Andoni Iraola has played down the injury that kept Curtis Jones sidelined for Sunday's 3-2 loss to Monaco at Anfield. The Liverpool boss also says new signing Jeremy Jacquet is expected to feature against Como next week, making his first appearance for the Reds.
Jones injury not serious
Jones, who is wanted by Serie A giants Inter, missed the defeat with what was described as a minor hip complaint. Iraola says it made little sense to risk the midfielder with the Premier League opener at Newcastle United less than a fortnight away.
“Curtis has trained every day, but yesterday (Saturday) he finished with some issues in the hip, but nothing big,” the head coach said. “It didn’t make any sense to risk him.”
Jacquet debut delayed
Jacquet, a £60m signing, was also in doubt for the Monaco game. “Jeremy Jacquet, we were in doubt. We decided not to put him, but he should be fine for the next one. Taking a bit more time than we were expecting,” Iraola added.
Liverpool throw away lead again
Liverpool led 2-0 through goals from Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, but Monaco fought back with strikes from Aleksandr Golovin, Mika Biereth and Paris Brunner to win. It was the second consecutive game Liverpool surrendered a two-goal advantage.
“I think we are right now, especially conceding we won the first two games. But the last two we cannot sustain the level we want for all of the game. Soon as we made some changes, players start to get tired we cannot sustain that level,” Iraola said.
“I think they were at the same level. Mostly they were in a good place. I think the ones that it was their first game and even the ones who are playing the second game they had energy. The problem right now is they don’t have the energy for 90 minutes. They start to get tired, and it will take time for them we need more training with them. But we can take a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives.”
Similar to Leeds defeat
Iraola compared the performance to the previous friendly against Leeds United, where Liverpool also led 2-0 but lost 4-2. “It was quite similar to the game we played against Leeds. We played a good first half, especially a good 30 minutes. Right now we probably don’t have much more, in terms of the levels required to play like this, and they were much better in the second half. They deserved to turn around the game.”
Anfield experience
On his first game at Anfield as Liverpool head coach, the Basque said: “It was lovely, especially in the first half when we were pushing and everything was going so well. The second half has been harsh, because when they are expecting, you know to go, and you are not able, and you cannot give them what they wanted – it is frustrating.”
