Worn in the USA: Liverpool’s pre-season tour had highs but exposed glaring gaps in the squad | Andy Hunter

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Andoni Iraola’s first pre-season tour as the Liverpool head coach produced wins over Sunderland in Nashville and Wrexham in New York before ending in a 4-2 defeat against Leeds in Chicago. The Guardian followed the tour throughout, and here are a few things we learned.Iraola’s vision for Liverpool will take timeLiverpool’s second-half display against Leeds was both concerning and valuable for the Basque coach as set-piece issues and a tendency to switch off – two of last season’s recurring themes – reared their ugly head again, albeit after he had rung the changes.

“But probably it is not going to be like this.”Liverpool’s new head coach needs more backingFor the majority of the tour, Iraola was without eight first-team players due to post World-Cup holidays and six because of injury, either recovering from or, as in the unfortunate Joe Gomez’s case, sustained in the US. No prizes for stating that Liverpool’s performances and adaptation to Iraola’s methods would have been much more advanced with 14 extra first-team players available.

It was interesting to hear Iraola explain how he likes wingers to play both flanks, and the advantages of switching them during a game, but Liverpool’s right side could be an issue even if they succeed in signing Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain.Trey Nyoni may well have played his way into Liverpool’s Premier League starting team. The row might have been overblown on social media but, having listened to Iraola stress the importance of the collective during a sit-down with the new Liverpool head coach in Chicago, Jones’s individualistic behaviour jarred with what Slot’s successor is trying to build.Dominik Szoboszlai led the way for Liverpool on the US tour.