Winning remains essential in football, but for many fans, the manner in which a team plays in pursuit of victories holds equal importance. When results fail to materialize, a style that engages supporters can often extend a manager’s tenure more than a purely pragmatic approach.

Andoni Iraola has taken over as Liverpool head coach, stepping in to replace Arne Slot just a season after Slot led the team to a Premier League title. There are expectations that Iraola’s coaching style will resonate with the high-energy “heavy metal” football that fans cherished under Jurgen Klopp.

As Liverpool embarks on pre-season matches under Iraola, the team has recorded victories against Sunderland and Wrexham, although they suffered defeats where they squandered two-goal leads against Leeds and Monaco.

The team has averaged 60.6% possession during this brief pre-season, reflecting a significant 12.9% increase compared to their possession average from last league season under Bournemouth with Iraola as coach.

As opponents are prone to playing defensively against Liverpool, managing possession presents a new challenge for Iraola. He seeks to maintain the intense and dynamic style characteristic of his previous teams.

Many elements of Iraola’s tactical approach in possession mirror his methods from last season. Liverpool has occasionally opted for short build-ups involving their goalkeeper, four defenders, and one or two central midfielders positioned deep. Midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Trey Nyoni often drop back to receive the ball, facilitating play towards wide players in advantageous positions.

Known for his fast and vertical counter-attacks, Iraola has encouraged Liverpool to hold the ball with intent. The short passes during build-up aim to provoke pressure from opponents, allowing Liverpool to exploit counter-attacking opportunities once the opposition commits players forward.

If opponents initiate pressing immediately, Liverpool has shown readiness to bypass short build-up play, opting instead for long balls early from goalkeepers Alisson or Giorgi Mamardashvili. This direct approach positions the team well to capitalize on second balls and seize spaces created within disorganized defenses.

Winning is important – but for many fans, how a team plays in the hunt for wins is almost as significant. When results don’t come, a style that fans enjoy watching often buys a manager more time than a pragmatist might be afforded.

Influences from Marcelo Bielsa, one of his long-time managerial role models, are evident in Iraola’s strategies. The former Leeds United coach guided Iraola during his tenure at Athletic Club from 2011 to 2013. Acknowledging this influence, Iraola noted, “I use a lot of exercises from Marcelo that I learned from him, especially with the ball.”

Bielsa’s teams were notably dynamic, encouraging creative movement and positional interchange among players. Similarly, Liverpool showcases a lively attacking style, often eschewing traditional positional rigidity.

Iraola has incorporated concepts learned from Bielsa, such as using overlapping wide player combinations to dismantle opposing defenses. With Liverpool’s wide play prominently displayed, full-backs frequently advance into the attacking third alongside wingers like Rio Ngumoha or Cody Gakpo.

Midfielder Florian Wirtz, often deployed as Liverpool’s number 10, adapts to various positions, contributing to creating dynamic attacking triangles. Simplifying the attacking dynamic into two-v-two or three-v-three scenarios allows Liverpool to generate frequent scoring opportunities.

Nonetheless, this attacking approach leaves Liverpool vulnerable defensively. In initial outings, full-backs join the attack, at times leading to only two center-backs and a holding midfielder remaining positioned defensively. This scenario echoes vulnerabilities from Slot’s season, which also encountered challenges against rapid counter-attacks.

Iraola has expressed a desire to enhance control while maintaining the chaotic yet effective attack, potentially opting to keep more players back as the season develops. This strategy aligns with his historical leanings toward placing six or seven players forward while leaving three or four behind during offensive plays.

To mitigate counter-attacks, he encourages rigorous counter-pressing, a strategy facilitated through attacking down the flanks with additional support nearby. However, the execution remains a work in progress at this nascent stage.

Iraola acknowledged after a recent setback against Monaco that his side “can’t sustain the level we want; we have work to do,” attributing lapses in performance to depth issues, physicality reductions, and an imperfect pressing system.

Throughout pre-season, we have also seen Iraola’s trademark high press. What stands out is the roles Liverpool’s players are taking up and what that tells us about how he wants his side to defend.

Overall, while four pre-season games offer limited insight, Iraola’s imprint on Liverpool is becoming increasingly apparent, echoing principles from his Bournemouth tenure. The effectiveness of balancing intensity, style, and the need for ball dominance will shape his inaugural season at the helm.

Winning is important – but for many fans, how a team plays in the hunt for wins is almost as significant.

When results don’t come, a style that fans enjoy watching often buys a manager more time than a pragmatist might be afforded.

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Andoni Iraola replaced Arne Slot as Liverpool head coach a season after the latter won the Premier League with the Reds.

Many believe the Spanish coach’s style is more aligned with the ‘heavy metal’ style of football Anfield had come to love under Jurgen Klopp.

So how have Liverpool fared in their pre-season games so far under Iraola?

Liverpool have beaten Sunderland and Wrexham in pre-season, but they threw away two-goal leads in defeats by both Leeds and Monaco.

They averaged 60.6% possession over this small sample size – which is a 12.9% jump on Bournemouth’s average possession under Iraola in the league last season.

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With teams more likely to sit deep against Liverpool, having lots of possession is a newer challenge Iraola has to tackle.

And he has looked to do this while sticking to the intense and chaotic style that typified his previous sides.

Since joining Liverpool, many of Iraola’s tactics in possession look as they did last season.

Liverpool have looked to build up short at times with their goalkeeper, four defenders and one or two central midfielders deep.

Dominik Szoboszlai and Trey Nyoni, Liverpool’s preferred deeper midfield duo in pre-season, drop to show for the ball, bouncing it towards wide players in space.

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Iraola’s sides have become known for fast and vertical counter-attacks but, with Liverpool looking to hold the ball more deliberately, these short passes in build-up are designed to entice opposition pressure before accelerating play.

Once a team have committed players to pressing Liverpool, Iraola’s men look for forward passes readily – almost manufacturing their own counter-attacks.

If a team press immediately, Liverpool have been willing to skip short build-up play and go long from keepers Alisson or Giorgi Mamardashvili early.

By playing directly, even if Liverpool lose the initial duel, they are well placed to pounce upon second balls. They then look to attack the spaces that open up centrally against disorganised defences.

Many of Iraola’s attacking principles resemble those of one of his long-time managerial inspirations, the former Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa.

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The Argentine coached Iraola at Athletic Club between 2011 and 2013 and, speaking to Sky Sports in 2023, the Liverpool boss acknowledged this influence.

“I use a lot of exercises from Marcelo that I learned from him, especially with the ball,” Iraola said.

“Offensively, his teams are very dynamic, willing to make all the runs to the space, he is ready to accept this kind of disorder offensively.”

Like Bielsa’s sides, Iraola already has the Reds playing in a busy manner. When attacking, it is rare to see Liverpool’s players filling specific areas in a rigid style.

Another tactic Bielsa leans on is the use of wide pairings or trios to break teams down. Iraola experienced this at first hand when playing as a right-back for him.

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The full-back and winger would regularly combine on the outside, but the relationship was never as simple as one holding the width and the other supporting underneath statically.

Bielsa, like Iraola now, encouraged players to change their positions in relation to each other.

The winger could come inside, opening the outside lane for the full-back, while a midfielder would move towards the pair to create a third passing option.

On other occasions, the full-back could move inside himself, allowing the winger to remain high and wide.

Liverpool are already showing similar patterns under Iraola, especially on the left, where full-backs have pushed into the final third alongside Rio Ngumoha or Cody Gakpo on the left wing.

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Florian Wirtz, playing primarily as Liverpool’s number 10 under Iraola, has drifted to that flank to provide a third option capable of playing centrally, deep or out wide.

The rotations of these wide triangles make it hard for opponents to know who they should be picking up.

By simplifying the attacking game into two-v-two or three-v-three situations, Liverpool are hoping to have a repeatable and dynamic solution, resulting in crosses from dangerous positions close to goal.

As exciting as this style of play can appear, it does leave Liverpool very top-heavy.

In the opening games, we have seen both full-backs join the attack alongside two of the midfield three and the front three.

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This can result in situations that leave only the two centre-backs and one holding midfielder positioned behind the ball, leaving Liverpool vulnerable to counter-attacks.

Interestingly, Slot’s Liverpool were noticeably vulnerable against fast counter-attacks last season too.

Iraola has spoken about the need for more control while retaining the chaos that makes his team’s attacks so effective, so he may decide to leave additional players behind the ball as the season progresses.

However, based off his previous principles and his managerial references, this feels less likely – with the Basque coach often encouraging six or seven players to push forward, leaving three or four players back when in attack.

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The hope is to stop counter-attacks being conceded at source through intense counter-presses, something that is helped by attacking down the sides and with extra bodies nearby to apply pressure.

This is easier said than done at this early stage.

Indeed, Iraola reflected on the loss to Monaco, saying his side “can’t sustain the level we want, we have work to do”, referring to the dropped leads in second halves, caused by a lack of depth, a drop-off in physicality, and a press that hasn’t yet been perfected.

Throughout pre-season, we have also seen Iraola’s trademark high press. What stands out is the roles Liverpool’s players are taking up and what that tells us about how he wants his side to defend.

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Szoboszlai played across the front line, midfield and even at right-back last season, but Iraola has mainly used him as the second central midfielder – a crucial role defensively.

Liverpool have often pressed in a 4-4-2 diamond shape, initially encouraging opponents to play short before launching more aggressive pressing sequences, often funnelling the ball centrally before trying to win it back.

One principle carried over from Iraola’s Bournemouth side is looking to keep a spare defender against the opposition attack. If an opponent leaves three forwards high, Liverpool will commonly opt to keep four defenders back.

That leaves one fewer player higher up the pitch, so Liverpool have to compensate through intensity and intelligent covering.

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When one player leaves his opponent to press somebody else, team-mates behind him have to recognise the movement and cover the player left free.

This makes Szoboszlai’s midfield role particularly important. When he jumps forward to press, the holding midfielder and defensive line have to react behind him or gaps can quickly appear.

“He is very good,” the Hungary captain has said of his new manager. “The intensity we need is here now, what we have been missing is back.”

Szoboszlai’s physicality allows him to cover the ground needed to make Liverpool’s press feel numerically equal, while his judgement of when to step forward has helped the Reds start to implement Iraola’s defensive ideas quickly.

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Four pre-season games is a very small sample, but Iraola’s stamp on Liverpool is already clear to see, featuring many of the same instructions that defined his Bournemouth side.

Those ideas have been proven to work – but how he balances the chaos and speed we’ve come to know his sides for, with a squad lacking depth and who are expected to dominate the ball for longer periods, is likely to shape his first season.