Seven competitive games. Four wins. Three draws. No defeats.
Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool have made a start that invites optimism without quite earning complete confidence. There is resilience here, some encouraging individual performances and evidence of a team learning. There is also a familiar frustration: Liverpool have too often needed something to go wrong before finding their urgency.
After five league matches, nine points from fifteen leaves room for improvement. Victories over Atlético Madrid and Tottenham in the cups add substance to the early results. The question is how quickly Iraola can make winning feel routine. His side’s European comeback and Carabao Cup progress offer grounds for encouragement.
The opening draws exposed the first problem. Liverpool twice fell behind at Newcastle and twice against Nottingham Forest. Recovering on both occasions showed determination, but constantly repairing damage is an expensive way to collect points. The late equaliser at St James’ Park felt valuable; another home draw a week later felt like an opportunity missed. Those reactions can both be justified. Newcastle match report, Forest match report.
Iraola’s explanation after Forest was revealing. He connected Liverpool’s slow attacking play to their passivity without the ball: too much distance from opponents, too little pressure, too much time for Forest to settle. That gives us a useful way to judge the coming weeks. His football requires players to move together. One forward charging at a defender achieves little if the midfield cannot close the next pass. Iraola’s post-match assessment.
There is already a better defensive sequence to build on. Ipswich, Fulham and Bournemouth brought three successive Premier League clean sheets, with seven points collected. That is meaningful progress after conceding four times across the opening two matches. Ipswich report, Fulham report, Bournemouth report.
Bournemouth also offered a reminder to keep the praise proportionate. Alisson made important saves, and Liverpool had to withstand pressure. A clean sheet tells us the outcome; it does not establish that every defensive problem has been solved.
Still, there was satisfaction in that 1-0 win. Cody Gakpo’s work down the right helped create the opening, Alexander Isak finished it, and Liverpool protected their advantage. Winning a tight away game is a useful habit for a new manager to establish.
Isak’s contribution is becoming particularly valuable. His double at Ipswich and winner at Bournemouth supplied all three goals in Liverpool’s first two league victories. A reliable finisher gives a developing team breathing space. The next challenge is to create enough good opportunities that Liverpool’s results do not depend on him taking almost everything that comes his way.
The goalless draw with Fulham showed why that matters. Iraola acknowledged both a shortage of attacking invention and a lack of freshness after the European fixture. He also accepted that these turnarounds will keep happening. Liverpool need a way to win when their legs are heavy and their passing is slightly off. His Fulham assessment.
That makes the Tottenham cup victory especially encouraging. Iraola changed ten players and still got a performance with enough energy and quality to progress. His praise for Lewis Koumas’s work rate, and for the younger players’ commitment, suggested that places can be earned by doing what the team needs. Rotation will be central to sustaining the intensity he wants. Iraola on the cup win.
There is encouragement in his willingness to examine his own decisions, too. After beating Atlético, Iraola accepted responsibility for Liverpool’s early difficulties matching the visitors’ unexpected shape. He then explained how the team adjusted. That is a promising combination: accountability from the touchline and a response on the pitch.
My early verdict is cautiously positive. Iraola has earned patience through results and shown enough self-awareness to suggest he understands the shortcomings.
Now Liverpool need sharper starts, more dependable chance creation and performances that survive the demands of playing twice a week. Supporters can accept a team learning a new manager’s football. What we want to see is that learning translate into fewer afternoons spent chasing the game.
The unbeaten start is welcome. Turning those draws into wins will tell us how far this Liverpool can go.
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