Jamie Carragher explains why he’s beginning to change his mind about Andoni Iraola at Liverpool
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The Basque is starting to win over Jamie Carragher at least, with the Liverpool legend now admitting that he was initially sceptical about Iraola’s candidacy at Anfield, but having seen him make big calls to drop underperforming players, Carragher says he is starting to be won over. We could see Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo together for the first time vs Atletico Madrid Photo Credit: Getty Images/Karl Bridgeman – UEFA Iraola is winning Carragher over with big callsWinning Carragher over will not be at the top of Iraola’s to-do list in the early part of his first season with Liverpool, but it is good to have the backing of one of the country’s most vocal pundits regardless.And as he wrote in his column for The Telegraph, Carragher has been pleased to see Iraola make some early decisions and drop some players who deserved to be dropped.“Encouragingly, Iraola does not strike me as someone who will delay making the necessary corrections,” said the Scouser.
“He has already shown he is not shy of making big decisions, regardless of reputation.“Both full-backs have been dropped, with one recalled because the back-up Kostas Tsimikas was so poor against Fulham he was not even in the squad on Tuesday night.”READ MORE: Marco Rose makes promise about what Bournemouth will do against Liverpool after Europa League win“Iraola left out Ryan Gravenberch because of form, while deciding, barring injuries to others, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo will not play Champions League football this season.“Backing the youngsters in midweek was brave. “He is empowered to make big calls early in his reign because the defects in the squad are so obvious.“Such decisiveness has helped relieve some of my initial scepticism when Iraola was given the job.
The longer this season progresses, the tougher and more consequential his decisions will become given how far away Liverpool are from being title material.“The new coach must diplomatically navigate through the repercussions of a Liverpool transfer policy which took the club down a risky and unfamiliar path more in common with Real Madrid.”Going on to label Liverpool’s current squad as the ‘failed Galaticos’, Carragher appears to maintain a healthy dose of scepticism over the Reds chances of having a better season this time out. But if they do fail to kick on and get the blend right, he seemingly does not think it will be Iraola’s doing.Join Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox