Liverpool's Andoni Iraola Seeks Control in Matches

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola wants the chaos without the handicap.

His team are unbeaten, they have shown character, they have come from behind against serious opposition. But the new man at Anfield is tired of watching Liverpool start games as if they are still in the warm-up.

“We are not starting too well in the games,” he admitted, and the numbers back him up. Liverpool have fallen behind in three of his first four matches in charge. They did not score a single first-half goal in their opening two league fixtures. Every contest has felt like a chase.

The late rallies have been impressive. Draws salvaged against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest. A 2-0 win over Ipswich, built on Alexander Isak’s ruthless double inside the first 10 minutes. A 2-1 comeback against Atletico Madrid, another test of resolve passed.

But Iraola does not want “comeback kings.” He wants control.

“I think the team has goals in it,” he said. “In all the games we've been dangerous, we've created chances, we scored two goals in every game, we could have scored more in some of those games, but now it's about being more efficient. Not conceding the two goals against Newcastle, not conceding the goals against Forest, and also when the goals come.”

That last point nags at him. Timing. Rhythm. Authority.

The Ipswich match showed him a different Liverpool, one that suffocated the contest early. Isak struck twice before the home side could settle and the whole evening shifted. No frantic chase, no emotional rollercoaster. Just a comfortable, professional win.

“We had the positive precedent of Ipswich and the games look much more comfortable when you start like this,” Iraola said. He knows what a fast start can do to a stadium, to a dressing room, to an opponent’s belief.

Even against Atletico, the pattern almost broke. Within 15 seconds, Alex Mac Allister had a clear chance to score. If that goes in, the narrative changes. The coach knows it, the players know it, the crowd would have felt it.

“Then everyone says ‘incredible start,’ you score and it changes,” Iraola reflected. “But I think the start of the games is probably one of the parts where we can be a little bit better. In the second half we've normally been better, but I want to try and impose ourselves from the beginning because it becomes easier, everything.”

That is the demand now: impose, not react.

The next test of that new standard comes against Fulham at Anfield, and it carries an extra layer of intrigue. In the opposite dugout stands Alvaro Arbeloa, a former Real Madrid defender and a familiar face from Iraola’s international days with Spain.

This is only Arbeloa’s second senior managerial job. He stepped into the Real Madrid hot seat in January but left at the end of a season that brought no silverware and opened the door for Jose Mourinho’s return. His start at Fulham has been harsh: three games, three defeats, no points. Chelsea, Sunderland and Crystal Palace have all edged past his side by a single goal.

On paper, it looks grim. On the pitch, Iraola sees something very different.

“We have played just three Premier League games and to make big conclusions about any team, I think it's too early, and I think Fulham is a great example,” the Liverpool manager said. “I think they have played well in the three games, honestly. They've lost the three games by one goal. I think if you see a lot of the stats they have and you don't know the points they have, you will think they have five points at least because they've been controlling the games.”

That is not the language of a man expecting a comfortable afternoon. It is a warning to his own players as much as a defence of Arbeloa.

Fulham arrive wounded but not broken, short on points but not on structure. Arbeloa’s teams, like his playing style, tend to be disciplined, combative, hard to shake off. Liverpool’s habit of gifting the first goal is the one thing that could turn a controlled home fixture into another draining pursuit.

For Iraola and Arbeloa, this is also a reunion years in the making. Once, they were full-backs in the same Spain squad, jostling for the same spot.

“I think we played maybe very few times together in the national team,” Iraola said, asked about the relationship. “We were fighting more or less for the same position, but I think he was more successful in that he played more games than me!”

The line came with a smile, but it carried a competitive edge that has not gone away. The battle for minutes has become a battle for points, ideas and momentum.

Iraola has his unbeaten record and a team that refuses to fold. Arbeloa has early scars but encouraging performances. One coach wants his side to stop living on the brink. The other is desperate for a break.

If Liverpool finally land that first punch at Anfield, we may learn how ruthless Iraola’s version of this team can really be. If they do not, the comeback act will be tested once again—against a manager who knows exactly how hard Iraola had to fight just to get on the pitch.