Head coach Andoni Iraola has turned his attention to Liverpool's attacking players following a lackluster goalless draw with Fulham, arguing that the front line must contribute more defensively for his tactical approach to succeed.
Iraola conceded that his side took "a step backwards" in the result, which marked the third draw in four Premier League outings. The performance raised questions about the midfield pairing of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, who struggled against their Fulham counterparts—winning just two of five and one of nine duels respectively. However, Iraola was quick to point out that the root of the problem lay further up the pitch, with the pressing effort of Liverpool's costly attacking unit falling short.
"It's not a matter of just the midfielders," Iraola explained. "When we have been good collectively the midfielders have looked a lot better and recovered more balls. It's not because they are winning duels that they play better, it's because we are helping them more to win the duels."
The coach elaborated on how the team's structure depends on cohesive pressing from the front, stating that failure by the forwards to do their job places extra strain on those behind them. "If the ones up front do their job very well then the defenders and midfielders look good. If we are allowing them to defend one v one all the time and we are not aggressive, then our defenders will also struggle," he said. "If the players ahead of you are doing their job then you look a better midfielder or defender because you win more easier duels, you have more chance of winning one. It is more collective."
Rather than pointing to individual personnel changes, Iraola emphasized that the solution lies in improved collective effort. "It isn't about changing this player for that player. That's the help we have to give to our defenders and midfielders so everyone looks better, looks smarter and are in better positions," he added.
Looking ahead to Tuesday's Carabao Cup third-round clash against Tottenham at Anfield, Iraola is expected to rotate his frontline, meaning Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Víctor Muñoz may not all feature together as they did against Fulham. Young midfielder Trey Nyoni is reportedly pushing for a starting role, while goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili—a player Iraola once attempted to sign while at Bournemouth—is set to make his first appearance of the season in place of Alisson.
Reflecting further on the issues from Saturday's stalemate, Iraola noted a shift in where his team was winning possession compared to earlier fixtures. "Compared to previous games, we won the ball a lot lower in the pitch. We don't concede a lot, and the only big chance we conceded was our goal-kick that we messed up. But we were recovering the ball always very low and when that happens you have to attack against 11 players and that makes it more difficult to make the difference," he said.
He contrasted this with previous matches where higher recoveries allowed Liverpool to exploit quick transitions against a disorganized defense. "In previous games we could win it a lot higher and use our quick transitions to attack against less players and use the space better. That is key to our system. We need to recover the ball as high as possible because it makes the offensive side a lot easier, and we have more situations to attack in one v one," Iraola concluded.
With the Tottenham tie approaching, Iraola will be hoping his front players heed the message and restore the aggressive pressing that has underpinned Liverpool's better performances this season.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.