Andoni Iraola's Liverpool start assessed and has Wirtz found form with Klopp's Germany?

Sky Sports News

Sky Sports News roundtable: Iraola's Liverpool start, Wirtz's role and Hughes's legacy

This Sky Sports News podcast assesses Andoni Iraola's unbeaten but still evolving start at Liverpool, the challenge of getting the best out of Florian Wirtz, squad gaps and Richard Hughes's legacy. The guests largely see Iraola as pragmatic and steady, while warning that midfield balance and Wirtz's role still need solving; they also reflect on how the Manchester City case affects the Klopp era.

► Subscribe to Sky Sports News: http://bit.ly/SkySportsNewsSub ► Watch Sky Sports with NOW: https://bit.ly/NOWSkySportsYT Pete Smith is joined by Sky Sports News' Mark McAdam and Vinny O'Connor to discuss Andoni Iraola's start to life at Liverpool as he attempts to implement a style of play he had great success with at Bournemouth. Plus, Liverpool fan, podcaster and author Dan Morgan gives his assessment of Iraola's start at Anfield, whether Wirtz can find form after the international break and the legacy Richard Hughes leaves at the club. SkySportsNews SkySports liverpool 00:26 - Iraola’s start to life at Liverpool 08:39 - Iraola improving Mac Allister’s level of performances and whether the balance between him and Szoboszlai is right 13:37 - What next for Florian Wirtz and can he come good at Liverpool? 17:41 - Is Cody Gakpo Liverpool’s player of the season so far and Barcola’s start at Anfield 22:05 - Richard Hughes’ legacy at Liverpool 28:23 - Andoni Iraola’s squad assessed and where it’s light 30:34 - How fixture congestion impacts Liverpool and busy period coming up 32:31 - Squad building at Liverpool and the balance of building a strong squad/stockpiling players 36:16 - Julian Ward as Sporting Director 39:25 - Man City charges and the impact on Liverpool and Klopp’s legacy 48:19 - Preview of Sunday’s Liverpool v Man City game ► For the latest developments on this story: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/topstories ► For the latest transfer news: https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/TransferCentre More from Sky Sports on YouTube: ► Sky Sports: http://bit.ly/SkySportsSub ► Sky Sports Boxing: http://bit.ly/SSBoxingSub ► Sky Sports Cricket: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyCricket ► Sky Sports Darts: https://bit.ly/SubSkySportsDarts ► Sky Sports Football: http://bit.ly/SSFootballSub ► Sky Sports F1: http://bit.ly/SubscribeSkyF1 ► Sky Sports Golf: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsGolf ► Sky Sports Premier League: https://bit.ly/SubscribeSkySportsPL ► Sky Sports…

Transcript

Andoni Areola has made an unbeaten start at Liverpool and ahead of their huge game with Man City live on Sky Sports on Sunday. We're going to assess where the Reds are at, where they're going and whether they can achieve success this season and to help me do just that on this special podcast. I'm joined by Mark McAdam, Vinnie O' Connor, and we've got Dan Morgan here as well, Liverpool podcaster and writer as well to give us a flavor from the stands I think Dan as well. Um well Dana let's start with you then because Areola is in as I said he's unbeaten. Um underwhelming start maybe in some regards when you look at some results but in terms of the performances are you seeing signs that this could be a winning formula for Liverpool. >> Yeah, it's been a a quiet start by Liverpool standards for any Liverpool standards really. Um I think there's been a couple of results that have left people a little bit frustrated. I think the Fulham one sticks out. We're at a a nil nil at home. But in general, I'd say quietly impressive is how I'd describe Antonio Areola's Liverpool. Um, he surprised me in the sense that I I thought just from reading about Areola as you do when you get a new manager and reading about his time at Bournemouth that idealistically in terms of how his Bournemouth teams played. I thought his sort of philosophy was going to be something that he was going to be wathed to unconditionally. You know, you play his way, it's relentless, it seems, output in terms of running, counter counter pressing, um, real high octane energy stuff, but quietly, I mean, I said on a recent Liverpool podcast that he's done things that I think other Liverpool managers in the past would have done. Like I think for example, Rafa Bonitez would have maybe seen the need to use a center back at right back just to shore up Liverpool's issues defensively, especially around set pieces. RA has done that with Ronaldo and it's really seemed to have worked. Um similarly, you know, you can make an argument that absolutely someone like Jurgen Klopp would have looked at someone like Lewis Kumas and said, "Okay, I can do something with this young player. He's sticking around." Areola has done both of those things. And I think I think what that speaks to is the size of the job and him recognizing the size of the job. You know, I don't think I think he's aware that he can't go 10 games without a win in his first 10 Liverpool games. That would just bring on too much pressure and too much noise. So, he's found a way to quietly get results. But I think from a Liverpool supporter, a Liverpool crowd perspective, I think there is still that anticipation of, okay, when is this when's the big moment going to arrive? M there's a there's a big opportunity on Sunday for >> Absolutely. Yeah. They don't come much bigger than this. Mark, this sort of reflects we we all got together in the summer and spoke just a few days I think after appointed and you gave us some really good insight in terms of how he'd um worked at Bournemouth. And I think the big question for us then was how that would translate to the huge job at Liverpool. But as Dan's saying there, maybe he's just flexing his style a little bit and and finding a way to get the results early on that could maybe give him the platform to to play his way further down the line. But have you seen his sort of transition into this huge role at Liverpool? >> I think the key thing is they're unbeaten. You know, when you go into a new football club, don't lose games. And he's he's certainly done that. And and I think that big win in in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid is is a massive plus because not only does that show that they can win games, but they can do it against the big teams, the big hitters, those sides that are going to challenge them. And I think that's been key. I've been really impressed so far, like Dan says, I think there's been a a transition period. And the key thing that Andon will need, and that's what he had at at Bournemouth, was time. Time on the training pitch, time to work with the players, time to understand the players. And one of the things he did at Bournemouth very early on was he moved players around. You know, Anton Smenoya was a number nine when he arrived at Bournemouth and he turned him into this incredible winger. Uh Ryan Christie was a 10 and a winger and he turned him into a six. And what Andon will do in the early stages at Liverpool and with the young players and with the experienced players, he'll start to work out where are you going to fit into my setup? Where are you going to be at your very best for Liverpool? And I think that's what you're starting to see. He's always got that brand of attacking exciting football and that's what Liverpool fans will see and you're starting to see moments of that. But it certainly feels like he's very conscious that you need to be defensively solid and you need to have more of the ball. Sometimes at Bournemouth there'd be games where he'd have 34% possession at home. No problem. Because they were still attacking and getting 20 shots during the course of a match. But at Liverpool the expectation the fan base isn't, oh yeah, we don't care if we don't have the ball. No, you need to have the ball and play the exciting football. So, I think that's very aware apparent in the the early stages. But yeah, I've been impressed and I said in the summer if I could have a season ticket holder to follow Liverpool around for the first six months of Andonia Raola's term, I would absolutely do it because when he is at it and at his very best, there's no question it will be one of the most exciting brands of football that Liverpool fans have seen for some time. I know they will go, well Jurgen Klopp was the manager not that long ago, but it will hopefully be something that that is very similar to to that style of football. >> Yeah, it's intriguing matchup, isn't it? And uh yeah, just looking at the results, Mark, what you're speaking about there, obviously the two twos in the first two Premier League games against Newcastle, then Nottingham Forest, but they're on a run of three clean sheets since then in the Premier League, uh Ipsswitch, Fulham, and Bournemouth. Um yeah, as you say, just this this nod perhaps to that maybe bit of security that he's been able to find within the team, but that helps Vinnie as you you've been obviously covering very closely when you got the likes of Jack suddenly emerging as a real fantastic partner for Van Djk and Aruo at right back as well when you know we've spoken about his team at Bournemouth famous for those flying fullbacks but Arujo is not that but he's been able to bring that sort of stability to the defense which maybe when we were speaking in the summer was an area of concern and we're thinking about what that might look like this season. >> Yeah, I think what I've seen from Mandon Areola is that he's happy to make big decisions and it was a big decision to leave out Friong and and bring in Arujo at right back and it's worked. Liverpool needed to be more solid. They've done that. Jack has been outstanding since he arrived at the football club. If ever there's someone who's slotted in and looked like a Liverpool center half at such a young age, then he's one of those players. They've still got Leone to come back as well. So that's telling you something more about the depth that Liverpool potentially have got in that squad coming up as well. But I'm looking at the decisions when he's decided to leave players out. Leaving Ryan Gravenber out for instance as well and Doniier Riola has taken that decision when he's decided to use the youngsters. Lewis Kumas playing him up front when he's brought in um Traion as well. It seems that he's given the trust to the youngsters and that's a real big plus I think in terms of the management. And I think what we're beginning to see from Liverpool, I take it, it's not all being perfect and and what have you, but we're gradually beginning to see Areola's influence with that press at times. Teams aren't able to settle on the ball as much as they would like to against Liverpool. They're not allowing teams as many passes. Yes, at times they've still been caught on the break. We've seen that. Okay. And that's an area for improvement. And we'll probably come to the balance in midfield at some point as well. And I'm think he's still trying to strive for that ideal balance in that Liverpool midfield at times. But again, with those three clean sheets in the Premier League in the last three games, we're seeing a team that defends the box a lot better. And when they've got the ball, they're getting the ball forward quicker and creating chances as well, which bodess well for the future. So, we're seeing the signs that it's going to get that little bit more exciting. And I don't think we're too far away from seeing that more regular high octane football under him either. I think that's the key as well. It's the press and the press is all about how much the players are willing to buy into the press and the work ethic and the work rate because if you've got to suddenly run an extra two or three kilometers a game >> by pressing high and going in packs and winning the ball high up the pitch that takes something from within because there's a lot of players that don't want to do that running. We saw it with MoSalah and Anna Slot and maybe the defensive responsibility wasn't there from MoSalah and that's where where maybe there was a little bit of friction. All the players have to buy into Andoni style and if they do that the results will start to come. >> He's not scared to tell them either by the way. You see him on the touch line. He's not necessarily a Jurgen Klopp who's pumping his chest and getting the crowd going but he's getting his players going. >> I do wonder how much of it he is also just trying to mend from last season as well before he he actually fully embeds his own style. Like I I think a really good embodiment of this is Alexis Mallister who had a ton of time last season. You know, you saw that when space opened up around Mallister, he was unable to have the impact he has on games where he's really good at regaining the ball. Loves playing in tight spaces. Got a real footballing brain. He's a World Cup winner after all. I think Areola to use Mallister as an example has shortened the pitch so he can get the best out of him again. You know, I think it's really fascinating that Ryan Gravenber's not getting in this side where he was a staple of Anna Slot for the last two years. You know, Schlot comes in, he makes Gravenber the six. He plays Gravenberg in a way that plays to a lot of his attribute strengths. But Iola, I think, has come in again with that pragmatism of, okay, how do we, you know, how do we mend this whilst also building it ourselves? >> New contract for Mallister then. >> It's a hot topic, Vinnie, isn't it? That's that's for you to ask him, not me. >> We know he'd like one. Um, he made the point, Vinnie, a few weeks ago, didn't he? obviously about this contract, but Graven Burch got one, so Boslow got one. Where's mine? And um I mean I think you look back at his stats from last season and across a range of metrics, his performance levels were down like a lot of Liverpool players. Obviously, it was it was a big drop off last year from the title winning team, wasn't it? But um it feels like he has done some of that talking on the pitch. Mallister sort of back up what he'd said in that press conference. What's your sort of view Dan in terms of his position in the squad, his value to that squad and whether he's sort of worth investing in going forwards over the next few years as well in terms of like contract extensions? It's the question you never know with Liverpool and and any elite club now because of how much data they use as a supporter the the naked eye you can say he's a really good player playing well let's give him a deal but you know the club might have data which says okay we've seen metrics that that say he's got half a yard slower progressively season on season he's a player who's approaching his late 20s that's only going to go one way you know you just don't know what type of metrics they're using I know we're probably going to come on to talk about the legacy of Richard Hughes at some point and and you know one of those players around that decision in the summer of of 2025 when Liverpool win the league and they sell a lot of players is Lewis Diaz. Now a lot of Liverpool supporters wanted to keep Lewis Diaz. Lewis Diaz is a player who turns 30 in January. You know he wanted a a big contract on the on like say on the face of it you can say let's keep these players. they're playing really well, but there's a huge financial issue and question around these decisions. And also, I think there's a lot of data that we're not privy to, rightly, performance data that that Liverpool used to make these decisions. So, I I can say as a football fan, yeah, let's give Alexis Mallister a deal. I think a lot of people weren't saying that last season, and again, it's back to that thing of I think the system killed him >> a lot of the time. The one thing I would say about him this season isola loves him. Loves him. Will not he is the first the first name in his midfield. I think I'm not sure about the dynamic between him and Dominic Sabosli. I think there's a general Dominic Saboslai question which ultimately leads to the potential answer of his best position might actually be right back and he doesn't agree with that and he doesn't want that to be his reality and Liverpool have just given him a big contract on what I would assume to be big money but I think unless you're playing him number 10 and you're not because Florian Viet is occupying that position and I can't see a world in which Florian Viet ends up out of the Liverpool side. I just think that Sabos lies a massive question mark. >> Well, so I mean there's lots to unpick and lots to get into around that area of the pitch, isn't there? Because just just finally on Mallister, I think I think it's interesting that the new manager coming in and seeing a player or the team in a different way. Thinking back to when Slot came in and Graham Burch suddenly became this crucial player for him in that title winning season when his position and his value to that team had sort of been questioned I think going into that season at the back end of Jurgen Klopp's time. But then yeah okay if we go on to Sosa and then V he got a goal for Germany didn't he his first goal of the season against Serbia then drew a blank against Greece and I think Jamie Carrager speaking after the Bournemouth game where he was very critical about his performance he was hope sort of hoping there would be a a spark from Klopp for for Vitz and uh to to raise his level and to to bring out that potential that we all sort of feel is within him but he also said in that um analysis of his performance against Bournemouth he just couldn't and see him being in the team against Man City or deserving his spot in the team against Man City off the back of his current form. I mean Mark, it's a it's a huge problem and a expensive problem for Liverpool really, isn't it? Having invested so much money in him. >> Yeah, it's it's a the curious case of Floren Vitz, you know, how do you get the best out of him? Where is his role within the team? Will he adapt to the Premier League? And you know, you go back to the beginning, you know, Liverpool beat off Bayern Munich and Manchester City to sign Floren Viet. He was probably one of the most coveted 10s in world football at the time and Liverpool have attracted him. So he doesn't become a bad number 10 overnight and I just think there's there's some basics that that will need to be sorted. You know, the physicality of the Premier League, the ability that he has to make decisions far quicker than he's ever had to do and what's his best role within that Liverpool side. I'm convinced Andonia Raiola will have everything within what they do to find the best in him and that's what he's done historically. You know, he's always found the right role for the players and it's also about the players around him as well. And I know a lot of will get said about the price tag and the money that's been paid and and you know and and ultimately he has to deliver for Liverpool week in week out. It's not just a case of you know having a couple of good games. you know that investment is heavy and therefore he will be judged upon how much of an impact he has on the first team how many goals and assists he gets and when he leaves Anfield how much silverware has he been a part of that is in the cabinet I still think there's still a long way to go and because he's still in his early 20s you you have to give him that time to become the player that Liverpool fans and Liverpool clearly invested in but the pressure is certainly on particularly this season for him to start showing that investment and why they believed in him so Yeah, 23 years old, one assist from those five Premier League games so far this season. You've got five goals and three assists in the Premier League last year. Um Vy, not 116 million pound player numbers, are they? Clearly. Um but it how much of a big call would it be for Ireola to turn up at Liverpool and then to drop a player that the club have invested so much time in? I mean it was his hiring was part of his job remitt surely to say well I can get more out of this player than my predecessor did. >> Absolutely. But if it's not working then he'll take a big decision and and make that call. Ultimately I think Mark makes the point though as well that it is to do with the players around him and it is finding that balance as I touched on earlier in midfield and he's not necessarily helped I don't think by the fact that Liverpool don't have an outandout destroyer who can sit in front of that back four at the moment. Grain Burke has played that role, but I think we've seen him again at times this season how he wants to drive forward as well and play a part higher up the pitch. Mallister obviously that suits him better and Chos isn't someone who naturally sits and holds in midfield either. So there's a dynamic in that midfield who does what when and when you got Verts in there that leaves Liverpool at times completely wide open. We've seen how they've been caught on the counterattack. So it's solving that problem I think that is going to be key to getting the best out of Florenz at the moment. you've got that solidity behind him. It allows him to to play as well. Um I also think it's going to help Isach. Obviously, we'll see how he is regarding the injury, but so far he's been relatively injury-free at the start of this campaign. And if they strike up a relationship and a partnership because at times Vertz has played even further forward than a 10 almost as like a second striker off Isac. If their relationship thrives and you've got the the pace on the wings from the the likes of Barkle and the threat that he provides as well occupying defenders, maybe that opens up more spaces for Florenz gives him more time on the ball, more time to be creative and ultimately make the kind of impact that we're expecting from him. >> On the transfer fee, can I just say one thing as well? It's 100 million plus 16.5. I'd be surprised if it's gone much further than 100 million right now. You know, I think those add-ons will be Premier League, Champions League, you know, significant. So, >> but don't forget Liverpool want to pay those add-ons. >> Of course. Yeah. I think if you pay 116.5, it means that Floren Vitz has been a big part of Premier League titles and Champions League titles. Liverpool won't have a problem with that. But right now, I don't think we're getting anywhere close to the the 16.5. Well, even if we judge him as a 100 million pound player, I >>