Liverpool 0-0 Fulham: Andoni Iraola's misfiring £1BILLION squad fail to find a way past pointless visitors as new Reds manager's wait for a first Anfield win goes on

· DailyMail

JAMES SHARPE: One of these teams boasts the most expensive squad in world football at just over a billion pounds. The other sat winless and pointless.

One of these teams boasts the most expensive squad in world football. The other sat winless and pointless with speculation of unrest already growing around their new manager. For a little more than 90 minutes, you would not have been able to tell which was which.

And so the wait for Andoni Iraola ’s first win at Anfield goes on. Liverpool have just four of them in the league this year. Many inside this famous old stadium were already filing up the concrete steps for home when the final whistle brought this unfulfilling goalless draw with Fulham to an end. Plenty were long into the concourse by the time Rio Ngumoha saw the last of Liverpool’s half-chances come to nothing.

CAN’T BLAME DRAW ON TIRED LEGS

For this was a shadow of the Liverpool from Wednesday night, where they came away deserved winners against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League . This was a leggy, sloppy, uncertain Liverpool. Error-strewn and unsure of themselves. How much of it was because Iraola only made three changes from that midweek triumph? Not enough to excuse Florian Wirtz and the usually dependable Dominik Szoboszlai from either passing the ball straight out of play or frequently to the opposition.

It was not the lack of recovery time that compelled Alisson to play the ball to Ryan Gravenberch inside the Liverpool box despite him being surrounded by two Fulham players and need Jeremy Jacquet to clear Gonzalo Garcia’s goal-bound strike off the line.

It told you everything about the performance from Liverpool that the biggest cheer of the afternoon came when the stadium announcer updated the crowd on the half-time scores and told them Chelsea were losing to Hull.

For the rest of it, the sounds emanating from the stands were ever-increasing groans and cries of frustration. ‘Absolute garbage’ one spectator grumbled to anyone within earshot as he made his way home after the full-time whistle.

Fulham played through Liverpool at will. Josh King was afforded the freedom of Merseyside late on to fire on goal from the edge of the box. Arbeloa’s side played with a debonair confidence but lacked the cutting edge when it mattered. Liverpool created pockets of half-chances but little more than that. The closest they came was when Victor Munoz saw his header clawed away by Bernd Leno and when Isak nodded another wide from a stoppage-time corner.

> ‘What was lacking was quite clear,’ said Liverpool boss Iraola. ‘It was the first game that we have had problems creating chances to score goals and make the difference. We couldn’t create as many chances as we wanted. That is why we came away with just one point.

> ‘There is definitely a lack of freshness, we cannot hide that. It was the worst turnaround in terms of hours after a very big game but this is going to happen and we have to adapt.’

BEST STILL TO COME FROM BARCOLA

They couldn’t find either. Wirtz was back to his frustrating worst, dragging shots wide and misplacing passes in dangerous areas.

Bradley Barcola, the £123m signing, manufactured Liverpool’s first chance in an otherwise underwhelming first Premier League start when he played a neat pass through the Fulham defence to Isak, who fired wide from a tight angle.

Yet there was little sign of that fear-inducing forward, who posted the quickest speed of anyone in the Premier League this season just minutes after coming off the bench against Ipswich. Rarely did he attempt to show his man a clean set of heels. He fluffed the chance to slip Isak in again in the second half and saw a volley at the back post deflected behind.

> ‘We are building up his physcial condition,’ said Iraola. He didn’t have a pre-season. He played well three days ago. We know he has more but it is about giving him minutes. He is a player that’s going to give us a lot.’

Even Szoboszlai couldn’t use his free-kick wizardry in stoppage time to snatch a victory as he did here against Arsenal last season as his dipping effort flicked the top of the wall.

BREATHING ROOM FOR ARBELOA

Fulham continued to get under Liverpool’s skin with Iraola visibly frustrated on the touchline with how long the visitors were taking to get on with their own set pieces. That, by the end, was the least of his concerns. He has a lot of work to do to get this billion-pound squad firing.

For Arbeola, who already finds himself under pressure amid speculation of dressing room unrest, it was a welcome moment of relief.

> ‘When you are not winning games, it is not easy for your players to beleve in your ideas,’ said Arbeloa. ‘I am happy with a point but more with the performance of my players, with their character, their personality and their ambition I know that everything is about points, not about what you deserve. We were a little bit unlucky but if we keep playing like this we will win games. I am so proud of my players.’

During their playing days, Iraola and Arbeloa often battled it out for the right-back slot in the Spain national team. Arbeloa usually got the better of him. He didn’t quite do the same here but, on reflection, will probably think he should have done.

Read the original

People in this story

Related