Andoni Iraola's Challenge at Liverpool: Balancing Klopp and Slot

Andoni Iraola knows exactly what he has walked into at Liverpool. His own words keep underlining it.

The Spaniard needed 10 games to taste victory in the Premier League with Bournemouth in 2023. At Anfield, he will at least have to wait for matchday two. A 2-2 draw with Newcastle on opening day laid bare just how far this Liverpool side is from playing his football.

They were outrun. They were ragged. At times, they looked like a team unsure which version of themselves to trust.

Caught Between Klopp and Slot

Iraola had already hinted at the problem during Liverpool’s preseason tour of the United States, lamenting a lack of “energy” in what felt like a pointed reference to the Arne Slot era.

Then came his sit-down with Steven Gerrard for TNT Sports, and the tactical fault line became even clearer. Asked whether he felt closer in style to Slot or Jurgen Klopp, Iraola didn’t hesitate to lean towards the man who defined Liverpool’s recent identity.

“Probably closer to Jurgen, probably, I would say. But I loved a lot of the things that the team had with Arne also,” he replied.

That duality runs through everything he says. He wants Klopp’s speed, aggression and verticality. He also recognises that the squad has spent the recent past being drilled to dominate the ball under Slot.

“There has to be a balance. Things are going to evolve differently because the first game we had 60, 61 percent of possession straight away,” Iraola said of the draw with Newcastle.

Then came the line that should make everyone at Liverpool sit up.

“Naturally, because the natural tendency of the players is towards that side, and I need to adapt also towards that side. ... But we also need to keep being vertical, keep attacking, keep taking sometimes some risks.”

Possession Habits, Transition Problems

Those “tendencies” were easy to spot. Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez frequently took up high, advanced positions while Liverpool had the ball, happy to operate close to the attacking third.

Under Slot, that was the plan: pin opponents back, circulate possession, patiently chip away at a low block. The pitch shrinks, the game slows, and you wait for a gap.

Iraola wants the opposite rhythm. He wants tempo. He wants direct runs, quick punches through the lines, a team that can go from back to front before the opponent has time to breathe.

When too many players stay high and wide without the ball moving quickly enough, the risk flips. Every turnover becomes a launchpad for the opposition. Against Newcastle, that imbalance was brutal on a 35-year-old Virgil van Dijk and the inexperienced Jeremy Jacquet, who were repeatedly asked to defend big spaces in transition.

Both goals Liverpool conceded stemmed from those structural problems. Too many bodies committed forward in slow possession. Too much grass left behind them. Too much strain on a back line that isn’t built for constant footraces.

If Iraola wants a vertical, aggressive Liverpool, he has to drag this squad away from some of the positional security they learned under Slot — without losing the control that comes with it. That is not a quick tweak. It is a rebuild of instinct.

The Fitness Question That Won’t Go Away

This isn’t just about ideas on a tactics board. Iraola has already questioned whether his players can physically sustain the level he demands.

After a preseason match against Leeds in early August, he was blunt.

“I think we played really good [in the] first half, especially the first 30 minutes, but right now probably we don't have much more in terms of the level required to play like this,” he said. “Then they were much better in the second half.

“The problem is right now probably they don't have the energy for 90 minutes and they start to get tired. It will take time with them, we need more training with them.”

That was before the real stuff started. Newcastle on opening day only reinforced his point. Liverpool faded, lost duels, and could not maintain the intensity his style demands across the full game.

So Iraola stands at a crossroads with two clear Slot-era legacies to fix: a possession-first mindset that clashes with his vertical instincts, and a fitness base that doesn’t yet match the tempo he wants.

He knows this will not be instant. The club, and the fanbase, may need to accept that too. The question now is simple: how much patience will there be while Liverpool’s “natural tendency” is unlearned and something sharper, faster and far more Iraola takes its place?