I share many of the same concerns as Mufaddal but I'm far more...
Jon Mackenzie@Jon_Mackenzie
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Jul 27, 2026
~3 min read
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I share many of the same concerns as Mufaddal but I'm far more sanguine than he is re. Iraola finding solutions.
On the first point, I think the press will be fine once the players are up to speed.
On the first point, I think the press will be fine once the players are up to speed.
Mufaddal Burhani - Meia Armador@MeiaArmador__
It is clear after Liverpool's game against Sunderland that Iraola will have the exact same approach as he did at Bournemouth. Despite the significant improvement we will see in pressing intensity compared to Slot, I think Liverpool are going to struggle defensively unless we see some adaptations from Iraola.
The first concern I have is how fixed he is on a zonal press. The approach is has similarities in idea to Slot's, despite what people might think, although Iraola is significantly better at coaching the intensity. It works very well when the opposition are more positionally fixed with less mobility, as you can plan hand-offs and jumps, mainly through the -1 player, in a choreographed manner based on the opposition's structure. However, when the opposition are more mobile and less positionally fixed, it causes much more confusion because the jumps cannot be choreographed. In these moments, a team has to be patient and sit zonally, something that Arsenal do incredibly well, but Iraola's teams look to trigger the press much more frequently. Confusion in these jumps usually leads to gaps between the midfield and defence, something the likes of Ten Hag and Slot became infamous for. It is actually one of the main reasons why man-to-man approaches have become dominant in elite football.
The biggest concern I have is the rest defence. Iraola sets up with wide full-backs who are free to commit high and usually end up in a 2-2-6 or even a 2-1-7 when the 8 joins the attack. It is very important to note that these rest-defence issues have not been exposed as frequently as they potentially could have been at Bournemouth, since they did not spend huge periods in settled possession. At Liverpool, opponents will defend deeper, and Liverpool will spend much longer sustaining attacks in the opposition half. As a result, the rest-defence structure becomes much more important. The intriguing part is that this issue cannot be solved without Iraola completely changing his ideas. The mobility and dynamism afforded to his players, which make Iraola's teams so devastating when attacking large spaces, are essentially what make his rest defence exposed. Putting in a more rigid, compact rest-defence structure would also have a major impact on the ideas with the ball. That is why I don't expect anything to change in this regard.
This is not to say Iraola cannot succeed at Liverpool. There is still a long way to go, and coaches adapt. However, if we continue to see the exact same Iraola as we did at Bournemouth, I struggle to see how Liverpool consistently competes for the league with him.
The first concern I have is how fixed he is on a zonal press. The approach is has similarities in idea to Slot's, despite what people might think, although Iraola is significantly better at coaching the intensity. It works very well when the opposition are more positionally fixed with less mobility, as you can plan hand-offs and jumps, mainly through the -1 player, in a choreographed manner based on the opposition's structure. However, when the opposition are more mobile and less positionally fixed, it causes much more confusion because the jumps cannot be choreographed. In these moments, a team has to be patient and sit zonally, something that Arsenal do incredibly well, but Iraola's teams look to trigger the press much more frequently. Confusion in these jumps usually leads to gaps between the midfield and defence, something the likes of Ten Hag and Slot became infamous for. It is actually one of the main reasons why man-to-man approaches have become dominant in elite football.
The biggest concern I have is the rest defence. Iraola sets up with wide full-backs who are free to commit high and usually end up in a 2-2-6 or even a 2-1-7 when the 8 joins the attack. It is very important to note that these rest-defence issues have not been exposed as frequently as they potentially could have been at Bournemouth, since they did not spend huge periods in settled possession. At Liverpool, opponents will defend deeper, and Liverpool will spend much longer sustaining attacks in the opposition half. As a result, the rest-defence structure becomes much more important. The intriguing part is that this issue cannot be solved without Iraola completely changing his ideas. The mobility and dynamism afforded to his players, which make Iraola's teams so devastating when attacking large spaces, are essentially what make his rest defence exposed. Putting in a more rigid, compact rest-defence structure would also have a major impact on the ideas with the ball. That is why I don't expect anything to change in this regard.
This is not to say Iraola cannot succeed at Liverpool. There is still a long way to go, and coaches adapt. However, if we continue to see the exact same Iraola as we did at Bournemouth, I struggle to see how Liverpool consistently competes for the league with him.
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The concern will be load over the season but e.g. Arteta has shown a top side can use these ideas through a season.
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Mufaddal is right to point out that tweaks to the system will have more wide ranging influences ofc. But I think he overstates how those tweaks will emerge. For me, those tweaks will be forced through the course of the season - we should judge them as they emerge.
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In this case, what happens if we start seeing signs of burnout? Will it be too late to fix? Perhaps. But more importantly, I think, will be how he looks to lessen the impact of the burnout without torching the overall intention of the press.
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On the second point, I think Mufaddal perhaps overstates the symmetry of the full backs advancing. Over the last few seasons, it's clear that there has been a left side emphasis on channel attacking (backed up by the data)
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That's not to say that there aren't times when both full backs end up advanced but that the principle is that the far side full back is performing rest defence duties.
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On top of this, I think it's unfair to state that Bou didn't face periods of settled possession - they did and for the most part I thought they navigated rest defence concerns p well. The more immediate concern was finishing vs low blocks.
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There is a question of how Iraola will respond to more teams of a higher quality potentially taking this route. But then I would push back against the idea that Iraola cannot solve these issues without completely changing his ideas.
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Or at least, I want to see more workings here. Yes, a team more attuned to direct attacking will struggle in a reality where they can't do this. But we have evidence of coaches like this finding ways of playing slower without torching their direct play e.g. Klopp.
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In this sense, Iraola finding a way of playing slower doesnt have to mean that he entirely changes his approach - just that he finds ways of approaching slower play from his own direction. Again, Klopp is the archetype here.
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I think it is fair to ask what emerges on the other side of a very different equation where Iraola is at Liverpool: is he going to lose his edge if the direct attacking upside can't overcome the tradeoff with more periods of settled possession.
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But again, I think you have to give him time to encounter those problems and find solutions. Is Iraola guaranteed to achieve this? By no means! But I think the proof of the pudding is going to be in the eating rather than in the scrutinising of the recipe.
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Either way, I do think Mufaddal hits on all the correct points as always. And it's going to be very intriguing finding out which of us is too positive or negative.
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It's also worth noting that I am more invested in Iraola succeeding at Liverpool, and while I would hope that that doesn't cloud my judgement, it certainly puts me on the more optimistic end of spectrum. So keep in mind.
