Iraola Faces Challenge in Liverpool's League Cup Journey
Andoni Iraola feels the strain before a ball is even kicked.
Four league games into his Liverpool reign, a Champions League campaign already in full swing and now Tottenham arriving at Anfield in the Carabao Cup, the new head coach is discovering the brutal truth of English football’s calendar: it does not wait for anyone.
Iraola’s balancing act
Asked whether he can simply go full strength again in the League Cup, Iraola did not pretend.
“No,” he admitted. You can pick the same XI every three days if you like, but at some point the legs go, the minds slow and the injury risk spikes. Some players, he says, are “very robust”, able to churn out 90 minutes after 90 minutes without their level dipping. Others need protecting. The trick, and he is only just starting to learn it, is working out who belongs in which group.
“I thought I had it quite clear in my mind with some,” he said. With others, the picture is fuzzier. Several have never been asked to play this often. They are discovering their limits at the same time as their manager.
That is the context to a Tottenham tie that would, in a normal early round, have offered sanctuary: fringe players, academy debuts, a gentler night’s work. Liverpool instead have a fellow Premier League side, one with problems of their own but still dangerous enough that heavy rotation becomes a gamble.
So what now? Use the competition to jolt the mood after a flat draw with Fulham, or respect the looming fixture pile-up and rest those already showing signs of fatigue? There is no easy answer, only risk on both sides.
A flat Anfield and an early warning
The goalless draw with Fulham felt like a warning shot.
Two home league games, two draws. For just the third time in 63 years, Liverpool have failed to win either of their opening Anfield fixtures in a top-flight season. That is not the launch Iraola imagined.
The contrast with midweek was stark. Against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, Liverpool were sharp, aggressive, relentless. Against Fulham, a side low on confidence and leaking goals, they looked what they were: physically and mentally tired. The same shirts, a different team.
This was the first real look at how Iraola’s style copes with the grind of two games a week. On this evidence, the adaptation is still in its early stages. Six points from four league matches – with home draws against Nottingham Forest and Fulham, a draw at Newcastle and a solitary win at Ipswich – is not catastrophic, but it is short of the standards Liverpool expect of themselves.
The £364m front line of Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz started a league game together for the first time. On paper, it is a terrifying trio. On the pitch, it remains a work in progress.
Isak had just 16 touches in 90 minutes – the second fewest on record for a Liverpool outfield player, only “beaten” by his own 14 touches against Forest two weeks earlier. Wirtz, outstanding against Atletico, looked a shadow of that player. Barcola and Isak flashed promise in moments, but the chemistry is not there yet. It will take time. Time is the one thing the calendar does not give you.
Fulham dig in, Liverpool run out of ideas
Alvaro Arbeloa arrived under pressure, three defeats from three in the league since taking the Fulham job in the summer. He left with his first Premier League point and a performance that suggested his side are listening.
Fulham were organised, disciplined and, on another day, could have taken all three points. They should have led early when Gonzalo Garcia’s effort, created by a mix-up between Alisson and Ryan Gravenberch, was hacked off the line by Jeremy Jacquet. Josh King forced a save from Alisson, Antonee Robinson headed wide. Liverpool’s problems were not just creative; they were self-inflicted.
Iraola tried to freshen things up. Kostas Tsimikas, Ryan Gravenberch and Victor Munoz started, with Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister and Rio Ngumoha dropping out. Tsimikas struggled and made way at the break for Kerkez. By the hour, Gravenberch and Munoz had been replaced by Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo as Iraola chased a spark.
There were half-chances. Munoz saw a header beaten away by Bernd Leno. Barcola’s volley was deflected behind by Timothy Castagne. Isak worked an opening but shot too close to Leno, who also tipped over a fierce drive from Dominik Szoboszlai. Late on, Iraola threw on Ngumoha and Jeremie Frimpong. The pattern did not change.
Deep into stoppage time, Isak headed wide from a corner. Fulham, still threatening on the break through King and Kevin, held firm. Arbeloa, who played 98 games for Liverpool between 2007 and 2009, walked off Anfield’s pitch with a point and a small measure of vindication.
For Iraola, the lesson was harsher: intensity is not a switch you can flick every three days with the same players.
A cup built into Liverpool’s DNA
If there is one competition that should feel like home to Liverpool, it is this one.
Ten times they have lifted the League Cup, more than any other club. The first came in 1980-81, the start of an extraordinary run of four consecutive triumphs that ended in 1984. Then came the long wait, broken in 1995 when Steve McManaman’s brace sank Bolton at Wembley.
The new millennium brought a resurgence. Gerard Houllier guided Liverpool to the trophy in 2001 and again in 2003, the latter at the expense of Manchester United. In 2012, Kenny Dalglish’s second spell in charge yielded another win, this time on penalties against Cardiff City.
The modern era has its own chapter. Jurgen Klopp delivered an unforgettable shootout victory over Chelsea in 2022, 11-10 on spot-kicks, before adding a 10th League Cup in 2024 by beating Chelsea again in the final.
That is the weight of history Iraola walks into. This is not a competition Liverpool treat as an afterthought. It has been a proving ground, a launchpad, a habit.
The question now is simple and demanding: can Iraola, still learning which of his players are truly “robust” enough for this relentless rhythm, steer Liverpool to number 11 without breaking the very squad he needs to get there?
