now arrives as the reigning Premier League champion; his side were recently knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two Fleetwood. Liverpool’s only defeat this season came against Manchester City on 11 October and they have won five matches in a row across all competitions since then.
Supporter engagement at Anfield has tightened the bond between crowd and team, a change illustrated when Liverpool came from behind to beat Villarreal amid an electric atmosphere, before following up with a Premier League win over Brighton and a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. "We have a big advantage over other teams because this atmosphere we can create is special," said Iraola.
Iraola has seen returns from new signings and established players alike, with Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz described as "heading in the right direction" and Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister judged much improved compared to last season. At the back, Ronald Araujo has become a fan favourite and Jeremy Jacquet "has seamlessly settled into the Premier League," while the manager is increasingly trusting youngsters Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas and James McConnell.
Rotation has become a feature of Iraola’s management: Liverpool have made three or more starting XI changes in nine consecutive games, a practice the coach links to adapting to a schedule of two games per week. "It's true that [when I came], I didn't have a lot of experience [coaching two games a week], but I had a lot as a player of when you arrive back at 3am in the morning and so on," said Iraola. "It's different to managing, but you do a lot of the job with the analysts, in the video room with the board and without spending the legs but I think our players are very used to it so a lot of the work is done. Now, it's more a matter of getting the decisions right, in terms of loading and freshening the legs. We are changing [the team] a lot from game to game and I think we will continue this approach."
Tactically, Iraola has emphasised creating superior chances over dominating possession, a point he made after Liverpool's 2-0 win over Brighton where the Reds had the ball for 35.6% of playing time: "Whoever controls the game is whoever controls the chances," he said. The side are averaging 24.9 long balls per Premier League game this season compared to 21 last term; they register 165.9 high pressures in the opposition half per game versus 160.1 previously, and 128.3 sprints per game compared with 123.2, while covering 111.1 km per game against 111.7 km last season.
Captain Virgil van Dijk pointed to a shift in approach around pressing and tempo. "The 'intensity' word has been said so many times, sometimes a bit of chaos and there is this risk-reward that's going on now as well," he said. "If we press high, I ended up at one point almost putting Cody [Gakpo] in one versus one on goal when I intercepted the ball on the right-hand side - when I'm a left centre-back. It's this sort of intensity that we try to get into our press. It's still a work in progress, but if you defend with a lot of intensity you have a big chance to win the ball high. Sometimes, that creates some risk and it could be vulnerable, but we're working on it a lot in order to be able to take that risk, but still not be as vulnerable as we have been sometimes."
Liverpool host Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday (16:30 GMT); victory will see them move just three points behind Arsenal, but defeat would see the difference extend to nine points after nine games.
