Andoni Iraola sought to ease concerns over Jeremie Frimpong's fitness after the Liverpool full-back was withdrawn late in a chaotic 4-2 defeat to Leeds United during their pre-season tour of the United States.
Frimpong was taken off with 13 minutes remaining at Soldier Field in Chicago, adding to a growing list of defensive worries for the newly appointed Liverpool boss. The setback came just days after Joe Gomez sustained a muscle injury during the club's opening tour match, a 4-2 win over Sunderland, an issue that is expected to keep him sidelined for the beginning of the Premier League campaign.
With Iraola already contending with one fitness issue in defense, he was quick to play down the severity of Frimpong's withdrawal. According to the manager, the Dutch international asked to be substituted himself, but the situation is not thought to be serious.
"Jeremie asked for the sub, [but] I don't think it's an injury. It was just some overload and I hope he's not injured in that way. I don't think we've lost anyone," Iraola told LFCTV.
The defeat represented Iraola's first loss since taking charge of Liverpool, and it came after his side appeared well in control for large stretches of the contest. Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead by half-time thanks to goals from Luke Chambers and Florian Wirtz, with the latter's strike particularly notable as it marked his first pre-season outing since returning from World Cup duty. Wirtz featured alongside fellow attacking talents Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak as Liverpool dominated the opening 45 minutes.
However, the match turned dramatically in the second half. Leeds, who had trailed by two goals, mounted an extraordinary comeback. Brenden Aaronson pulled one back with around half an hour left to play, cutting the deficit to a single goal. The floodgates then opened for the Yorkshire side, who scored twice in the space of just two minutes through Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Sean Longstaff to complete a stunning turnaround and put Leeds ahead for the first time in the match.
Calvert-Lewin was not finished there, adding his second goal of the afternoon in the 85th minute to seal a 4-2 victory and complete one of the more eye-catching pre-season reversals of the summer.
Despite the result, Iraola insisted there were valuable lessons to be taken from the encounter, describing it as arguably the most instructive of Liverpool's pre-season fixtures so far, even if the outcome was not what he wanted.
"We learned a lot of things," Iraola said. "It's not the result we wanted, but the most useful friendly we've played. In a positive way in the first half, a negative way in the second half. We learned a lot and I think we can take good conclusions and solve some things."
Liverpool's preparations for the new season continue with two further pre-season friendlies at Anfield, against Monaco and Como respectively, before their Premier League campaign gets underway away at Newcastle United on 23 August. Iraola will be hoping to have his defensive options fully fit and firing by then, particularly with Gomez's recovery timeline still uncertain and questions lingering over Frimpong's condition following his premature withdrawal in Chicago.
Based on reporting from Independent (Football).