"There are players who play every three days and have no issues, they can accept it and performances do not change too much," Andoni Iraola explained. "Then there are other players where the risk is bigger and the performances are different." He added: "I have to learn who is ready to play every two or three days and who is ready to rest so their performance level doesn't drop. I had an idea with some of them, but for some of them it is new as they have not played as many games and we are learning." Iraola found out some of those answers on Saturday afternoon at Anfield as Liverpool played out a disappointing stalemate against a Fulham team that had lost their first three matches.
The midweek fixture against Atletico Madrid in Europe clearly had an impact. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player "A lack of freshness, definitely. We cannot hide it," he insisted afterwards.
Iraola talked of it being "the worst turnaround" in terms of the hours permitted under the Premier League regulations but acknowledged that Liverpool will need to learn to deal with it. "This is going to happen more times, maybe with one more day, maybe. But sometimes it is going to happen the same way during the season." A cursory glance at the forthcoming fixture list reveals some obvious concerns if this is going to be a problem in the future.
Immediately after the upcoming international break, Iraola's side host Manchester City in what is likely to be a demanding game before travelling to Austria to play LASK Linz in the Champions League. Inside 72 hours they are back in action away to Brentford. October 11 – Man City (h) October 14 – LASK Linz (a) October 17 – Brentford (a) The following month, another massive home match against Arsenal is followed up by a midweek trip to Fenerbahce before Liverpool return to play Crystal Palace away.
Later in November, a visit to Club Brugge is sandwiched between Manchester United and Everton. This is the reality of the demands at a top team. The great unknown for Iraola was always going to be how his players would respond to the challenge of embracing the hard-running style that is fundamental to his approach while maintaining high standards.
"I am asking them to do things that are a little bit different, especially without the ball and I think they are trying to get it," said Iraola in pre-season. Alexander Isak referenced it after the friendly against Monaco. "We are all working hard to make things work." But the game against Fulham was the first real examination of what happens when the two worlds collide.
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