A first win for Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool, the introduction of the latest star signing in Bradley Barcola making for a successful Friday night. Better yet, continuing signs that Alexander Isak, last year’s model, is coming back to life, his two, well-taken early goals securing the three points. That Cody Gakpo, Isak’s supplier, might have been at Manchester City or Tottenham had the transfer runes been right, added further to a sense of renewal.
Liverpool’s attackers were full of the speed and invention sorely lacking for much of last season. Once Barcola arrived in the second half, those velocity levels increased yet further, Liverpool playing the attacking style, high on risk and entertainment, the appointment of Iraola promised. Travelling Liverpool fans were made to wait for their first glimpse of £123m Barcola, his being on the bench adding further suspense to a deal that took an entire summer to complete.
If Ipswich looked to show the “emotional discipline” their manager, Gary O’Neil, said they lacked in losing 5-2 at Old Trafford, little was in evidence in a ruinous opening spell that betrayed the decent performance they went on to put in. How long will Iraola’s doctrines take to embed? Perhaps not as long as feared.
Isak, the most expensive player signed under the outgoing sporting director Richard Hughes, looks – at last – to be flowering. To follow his strike against Nottingham Forest, he had scored twice by the 10th minute. Assisted for both by Gakpo, the finishes were of the gold standard Liverpool invested so heavily in.
After Víctor Muñoz had set off on a long run stopped only by Issa Diop’s last-man tackle, Julio Enciso controlled the ball, taking a beat by standing on the ball, as if calling for calm. Isak, who had a third first-half goal disallowed for offside, made the runs into scoring positions that made his reputation, nothing like the sorry figure of his debut, lost season. Meanwhile, a no-look pass from Ipswich’s captain, Dara O’Shea, straight to Gakpo, betrayed a collective cognitive dissonance.
Florian Wirtz becoming involved with the tricks and flicks offered another pointer that last summer’s huge Liverpool outlay may not be so wasteful as it appeared in Arne Slot’s dog days. Iraola’s appointment came with a reputation for improving players. Should the Basque get the best from the German, in a similar price bracket to Barcola and Isak, then this week’s pronouncement he is happy with his squad will ring truer.
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