Shoots of Recovery

ARTICLE BY MATTY

I’ve noticed a clear shift in my thought processes between summer and fall. August was an incredibly busy month for me, a whole lot of fun. Now is the time to get back to business. Getting back into routine, living smooth, exploring new passions and accepting the increased freedoms of an adult life. I admit the Ipswich game was the first game in a while that truly got me interested in writing just about the team again. Not the strategies or how the club were failing in certain areas, but just about the team and what Iraola seems to be doing right already.

I’ll start with something I realized about the wingers we have, and it’s something Iraola mentioned in the postgame conference when talking about the early impact of Cody Gakpo, who’s red hot form has made him a bit of a polarizing figure among the fans. Iraola mentioned he liked how Cody can play across all three forward positions in his system, and it made me realize that Barcola, Munoz and Rio can somewhat do the same. I think Iraola is going to be using his wingers interchangeably throughout the season, maybe sometimes even during a game itself. One minute, Barcola’s on the left and Munoz is on the right. A few minutes later, they switch sides. Defenders can’t get comfortable because they won’t be defending the same player for 60 or 90 minutes on each flank. Munoz’ driving runs from midfield were a defining part of his time at Osasuna, and seeing him so quickly adapt to the Premier League confirms my belief we’ve got a real star on our hands with that young man.

Speaking of youth, I’m very pleased with how quickly Iraola has revived some of the youth players that we grew to love under Klopp during his last season in charge. Lewis Koumas has broken into the first team after a strong preseason, giving Iraola another forward who can play across the front line and press high up the field. Koumas has always been a scrapper, it doesn’t surprise me that he’s broken through. Trey Nyoni has already attracted interest from other Premier League teams at the age of 19, perhaps shining more than anyone else during preseason. With Curtis Jones wanting to leave, the door is open for Nyoni to get significant minutes in midfield this season. Same goes for James McConnell, who came back from a poor loan spell at Ajax and has also managed to get the attention of Iraola. I appreciate that Iraola is giving the youth academy products a chance without giving them too much of a burden. Rio gets to develop at his own pace, gently increasing his minutes over time, so that injury won’t ruin the career of another promising youngster. Same goes for Nyoni, McConnell, other players who made the Champions League squad like Luke Chambers and Isaac Mabaya. It’s smart team planning.

In defense, the actual defenders have been pretty good to start the season. Jeremie Frimpong just doesn’t look like a fit for the Premier League, which necessitated the introduction of Ronald Araujo to the first eleven. It’s not ideal, and I’d love for Conor Bradley to come back at some point and make that position his own, but Araujo has been fine defensively even if he offered little going forward. With Kerkez doing…..whatever it is he does, it might actually be a smart play to have basically three CBs in the defense. Jeremy Jacquet has been brilliant, his recovery pace crucial already. I’m excited to see how much he can learn from big Virgil. In goal, I’m happy with the addition of Lucca Brughmans, seeing as Mamardashvili just doesn’t seem to have the goods as a shot stopper or in possession.

I think it’s decently important to accept that injuries have made this squad look more incomplete than it might actually be. Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike are all excellent players who would certainly bolster the depth of the team and, in Bradley’s case, would walk straight into the starting eleven. We’ve got youth players starting to seal up some of the other cracks in the squad as well. I’d love a good DM, and perhaps there’s something concrete in the rumors connecting Liverpool to Lamine Camara in January. But Iraola is already making his mark and doing exactly what the fans could’ve hoped for: play exciting football, develop young talent, start to figure out who’s staying long term in your squad, and at least be in the mix for trophies. He’s already getting way more out of Isak and Wirtz than we saw from them last season. He’s been given options to fix some of the issues from last season. Liverpool FC is starting to look like itself again. The departure of Richard Hughes only seems to solidify that the first iteration of the post-Klopp era was a bit of a failure. We tried to reinvent the wheel too much and started to lose our identity. Iraola is starting to recover what was lost. It’s going to take time, the squad itself does still have a bit of a rebuilding feel to it, but signs are promising so far that we might be getting back to our very best sooner than later.