Iraola Faces Tough Decisions as Liverpool Navigate Fixture Congestion

Andoni Iraola knew English football would be relentless. Now he’s living it.

Four league games, Champions League nights already in full swing, and a Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham on Tuesday. The calendar is crammed, the legs are heavy, and the new Liverpool manager is discovering, in real time, who can live with this pace.

Asked whether he can simply pick his strongest XI every time, Iraola didn’t pretend.

“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.”

Some in this squad, he’s learning, are built for the grind.

“There are players who play every three days with no issues. They are very robust, their performances don't change too much,” he explained. Others cannot be pushed that far without a visible drop-off. “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.”

He thought he already knew the answers with a few of them. For others, this is new territory – even for the players themselves. “We are learning,” he said. And the evidence is already on the pitch.

Flat Anfield, tired legs

Two league games at Anfield. Two draws. For a club that measures itself by home dominance, that statistic cuts.

For only the third time in 63 years, Liverpool have failed to win either of their opening home league fixtures. Not a meltdown, but nowhere near the launch Iraola would have imagined.

The contrast with midweek was stark. Against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Liverpool were sharp, aggressive, full of the high-tempo football Iraola wants. Less than 72 hours later, Fulham arrived winless and fragile – and walked away with their first point of the season after a 0-0 that left Anfield deflated.

The Reds looked “physically and mentally tired”, a side drained by the schedule rather than driven by it. The same core that had overpowered a Diego Simeone team days earlier suddenly looked like strangers to that level.

Six points from four league games is not catastrophic. It is, though, underwhelming for a team with title ambitions: dropped points at home to Nottingham Forest and Fulham, another draw at Newcastle, the sole win coming at Ipswich. Iraola’s style is under the microscope now that the two-games-a-week rhythm has started. This was not the response he or the home crowd wanted.

A £364m attack still finding itself

The Fulham game brought the first league start for Iraola’s big-money front three as a unit: Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz, a £364m statement of intent that is still more theory than finished product.

The reality on Saturday was sobering. Liverpool had chances, but nowhere near enough for the weight of talent on the pitch.

Isak’s involvement told its own story. Sixteen touches in 90 minutes – the second fewest on record for a Liverpool outfield player. The only time he saw less of the ball? Two weeks earlier, with 14 touches against Forest. For a centre-forward bought to be the focal point, that’s a glaring disconnect.

Wirtz, so influential and inventive against Atletico, looked a shadow of that player. Barcola flickered in moments, as did Isak, but the chemistry between them is clearly a work in progress. It will take time. The question for Iraola is how much of that time he can afford while results are already under scrutiny.

He knows adaptation is non-negotiable. With at least seven more Champions League matches guaranteed and the Carabao Cup starting now, Liverpool cannot stumble through this period. They have to find ways to grind out results even when the legs are heavy and the ideas aren’t flowing.

Fulham dig in as Arbeloa steadies the ship

Across the technical area, Alvaro Arbeloa arrived under pressure. Three defeats from three league games since taking over at Fulham in the summer had set the tone. A trip to Anfield looked like the last fixture any new manager would want.

He walked away with a point and a performance that gives him something to build on.

Fulham started sharper. They should have led early when Gonzalo Garcia’s effort was only kept out by Jeremy Jacquet’s goal-line clearance after a mix-up between Alisson and Ryan Gravenberch – a mess entirely of Liverpool’s own making.

The visitors carried the greater threat in the first half. Josh King forced a save from Alisson from inside the box, Antonee Robinson headed wide, and Liverpool’s back line never looked fully settled.

At the other end, Victor Munoz saw a header beaten away by Bernd Leno, and a Bradley Barcola volley was deflected behind by Timothy Castagne. Half-chances, not dominance.

Iraola acted at the break. Kostas Tsimikas, who had struggled, made way for Milos Kerkez. By the hour, Gravenberch and Munoz were also gone, replaced by Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo as Liverpool tried to tilt the game.

Isak finally found a yard to shoot, only for Leno to deal with it comfortably. Dominik Szoboszlai then unleashed a powerful drive, again repelled by the Fulham goalkeeper, who grew in stature as the afternoon wore on.

More changes followed in the 72nd minute: Rio Ngumoha and Jeremie Frimpong thrown on to inject pace and unpredictability. The pattern barely shifted. Liverpool pushed, but not with conviction. Isak headed wide from an injury-time corner, and Fulham – who still carved out late openings through King and Kevin – held on.

For Arbeloa, who played 98 games for Liverpool between 2007 and 2009, this was a return that will feel like a small personal vindication. For Iraola, it was another reminder that his side are not yet conditioned to dominate every three days.

The weight of the League Cup – and a Tottenham test

This is not just any Carabao Cup tie for Liverpool. The competition has been woven into the club’s modern story.

Ten times they’ve lifted the League Cup, more than anyone else. The first came in 1980-81, the start of four straight triumphs that ran through to 1984. Then a long wait until 1995, when Steve McManaman’s brace sank Bolton at Wembley.

The new millennium brought a fresh wave. Gerard Houllier delivered the trophy in 2001 and again in 2003, beating Manchester United in the final the second time around. Kenny Dalglish, in his second spell in charge, added another in 2012 after a penalty shootout win over Cardiff City.

The next success took a decade. In 2022, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool edged Chelsea in an extraordinary 11-10 penalty shootout. Two years later, Klopp claimed the club’s 10th League Cup, once again defeating Chelsea in the final in what became his last trophy in the competition.

This is the legacy Iraola walks into. The League Cup at Liverpool is not a sideshow. It’s part of the fabric.

But the draw has given him no gentle introduction. Premier League managers often use the early rounds to blood fringe players and academy graduates, especially when lower-league opposition comes out of the hat. Liverpool, instead, get Tottenham.

Spurs have started the season poorly, but they are still a top-flight rival, still a threat. Rotate heavily and you risk a home exit and a fresh wave of questions. Go strong and you run the risk Iraola has already outlined: fatigue, injuries, and a squad running on fumes before winter even bites.

There’s another layer too. After the flat, goalless draw against Fulham, there is a strong argument for a more senior side to restore rhythm and confidence. At the same time, the schedule is only tightening. Champions League commitments guarantee at least seven more European fixtures. The league campaign will not wait for anyone.

Iraola has been clear: he is still working out which players are “very robust” – those who can play every three days without their level dipping – and which ones need protecting. Some answers have surprised him. Others, he thought he knew, now look less certain.

Tottenham at Anfield in the Carabao Cup will tell him more. About his squad. About his rotation gamble. And about how quickly this Liverpool team can harden themselves for a season that is already asking difficult questions.