Beating Ipswich has given Liverpool fans two big reasons to be thrilled with Andoni Iraola already
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Having taken 10 Premier League matches to record his first win as Bournemouth manager three years ago, Andoni Iraola was delighted to have stopped the count at three while in charge of Liverpool.“Definitely we couldn’t lose any more [points] today and I’m happy because I believe we controlled quite well the game,” Iraola said when asked if he was relieved to have picked up his first three points with the Reds.But while the win was clearly the most important part of Friday’s 2-0 victory at Ipswich, Iraola’s willingness to drop underperformers and the fact that Liverpool appear to be improving game on game are two things which are arguably even more encouraging for supporters. What did you think of Bradley Barcola’s Liverpool debut against Ipswich?
The Frenchman could get his first start against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday Photo Credit: Getty Images/Liverpool FC Iraola has no problem reacting to bad performancesThe main reason why Liverpool fans turned so unanimously against Arne Slot last season was of course the results his team were delivering.However, the Dutchman also lost plenty of support because of his refusal to take badly performing players out of the starting line-up.There were mitigating circumstances, perhaps, but his decision to persist with the likes of Ibrahima Konate, Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister in the face of continuously worsening form wore out the patience of the Anfield crowd.It is early days, but Iraola has shown already that he is not afraid to react to bad performances and to take players out of the team if necessary.READ MORE: Bradley Barcola is officially the fastest player in the Premier League after only half an hour of footballPhoto by Justin Setterfield/Getty ImagesThe best example of this against Ipswich was his decision to drop Jeremie Frimpong for Ronald Araujo at right-back.Frimpong has been disappointing during the opening two matches of the season, and though he will have his chances to regain his spot in the team, it was the right decision to try something different at Portman Road. Iraola looks like he sees the problems within his line-ups, and works quickly to fix them.
That is a big improvement on what fans have become used to.Liverpool are getting better under IraolaFriday felt like a big game for Iraola, because if he had gone a third game without a Premier League win, against a newly-promoted team no less, some rumblings of disquiet might have begun.Quite how loud they would have been would likely have depended on the performance. Give us your reaction to Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Ipswich on Friday night How good was it to see Alexander Isak get a couple of goals 😍 Shaun Botterill/Getty Images As it was, Liverpool fans have a win and a much-improved display to celebrate this Saturday, and having spent so much of last season feeling like things were getting worse and worse, it is great to see the team moving in the right direction once again.Iraola will be forgiven a lot this season if supporters can at least see improvement and a clear style of play being implemented.The latter is starting to come, although will still take a bit of time, but it is clear that Liverpool are already better than they were on matchday one against Newcastle and matchday two vs Nottingham Forest.Wins do help, of course, but this was not the jammy, last-minute victories that Slot was recording at the beginning of last term.