Andoni Iraola has admitted his decision to replace both of Liverpool's centre-backs during the 6-3 Champions League win over LASK was influenced by this weekend's trip to Brentford. The Liverpool boss conceded that making such a double change is not usually the right approach.
Hat-trick and defensive wobble
Bradley Barcola scored a hat-trick, with further goals from Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and Lewis Koumas, who netted his first Champions League goal in the second half. However, the substitution of Araujo and Jeremy Jacquet for Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez coincided with a LASK response, as the home side scored three times in 14 minutes at the Raiffeisen Arena.
Iraola, frustrated with the defensive display after the break, explained that the changes were made with his team selection for the Brentford match at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon in mind.
Resting players for Brentford
"I think there is a reason why a manager would never change both centre-backs together," Iraola said. "But it is difficult, a new pairing to come in straight away but obviously winning 4-0 I have to start thinking about the next game."
"We play in a few days away at Brentford, so Ronald and Jeremy have played a lot lately with us and with the national team. And I think it was to give them a bit of rest but usually in a game it is not the right thing to change both centre-backs together."
He added: "At the end, it was a different game and you have to try to analyse not just who can rest but who can help us win the game against LASK today. What players can help us against Brentford?"
Looking ahead to Villarreal
Iraola also looked ahead to the Champions League clash with Villarreal, saying: "After that we play a very difficult game in the Champions League against Villarreal, so we need more than 11, 12, 13. That is why we have some young players who can give us some good performances and get experience."
"These games are not easy for Trey (Nyoni), for Koumas, what they have experienced, we can trust them to play more. So it is good."
Reflecting on the attacking performance, he said: "I think we attacked very well, especially in the first half in a very compact block. They played a back five and they were not spaces in between and I think we found the spaces in the pockets, in behind with the three up front. The second half was more about exploiting the spaces but I think offensively it was really a complete performance."
