How Iraola’s Liverpool Will Evolve Tactically

Liverpool are unbeaten, but they look nothing like Iraola’s plan yet

Six games in, zero defeats, and still a sense that Liverpool were only showing a faint outline of what Andoni Iraola actually wanted. The league table looked kind enough, yet the performances told a more complicated story: dropped points to Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Fulham, long slow spells in possession, and very little of the wild energy that defined Iraola’s Bournemouth.

PedTalks research indicates the club hierarchy expected exactly this tension. The numbers gave comfort, the eye test raised questions. Hidden inside that contradiction is the story of a team in transition: Liverpool were learning to go slow in order to go fast again.

From chaos merchant to control addict

At Bournemouth, Iraola built his reputation on chaos. His team pressed high, trapped opponents near the touchline, and attacked in vertical waves. Liverpool supporters imagined that same storm in red shirts, especially with the talent at Iraola’s disposal.

The reality started very differently. Liverpool often played at a walking tempo. The ball shuffled across the back line, into midfield and back again. The crowd waited for the trigger that never quite came.

That was not an accident. PedTalks research indicates Iraola’s first priority was control. After years of heavy metal football under Jürgen Klopp and a final season that often resembled a basketball game, Liverpool needed to rediscover stability.

His structure is simple on paper. In the first phase of build up, Liverpool look to create a three plus two shape in possession: three players on the last defensive line, usually the centre backs plus one full back tucking in, and two midfielders ahead of them. The idea is stable circulation at the back, then an explosion forward once the right lane opens.

The problem in these early weeks was that Liverpool often stopped at the first step. They kept the ball, but they did not break lines often enough. The tempo dropped, the opposition settled, and the matches turned into slow exercises rather than the assertive control Iraola sought.

Why they moved so slowly with the ball

The most striking issue sat in midfield. Iraola wants his double pivot to offer constant passing options and brave positioning between opposition forwards to invite pressure. When that pressure comes, the team can then punch forward into the spaces behind.

In practice, Liverpool’s midfielders often received the ball with their back to goal, took extra touches, and looked sideways instead of forward. Sometimes the distances between midfield and attack grew too large, with the forwards waiting high while the ball shuffled behind them.

Full backs were reluctant to bomb on because the ball circulation felt fragile. Centre backs hesitated to step in, worried about transitions. The front line grew disconnected, star attackers dropping ever deeper to get touches they should have been receiving on the turn in the final third.

Reports suggest that training sessions under Iraola were relentless about small details: first touch direction, body orientation, and pre scanning before receiving. Liverpool should not just keep the ball, they should threaten with every pass.

The early season side did one half of the job. Possession figures looked respectable, but the danger that should have flowed from that control arrived only in flashes.

Off the ball, a press that flickered

Iraola’s identity is tied to pressing with specific traps and triggers. At Bournemouth, the team hunted the ball near the touchline and used the touchline as an extra defender. At Liverpool, the principles are similar, but layered onto a squad that spent years pressing in a different way.

Liverpool under Klopp focused on directing teams inside, into the congestion of central midfield. Iraola’s early Liverpool tried to invite passes to the full back, then jump aggressively to lock the ball on that flank.

That required precision. The first presser had to angle his run correctly, the second and third had to squeeze up at the exact moment, the back line had to hold a high starting position. When it worked, Liverpool looked like Iraola’s Bournemouth but with elite talent. When it did not, huge gaps opened between midfield and defence and opponents broke the press with one vertical pass.

The Fulham match crystallised the issue. Liverpool applied pressure but not in unison. One forward jumped, the rest lagged. The midfield line sometimes sat too deep, worried about balls over the top. Fulham calmly played through the spaces that appeared, especially when Liverpool’s wider central midfielder stepped out without cover behind him.

PedTalks team sources suggest Iraola was pragmatic in response. Instead of insisting on constant all out pressing, he began to dial in selective intensity. Liverpool would press hard after a turnover or in specific zones, then drop into a more compact mid block elsewhere.

How control is meant to create chaos

The contradiction at the heart of Iraola’s approach is that he seeks chaos through control. The plan is not end to end madness. It is a system where Liverpool keep opponents exactly where they want them, then unleash that famous red storm.

First, secure stable circulation at the back so the team is not exposed to easy counters. Second, lure the opposition to press with tempting passes into the double pivot or an inverted full back. Third, once the opponent commits, hit a vertical pass into the feet of a dropping forward or an attacking midfielder in the half space. Fourth, attack the disorganised back line with runners from wide and midfield.

In these early weeks, Liverpool were getting stuck between the second and third step. They attracted pressure but did not break it often enough. Attacks stalled in safe areas and those signature surges never fully formed.

When the system clicked for brief spells, you could see the promised future. Those glimpses are why there is patience at the club. The blueprint is visible, just not yet automatic.

What needs to improve next

The first area is tempo in possession. That means playing at the right speed in the right zones: slower in the first line to draw opponents out, then sharply vertical once the space opens. Liverpool’s midfielders need to trust riskier forward passes, and the forwards need to keep offering angles between the lines.

Second, the coordination of the press still has room to grow. Liverpool will not become Iraola’s ideal team until the front three and midfield four move as a single unit. The encouraging sign is that the distances between lines already looked shorter than in Klopp’s final season.

Third, the squad balance might still require tweaks. A press resistant midfielder who thrives under pressure and a wide forward who is comfortable defending high and narrow would both fit naturally into the model.

Finally, there is the psychological shift. Liverpool are learning to dominate games in a more controlled way again. The chaos will return, but it will be organised and triggered, not constant.

Six matches without defeat offered a protective cushion while Iraola installed his principles. The next step is for performances to catch up with results. Once the press clicks and the tempo rises, Liverpool under Andoni Iraola will not just be unbeaten. They will be unmistakable.