Two Liverpool players can now benefit from Andoni Iraola decision
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Liverpool are preparing for the United States tour as the influence of head coach Andoni Iraola starts to become apparentNew season, new head coach, new optimism. Liverpool officially returned to pre-season training this week as a fresh era started under Andoni Iraola.Preparations for the forthcoming campaign will be ramped up on Monday when the squad flies out to Chicago to begin their US tour, during which they play games against Sunderland, Leeds United and Wrexham.The majority of the World Cup contingent are expected to join up in the States at some point to give Iraola a first real glimpse of the personnel at his disposal, with Liverpool still anticipating plenty of business in the transfer market.But which current player should benefit most from the arrival of the Spaniard?
Our ECHO writers take a look...Ian DoyleIt's fair to say there are an awful lot of Liverpool players who should feel they can do better this season, such was the lack of quality for large swathes of a disappointing last campaign.Easier still to point the finger at some of last summer's recruits, such as Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, and demand there should be more from them, particularly given the high price tag of that duo in particular.But the majority of the senior players have already demonstrated during their careers - and predominantly at Liverpool- the standard of which they are capable.That's why Iraola may well be the head coach to extract even more from some of the more up-and-coming players of the squad such as Trey Nyoni and, in particular, Rio Ngumoha.The Spaniard has a track record of putting his faith in younger players, as was demonstrated at Bournemouth where, whether it be at centre-back with Dean Huijsen, in midfield with Alex Scott or in attack with Junior Kroupi and Rayan, he is more than happy to give inexperienced options a chance.Ngumoha has already shown himself capable at club and international level and, still only 17, has plenty of scope for improvement. Iraola can be the man to help encourage that.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!
All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook pagePaul WheelockIf there's one player in the Liverpool squad who will be delighted that Andoni Iraola is the club's new head coach, then it's the one player in the Liverpool squad who has played under him before.While there were mitigating circumstances as to why Arne Slot's second and final season in charge at Anfield disappointed, it is fair to say the man who has now been succeeded by Iraola did not get the best out of the player in question - Milos Kerkez.Let's not forget the Hungary international is still only 22 and that he did enjoy a better second half to the 2025-26 campaign than the first.But as our end-of-season player ratings show, only three players - Alexis Mac Allister (5.93), Federico Chiesa (5.76) and Alexander Isak (5.65) - had a lower average mark than Kerkez (6.05), who did not look the same player that the Reds paid Bournemouth £40m for last summer after he was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.Playing all 38 matches for the Cherries across the 2024-25 campaign, and contributing two goals and five assists, the best of which was his breath-taking run and cross for Marcus Tavernier to score at Tottenham Hotspur, Kerkez was central to Iraola's full-throttle football.And there's no reason why he can't be again at Liverpool - now he's back under his old boss.