Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender, has acknowledged that Andoni Iraola is slowly erasing the doubts he had following the Spaniard’s appointment.
What particularly impressed the pundit was the new manager’s willingness to make unpopular personnel decisions regardless of the players' status:
You could say that last season, Liverpool were the 'failed Galacticos'.
What’s reassuring is that Iraola doesn’t seem like a man who will delay necessary changes. He has already demonstrated that he is not afraid to make substantial decisions irrespective of player reputation.
The former defender highlighted several of Iraola's choices. The manager has already removed both full-backs from the starting lineup and left Ryan Gravenberch out due to his form:
Both full-backs were dropped from the team, and one had to be restored because the player who replaced him, Kostas Tsimikas, performed so poorly against Fulham that he didn’t even make the squad on Tuesday.
Iraola kept Gravenberch out due to his form, and he also decided that Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo wouldn’t feature in the Champions League this season unless injuries in the squad arose.
Carragher also praised Iraola's trust in the younger players. Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas, and James McConnell have already seen game time under the new coach:
Trusting the youth midweek was a bold decision. I believe it was a significant evening for both the club and Iraola.
This kind of decisiveness has helped dispel some of my initial scepticism about his appointment. As the season progresses, his choices will only get more complex and critical.
After the first six matches under Iraola, Liverpool remains unbeaten across all competitions, with three wins and three draws.
