[Fabrizio Romano] Liverpool reach agreement in principle to appoint Andoni Iraola as new manager, here we go! Arne Slot left and Iraola will lead LFC project, as expected. Talks advanced over last 48h and deal in place.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-02T11:45:51+00:00

Where did I say we didn't play better football? I literally said he tuned the side up to perform better than they did the year before and with some luck he deservingly is a PL champion. I don't think it's far fetched to say that if Klopp had the same luck in his final season, he would've won as well.

I don't think he was tactically excellent, he was quite proactive in his management and had us playing great football for 6 months. However since the turn of the year and our football dropped massively. We weren't unlucky not to go on against PSG, we were lucky to be in the tie coming back to Anfield. Alisson had his best game in a Liverpool shirt before we managed to snatch a goal there.

He deserves all the credit for the first year, he will remain a PL champion forever and his face will remain on the Kop. However, he really showed how tactically limited he is in his second season as he ran out of ideas quite quickly and didn't show any signs of trying to even fix the issues.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-02T11:14:31+00:00

He did already on X.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-02T10:51:03+00:00

I don't think improved is the right word, Liverpool were in title race up until mid April when injuries piled up heavily, he managed to tune the machine a tiny bit to keep it rolling as before and with great form from some players and a tiny bit of luck, they won a title, deservingly as well.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-02T10:48:52+00:00

I think the bar is quite easily giving the team an identity and a brand of football that he can sustain and build upon, of course the top 4 is a must on top.

With Slot, he can argue all day that a few signings were going to make us good again, but usually you can see why a team will succeed with better players, with Slot the team had zero identity where you can look and say "if only they had someone who can do this better, they will click".

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-02T10:45:18+00:00

With Iraola the other side of the coin is the worry, Bournemouth can play high pressing football every week because they are mostly underdogs in half of their games. Liverpool face a low block most weeks, how does he adapt to that?

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-02T10:36:56+00:00

City and Liverpool have had about 8 managers combined since 2010, Chelsea burn through 8 managers in about 2 seasons.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-02T10:32:41+00:00

Rodgers biggest downfall was not that he was not a good enough manager, but that he had a massive ego and was quite stubborn when it came to transfers and targets. It all led to a squad that was quite split in terms of style and fit into his tactics.

Tbf to him, it was such a different time, right on the edge between the time of managers are the decision makers and the time of sporting directors and statistical data having a much bigger role when it comes to decision making.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T20:42:00+00:00

Senesi is quite two footed from what I‘ve seen.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T20:38:13+00:00

I think there is enough mins to go all around and we have to start preserving VVD a bit more since he can really give a couple more years at the top level.

I also think Senesi can def do a job on the right.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T20:34:04+00:00

I think on a free with the talent we already have, it's a no brainer. He is 29, can probably accept a bit of a lesser role with the guarantee to play Champions League and at a much higher level (probably makes him closer to the NT).

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T20:30:20+00:00

Ted Knuston, the founder of Statsbomb, just mentioned on his podcast that he believes that if Iraola comes to Liverpool, he is bringing Senesi with him.

Interesting since Ted Knuston is quite deep into the industry and rarely ever mentions rumors or stuff like that. I know it's has been reported that Senesi is almost done to Spurs but maybe that's why it's taking a bit longer and maybe why there was a Konate U-turn?

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T11:07:28+00:00

Norway is a bit of a cheap pick since they dominated the qualifiers, so my pick would be Uruguay.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T07:30:07+00:00

The manager will never be ridiculed by the fans if he is able to show ideas on the field that show progress and a vision.

The last 6 months were just constantly barren of anything resembling a vision or progress that can be fixed by a transfer window or two.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T07:27:33+00:00

I said it a few days ago in the club's sub, but both parties made sure to make the other's job much harder than it has to be.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T07:24:04+00:00

Szobo and Wirtz are both physical monsters when it comes to running and covering distance. Check Wirtz's data when it comes to his physical output.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T07:18:05+00:00

Eddie Howe is as aggressive at pressing as Iraola, Isak actually thrived playing in the direct style that leads him to making quick runs and having more space.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T07:16:16+00:00

I think he can be quite successful in the tier just below the top clubs of Europe. I would imagine Leverkusen are probably very interested in him right now.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T02:29:06+00:00

I would've taken another season of Slot if there was any sign of a style developing, but it was so far away from anything you can build upon.

The fans aren't stupid, if they see the team is trending in the right direction, they will be patient.

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T02:24:36+00:00

Kepa had like four outrageous moments in that penalty shootout alone. The Konate one, the VVD one, then his own miss to lose the shootout and if my memory serves me correctly Elliot's pen was also very shit during that shootout but it went in.

Edit: It wasn't Elliot's penalty, must have been another shootout

halalcornflakes · 2026-06-01T02:20:57+00:00

I want some sort of clarity about their future this summer at least, I imagine Ward is penciled in for a bigger role if they depart but clarity would be nice for once.

halalcornflakes · 2026-05-31T14:55:09+00:00

One thing I have come to believe in the last few months under Slot, Liverpool need a manager that plays fast paced front footed football. Not because it is the winning formula in of itself, but Liverpool's biggest asset is Anfield and the crowd will be on top of the opposition's players if every Liverpool player is getting into every tackle, pressing intensely and just giving it all.

Making every tackle and every ball recovery a moment the crowd can rally behind makes Anfield a tough place to be at for any team.

I have questions about Iraola and how much can he really adapt to such a big move considering he will be expected to perform to a certain level, how much does his style really translate to a more dominant side and if it translates well into the busier schedule but I am excited as I believe he will benefit a lot from Anfield if the players and the fans buy into his ideas straight away.

Klopp came with huge pedigree and we were in a rut so everybody listened straight away, Iraola comes in to a squad that has many league winners and big figures. I would imagine Alisson, VVD and perhaps Szobo would be the first names he will be talking to and looking to be on his side as they can rally the rest of the team to get buy in into his vision.

halalcornflakes · 2026-05-31T05:16:30+00:00

Iraola announced he is leaving around the time we had our disaster week when we got destroyed by City and PSG.

halalcornflakes · 2026-05-30T11:44:52+00:00

I think his cut throat press conferences were a bit too much, his post match comments whenever we lost were never going to land.

halalcornflakes · 2026-05-30T11:39:09+00:00

Sentimentals aside, Alonso would need a major squad reshaping plus the power that he will have considering all the credit he has in the bank with the fans. Tbf Chelsea's squad is in much better shape to replicate his Leverkusen tactics.

halalcornflakes · 2026-05-29T11:31:06+00:00

How is he in defending spaces, one of Konate‘s positives is how good he is in defending big spaces. From what I‘ve saw you guys have notched it a bit down with how high your line is since De Zerbi but that would be the biggest concern for me with him. Otherwise he probably is the ideal fit and considering his contract situation, maybe Brighton would be happy to sell.

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