What Liverpool learned from Andoni Iraola's intense pre-season start

The first open Liverpool training session under Andoni Iraola in Chicago did not ease into a new era. The session, after the squad had already returned to the AXA Training Centre in Kirkby and then crossed to the United States, carried the imprint of a coach whose teams are built around pressure, speed and constant movement. ESPN’s Chicago coverage captured the mood in one line: “It’s the intensity.”

This was not a one-off drill session. Iraola had already held his first Liverpool press conference at the AXA Training Centre on 13 July 2026, with the club framing it as the first chance for the media to speak to the new head coach before the squad returned for pre-season. The next day, 14 July, Liverpool began its work back at Kirkby, where a cohort of Reds reported to complete a range of physical work. By the time the group reached Chicago, the message was no longer theoretical: the shape of the pre-season had become the first live test of his methods.

What the pressing told Liverpool

The most obvious signal from the Chicago training block was how quickly Liverpool were being pushed into aggressive work without the ball. Liverpool’s photo galleries and “Inside Training” features from the session showed a side being asked to step up the pace, with the emphasis on recovery runs, pressing angles and repeated effort. Under Iraola, training is already being built to mirror match pressure rather than merely prepare for it.

That has direct matchday implications. A team trained this way should defend higher, compress the pitch more aggressively and try to win the ball before opponents can settle. It also means the physical threshold for selection rises fast: players who cannot sustain repeat sprints or who are slow to trigger the press risk being exposed in a system that demands collective timing more than individual flair.

Tempo and the way Liverpool want to play

The other clear marker was tempo. Liverpool’s first on-pitch training session in Chicago came on a Tuesday afternoon, and the session came during a tour that included Sunderland in Nashville, Wrexham in New York and Leeds United in Chicago. Liverpool had completed two of those three fixtures by the time of the Chicago press round-up, beating Sunderland and Wrexham before the final match against Leeds at Soldier Field.

Pre-season is already being used as a rehearsal for the kind of game Iraola wants. He said in a televised press conference that “Pre-season is always the foundation of what's going to be a long season. When you arrive to a new club it's even more important because you don't have a lot of training sessions, you don't have a lot of even friendlies. It's massive because sometimes we lack days of training properly, of training with a...” He views these sessions as the base layer for his season, not as optional conditioning.

For Liverpool, that likely means more direct and faster transitions once matches begin. Instead of long spells of control for their own sake, the early signs point to a side that will try to force turnovers and attack quickly after them. That should suit players comfortable playing forward early, but it may ask more of those used to slower circulation and more patient build-up.

Positioning clues for key incumbents

In Chicago, Liverpool put the right-back position, Dominik Szoboszlai and the vice-captaincy on the press conference agenda, and Iraola discussed where Florian Wirtz might fit and how the squad would use its new arrivals. Signings, Alisson Becker’s future, injured players returning and World Cup players rejoining the group were also part of the discussion, pointing to a squad still being sorted around the new system rather than locked into fixed roles.

One likely beneficiary is Dominik Szoboszlai. He was prominent enough in the Chicago media rounds to merit his own slot in the press conference agenda, and that is consistent with a coach who values mobility, energy and flexible positioning between midfield and the front line. In a high-intensity setup, Szoboszlai’s work rate and ability to cover ground become more than nice-to-have traits; they are part of the structure.

Florian Wirtz looks set to be handled differently. Iraola planned to use him behind the striker against Leeds. That is a useful clue for how Liverpool may line up around their most creative pieces: players are being placed in zones where they can receive early and attack immediately, rather than carry the ball through deep congestion.

Alexander Isak also sits in that category of potential upside. In the July 30 pre-match briefing ahead of Leeds, Iraola said he hoped Isak could get his first pre-season minutes against the Premier League side in Chicago. That makes him part of the tactical picture, not just the fitness picture, because a coach introducing a striker into a fast, front-foot system will want him connected to the press as well as the final pass.

Who may gain, and who may feel the squeeze

The early winners under Iraola are the players who fit the running and decision speed of his game. Milos Kerkez stood out in Chicago as one of the players already embedded in the coach’s demands, and his profile naturally suits a system that asks full-backs to cover ground and defend forward. Szoboszlai and Wirtz also fit the kind of more mobile attacking structure Liverpool appear to be building.

The pressure points are just as clear. Liverpool’s right-back position was explicitly on the agenda in Chicago, so incumbents cannot assume a settled pecking order. A coach who wants width, recovery pace and repeated pressing from that role will test every option there in a way that goes beyond standard pre-season rotation. The vice-captain decision adds another layer: leadership is no longer just about seniority, but about who can sustain the new demands when training and matches become more compressed.

World Cup players, injured players and returning senior figures were all being managed differently, with some scheduled to train at the AXA Training Centre rather than join every phase of the U.S. work. That separation suggests Iraola is already sorting the squad into those who can absorb his workload now and those who will need a slower ramp-up.

The practical read on Liverpool’s season

The first open training session under Iraola showed harder pressing, quicker tempo and public positioning questions from right back to the role behind the striker. Liverpool’s pre-season in Kirkby, Nashville, New York and Chicago has shown a coach using every available minute to impose his habits early.