Iraola shares his honest thoughts on Liverpool press after Fulham draw | OneFootball

Andoni Iraola Pinpoints Liverpool Problem After 0-0 Fulham Draw at Anfield

Liverpool dropped two points in a flat 0-0 draw with Fulham at Anfield, and Andoni Iraola did not waste time dressing it up. The game was defined by one issue, Liverpool lacked enough in attack to turn control into goals.

That was the head coach’s central message after the final whistle. Liverpool kept a clean sheet, limited Fulham for long spells and improved after the break, but the blunt truth remained that they did not create enough. In a match where the margin for error was always going to be small, one spark, one set-piece or one clean strike could have settled it. Liverpool never found it.

Iraola summed up the problem clearly: “I think what was lacking was quite clear. I think it’s the first game since I’m here that we’ve had problems to create chances to score goals, to make the difference offensively. That’s the main reason that we couldn’t create as many chances as we wanted. We haven’t scored a goal and that’s why we go with just one point.”

Liverpool attack fails to find edge

This was not a chaotic performance. It was simply a limited one. Liverpool had territory and phases of pressure, but too much of their play lacked incision. The final pass was short, the movement was not sharp enough and the finishing openings were scarce. For a side that had been building momentum, this was the first proper reminder that control means little without threat.

Iraola also pointed to the schedule. He was not making excuses, but he was acknowledging what was obvious. Liverpool looked short of freshness after the midweek exertions, and that showed most in the final third, where sharpness is often the first thing to go.

Photo: IMAGO

His view was direct: “I think there is a lack of freshness, definitely – we cannot hide it. I think it’s the worst turnaround in terms of 60-something hours between the games, after a very big game the other day. But this is going to happen more times. Maybe with one more day but sometimes it’s going to be the same way during the season. We have to adapt to these circumstances. And it’s these kind of games that you need to win sometimes with a set-play, sometimes with the shot from the edge, sometimes from a moment of brilliance from the offensive players, and we haven’t had that today. We’ve been clearly not as good offensively as we’ve been [in] other days.”

That is a fair reading. Fulham did not carve Liverpool apart. They did not need to. They stayed organised, waited for loose moments and watched Liverpool fail to accelerate the game often enough.

Anfield control without cutting power

The first half was the weaker of Liverpool’s two periods. Iraola admitted his side were late to the press and lacked the structure needed to pin Fulham down properly. In the second half there was more order, more control and a better defensive shape, but still no breakthrough.

He said: “I think today, especially first half, we were arriving late to the presses. It’s clear. I think we improved this part a lot in the second half. With better structures, I think we controlled better the game in the second half, even without scoring the goal, but I was feeling more comfortable. Even if we haven’t been incredible in that aspect, we’ve struggled sometimes, I think we haven’t also conceded clear chances. I think the one we concede is the one that we mess up in the goal-kick. That’s, I think, the clear chance we concede. From there, I think that we’ve defended quite well. We’ve given us the chances in terms of keeping the clean sheet. We’ve had probably our best chances coming from set-plays, the crossbar, the one from Alex [Isak] I remember in the second half. But not clear enough or not to have been able to score the goal that you need in this kind of game where you are not brilliant.”

That is the game in one paragraph. Liverpool were stable enough to avoid defeat, but not dangerous enough to deserve victory. There were moments from dead-ball situations, a crossbar and one decent opportunity for Alexander Isak, yet the overall picture was sterile. For all the noise that often surrounds a goalless draw, this was a simple football problem. The attack did not function at the level required.

Selection calls around Endo and Barcola

Iraola was also asked about Wataru Endo, who remains a useful option but is currently behind others in the midfield pecking order. The explanation was practical, Endo missed a significant chunk of pre-season and has strong competition ahead of him.

As Iraola put it: “I think Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season. I think he’s still not at his best but he’s training very well. The problem is, in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He’s competing against a lot of players because we are also giving minutes to try Ryan [Gravenberch], Alexis [Mac Allister], Dom [Szoboszlai], players that I am selecting right now. But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”

There was also interest in Bradley Barcola, who started on the left after featuring on the right in midweek. Iraola’s position on his wide players is straightforward, he wants flexibility, and he sees all four wingers as capable of switching flanks according to opponent and game state.

He explained: “I think I said it a lot of times, we have four wingers and probably before the season everyone would say we had more left wingers than right wingers because they’ve played more there. All the wingers will play on the right and play on the left, depending on the match-ups, depending where we think they are going to be more dangerous, depending sometimes on the defensive demands, depending what we feel, what we analyse. I think Bradley, I think everyone – the four of them – have already played both sides and it is going to be all the season like this.”

On Barcola’s first Premier League start, the message was again about conditioning and rhythm rather than instant fireworks. Iraola said: “I think with Bradley we are also building his physical condition because he hasn’t had any minutes in pre-season and I think there is a good part where today he played, I think, a little bit more even than three days ago against Atletico Madrid. He had a good chance [at the] second post; they blocked the shot but he arrived well. Probably we know he has more but now it’s about giving him the minutes, keep building his confidence and he’s a player that is going to give us more.”

Anfield pressure not part of equation

There was one idea quickly dismissed by Iraola, the suggestion that Liverpool might somehow be feeling added pressure at Anfield. He rejected it outright. In his view, the reasons for this result were on the pitch, not in the stands.

His answer was blunt: “I haven’t felt it, I didn’t feel it three days ago against Atletico Madrid. I prefer to play at home, definitely. I prefer to be at home. We cannot find the reasons outside, we have to find the reasons inside the pitch, in us. We know that if we push, the people will be with us. This is 100 per cent.”

That is probably the fairest conclusion to draw from the afternoon. Liverpool did not lose because of atmosphere, nerves or external pressure. They drew because their attacking game fell short. The structure improved as the match went on, the defending was mostly solid and the clean sheet gave them a platform. What they lacked was the decisive moment.

For Liverpool, the concern is not that every part of the performance was poor. It was narrower than that. The concern is that against a well-drilled opponent, with a tight turnaround and less energy in the legs, they had no answer. At this level, that is enough to turn a home game into a 0-0 and a routine three points into a frustrating one.