Liverpool’s only objective on Friday was to get three points. And while doing so against newly promoted Ipswich Town should have been a formality, it’s been some time since most fans would feel good expecting against any opponent. So, Liverpool’s ability to grab the three points – the first win under Andoni Iraola – felt a bit like a must have.
It’s too early in the season to talk about sea changes or turning points, but it is worth acknowledging that we at least know that this Liverpool side can
actually reach a different gear. The press and passing patterns looked terrific, especially in the opening 30 minutes or so of the match. Which is seems like a progression of sorts from the first two matches; it was like the team finally began to put the pieces all together.
We can’t reflect on the match without starting with Cody Gakpo, who seems to have most benefitted from Iraola’s tactical changes. The entire team works on defense so it shouldn’t be that surprising, but it was still quite the sight to see Gakpo pop up closer to midfield and slightly less advanced. In fact, both of the assists that he notched developed with him picking up the ball relatively deep – caveat, of course, that both moves were based off of turnovers.
Still, it looks like Iraola has managed to find a little bit of balance, allowing the team to build (some) limits and resistance to the opposition offenses while still managing to leave the attackers high enough to force the issue when given the opportunity. I remain vexed at what Gakpo was expected to do under Slot’s system but he looks much more like the winger we signed in 2023 than the one that came under extreme scrutiny last season. Long may this upswing continue – though, I would imagine that the combination of a rejuvenated Gakpo and the signing of Bradley Barcola will hopefully build a little bit of a fire under Rio Ngumoha instead of unsettling the youngster.
The story of the day, though, has to be Alexander Isak nabbing brace and equaling his goal haul from last season in approximately 1/5th of the appearances. Which is to say: we are finally seeing the player that Liverpool splashed all of that cash on last summer. Yes, both goals felt relatively perfunctory but it really has been quite some time since Liverpool could count on a number 9 to finish as ruthlessly as Isak did with both of his shots. In fact, the replays on the opener are what have me so hopeful: Isak not only held his run perfectly in order to receive the ball from Gakpo, but then hit the ball so hard and on target that even though the finish was to the near-post and the Ipswich keeper got fingers to it, there was no chance that the ball was going to end up anywhere but in the net.
And that’s all to say that in terms of our forward players, it’s so great to have a player that just finishes the move. Which would be all well and good but Isak still had work to do in order to put himself in a good position to get those shots off. Where some may have felt good downplaying his goal last match, there’s no denying that those were the goals that a top-rated striker are intended to score.
A few interesting questions still emerge in terms of the rotation/match-day decision for Iraola. The first being how to rotate on the right. It’s clear that Iraola prefers Victor Muñoz on that wing, but with Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gakpo having been deployed in that position in the recent past, one wonders how Iraola is going to balance minutes while continuing to develop the youngsters like Muñoz and Ngumoha.
On the Spanish winger, I personally find myself incredibly drawn to his all-energy and combative approach to the game. He appears undersized but never looks fully outmatched and, perhaps most importantly, never seems to shy away from a challenge. He looks outrageously pacy and, with some refinement, I sense he’ll bring the kind of vertical threat that Liverpool have been hoping for as part of their post-Mohamed Salah transition.
All told, there was a lot to be quite rosy about following Friday’s result, which is great. I know progress isn’t linear and I’m not expecting it to be like this all the time. But I do feel it’s fair to start feeling good about those expectations against at least teams we sense should be at the bottom-end of the table. Liverpool, 3 matches in, do look to have made some key improvements. Here’s hoping the work on the pitch continues to trend upward and that the results break our way as a reward for putting in good work.
