Iraola Begins Liverpool Tenure with Key Training Insights

Under low, heavy clouds on the edge of Chicago, two eras briefly overlapped.

As Andoni Iraola stepped into his first open Liverpool training session, Robert Lewandowski was still on the adjacent pitch, thudding penalties for Chicago Fire. One went high, sailing over the bar and into the grey Midwestern sky just as Liverpool’s players began to jog out. The Pole’s session faded. Iraola’s began.

It felt symbolic. One great career winding down in MLS, a new project just getting its first real touches on the ball.

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

Liverpool arrived in the United States with a minor subplot already brewing. A clip from the win over Wrexham in New York had done the rounds on social media: Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones in a heated exchange at full-time, Kostas Tsimikas hovering in the frame. Jones, linked with Inter Milan, looked anything but happy.

The flashpoint, it later emerged, stemmed from Szoboszlai handing the captain’s armband to Tsimikas instead of Jones. A small gesture, but in dressing rooms, those details matter.

By Friday in Chicago, the temperature had dropped. Szoboszlai had already dismissed the incident on Thursday, stressing that everyone was “in the same boat” and pushing for the same thing. The pictures in Illinois backed that up.

Szoboszlai, Jones and Tsimikas emerged together, laughing, juggling the ball between them, deliberately drifting in front of the cameras. No tension, no distance. Just three players making it abundantly clear that whatever had been said in New York stayed there.

A bit of edge is part of elite sport. But the speed with which a brief argument can be clipped, captioned and shared from inside a stadium is a sharp reminder of the modern reality facing Iraola. Some things are better kept inside the dressing-room walls.

It also underlined a more practical issue for the new head coach: Liverpool still need a designated vice-captain after Andy Robertson’s departure. Until that hierarchy is set, the armband will keep carrying a little extra weight.

Isak back, Wirtz and Gravenberch to follow

There was more tangible good news for Iraola on the grass. Record signing Alexander Isak returned to full training this week, a significant boost as Liverpool edge towards the serious stuff.

Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch all missed the trip to New York, where Liverpool beat Wrexham 1-0 in their second pre-season outing. All three are expected to feature against Leeds on Sunday at Soldier Field, offering a first glimpse of how Iraola might stitch his attacking pieces together.

Not everyone was ready to join in. Young centre-back Jeremy Jacquet, recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in February, watched from the gym as the session unfolded. Iraola had suggested earlier in the week that Jacquet could play at the weekend, but his absence from full training leaves him a doubt.

Joe Gomez, already ruled out for the start of the Premier League season, was also confined to gym work. His presence, though, underlined the broader picture: Liverpool’s squad is being carefully calibrated rather than rushed.

Iraola’s voice, Iraola’s tempo

Once the warm-up cones were cleared, Iraola’s imprint came into sharp focus.

He was loud. Constantly involved. The 42-year-old Basque did not stand back with folded arms; he prowled, barked instructions, and repeatedly demanded quicker play and sharper thinking. “Play in possession.” “Quicker, quicker.” The phrases cut across the pitches, a soundtrack to his first visible attempt to shift Liverpool’s habits.

Mini-games broke out, and with them, bursts of celebration every time a goal went in. The intensity was high, but so was the mood. Players smiled, shouted, argued over tight calls, then reset. Iraola stepped in often, stopping play to adjust a position, correct a run, or highlight a passing lane that had been missed.

The session then split. One group moved to a smaller pitch for a nine-a-side match, the kind of condensed scenario that stresses decision-making and pressing triggers. The other group peeled away to work on set-pieces with assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper.

Wirtz took on corner duties, swinging balls in as Liverpool rehearsed routines. Elphick even pulled on a bib and joined the action, a hands-on approach that matched his manager’s.

Watching from the sidelines, arms folded but eyes locked on the drills, was Mike Gordon. The Fenway Sports Group president is once again directly overseeing Liverpool’s football operations and is expected to be at Soldier Field on Sunday. His presence in Chicago underlined the importance of these early days under Iraola. This is not a quiet transition.

Old legends, new era

The work did not end when the boots came off.

On Thursday night, the squad gathered for a team dinner. Iraola stayed on afterwards, sharing a beer with Liverpool greats Phil Thompson and Robbie Fowler. It was a small scene, but a telling one.

Thompson, who won three European Cups with the club, later described to BBC Sport how the conversation ranged from the season ahead to family life. Iraola, younger than some of Liverpool’s most storied nights in Europe, listened, talked, and acknowledged the weight of what those men achieved.

When Thompson lifted his third European Cup, Iraola was not yet born. Now the Spaniard carries the responsibility of writing the next chapter for the same club, and he is clearly keen to show respect to those who came before him.

Seeds in the Windy City

Three weeks remain before Iraola walks out for his first Premier League match as Liverpool manager. On paper, this is still the gentle phase: conditioning, tactical sketches, bonding exercises on foreign soil.

Yet in Chicago, under those gloomy skies and with Lewandowski’s last penalty still echoing faintly from the neighbouring pitch, the outlines of the new Liverpool were already visible. A demanding voice on the touchline. A squad being stitched together piece by piece. Old legends welcomed, new leaders yet to be named.

The seeds of Iraola’s tenure are in the ground now. The question is how quickly they grow when the real storm of the season rolls in.