Andoni Iraola has insisted he has full trust in Liverpool's big-money duo Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz, despite their disappointing start to the season under the new head coach. The £239million pair are expected to start Wednesday's Champions League match at Linz in Austria, having yet to score this season, with only Wirtz managing a solitary assist.
Pressure mounts after Manchester City defeat
Following a 3-0 home Premier League loss to Manchester City on Sunday, the pressure is on Barcola and Wirtz to deliver, especially with forwards Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo, along with Dominik Szoboszlai, again absent. The injured trio have scored eight of Liverpool's 11 goals in all competitions this term.
Iraola acknowledged the situation, saying: "It’s true that Cody, Alex and Dom are (together) our top scorers this season. They have also been the ones playing more in those positions and now we don’t have them. We need other players to give us those numbers. We trust the players we have now to play in those positions. These injuries have been because of the international break and it will happen to other teams. It is a matter of adapting to these circumstances."
Iraola's faith in his players
He added: "With Bradley and Flo, they have had good games and bad games this season like everyone else. We know their level and we know they will give us good performances." Iraola also pointed to a near miss against City, saying: "The other day (against Manchester City), if Lewis Koumas scores the goal that he connects with really well, then it is one assist for Bradley Barcola. His performance is exactly the same but we will all say 'oof, he played really well with an assist'. Sometimes we focus only on the numbers. With Bradley, the other day, he had good situations and we did not finish them. Bradley and Flo are players that I trust 100%."
Wirtz faced fierce criticism after being substituted midway through the second half against City following another below-par display. Iraola defended him, saying: "When you are at a big club like we are, when you don't have a good performance everyone starts looking for answers. The other day, he probably didn’t have his best game but he has had good games with us this season. He had some good performances in the national team - he scored one goal and he will have better or worse games but I would like to look at it more collectively and more how they help us play well and get results, and after I don’t care which one scores. I think it’s a more collective thing."
Team news and rotation plans
Liverpool are also without long-term injury victims Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni, while neither Wataru Endo nor Federico Chiesa have been included in the Champions League squad for the opening stage. The Reds are expected to rotate in Austria for the second of four games in 10 days, with centre-back Joe Gomez, right-back Jeremie Frimpong and teenage winger Rio Ngumoha all pressing for a start.
Iraola believes his numbers could soon be bolstered by the return of Isak, Gakpo and Szoboszlai. "They are not far," said the Reds boss. "But it is difficult to tell right now. Any of the three have trained with the group and we are taking it day to day. Probably the three of them are not far but I don’t know if they will be ready for Brentford or Villarreal or Brighton."
