Iraola has ‘100% trust’ in Wirtz and Barcola but tells others to step up
‘We need other players to give us those numbers’ Liverpool face Lask in Austria without Isak and Gakpo Andoni Iraola has said he trusts Liverpool’s big-money signings Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola “100%” but needs players to step up in the absence of his three leading goalscorers. Liverpool will again be without Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai when visiting the Austrian side Lask in the Champions League on Wednesday. Iraola said he did not know when any of the trio, all of whom are carrying minor injuries sustained on international duty, would be available. Continue readi
Andoni Iraola has said he trusts Liverpool’s big-money signings Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola “100%” but needs players to step up in the absence of his three leading goalscorers.
Liverpool will again be without Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai when visiting the Austrian side Lask in the Champions League on Wednesday. Iraola said he did not know when any of the trio, all of whom are carrying minor injuries sustained on international duty, would be available.
Their absence heightened the responsibility on Wirtz and Barcola against Manchester City on Sunday but both struggled as Liverpool suffered their first defeat under Iraola. Barcola is yet to produce a goal or an assist in six appearances since his £123m arrival from Paris Saint-Germain, or even win possession in the final third, while Wirtz has one assist this season and continues to underwhelm in a Liverpool shirt.
“Cody, Alex and Dom are our top scorers this season and now we don’t have them. We need other players to give us those numbers,” said Iraola. “We trust the players we have now to play in those positions. With Bradley and Flo, they have had good games and bad games this season like everyone else. We know their level and we know they will give us good performances.
“The other day, if [Lewis] Koumas scores the goal that he connects with really well, then it is one assist for Bradley Barcola. His performance would be exactly the same but we will all say: ‘Oh, he played really well with an assist.’ Sometimes we focus only on the numbers. With Bradley, the other day he had good situations and we did not finish them. Bradley and Flo are players that I trust 100%.”
The Liverpool head coach confirmed he was likely to make changes in Linz, with several players taking knocks against City. Iraola insisted he was happy with the team’s spirit, attitude and work rate against City, “including from the offensive players”, but not with the collective response to Ryan Gravenberch’s harsh dismissal. “A lot of what happened after we went down to 10 men was because we conceded straight away,” Iraola said. “We were making adjustments and then you go 1-0 down and it’s different, because then you have to go [for it] and you get caught in-between.
“The goal we conceded straight away hurt us. If we had made the adjustments earlier and been more compact at 0-0, it becomes a lot easier. But once you concede it’s not enough to just be compact. You need to go a little bit more and then spaces open.”
Virgil van Dijk is in line to captain Liverpool for a 200th time in all competitions on Wednesday.
