RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 23: Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool reacts during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Newcastle United and Liverpool FC at St James' Park on August 23, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The arrival of new head coach Andoni Iraola has brought with it a return to a more aggressive and uptempo style of football, and on the evidence of Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle it should at least mean a more enjoyable brand of football is on offer than was the case last season.
That 2-2 draw at Newcastle, though, also highlighted the serious squad composition issues Iraola has inherited after two years of squad regression under sporting director Richard Hughes.
With only a week left in the transfer window, this is a side in desperate need of reinforcements, particularly on the wing but also with questions at right back, in midfield, and at the striker position. After a summer of briefings and promises that help is on the way, the reality is we’re still mostly waiting for it to actually arrive.
“Everyone wants to see quality arrive,” said captain Vigil van Dijk when asked about recruitment following the game on Sunday. “I fully trust the club and the board to make the right decisions. That’s the only thing I can say.
“Let’s see what they do. Regardless what happens, we are Liverpool and have to give everything. For us, we have to show a reaction after last year. We have nothing to prove to the outside world, in my opinion. It is to ourselves. The way we train, the way we approach games, it is down to us to show a reaction.”
Individually there are certainly plenty of places where improvement on last season should be expected—or even demanded. Yet it’s an unavoidable truth that the players, head coach Arne Slot last season, and now Iraola have been dealt a very difficult hand by Hughes.
Having been gifted a title-calibre squad—in fact a squad that then did win the title following a summer where Hughes didn’t make an changes to the side gifted to him by the departing Jürgen Klopp—things got worse in season two and now the squad heading into season three is even thinner, lacking in depth and unbalanced.
It’s very much on the players on hand to show that they can be better than last season, both individually and as a group. They can’t be expected to do it all on their own, though. And if they are, it seems almost certain that it will end in disappointment.
“Last year was very unacceptable, but that was last year,” Van Dijk added.“So I don’t want to talk about that—we are looking forward and looking to improve. We work on it every day, we do long hours on the training ground, and that will only benefit all of us, including our supporters.”
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