There has been a lot of noise surrounding Liverpool this summer.
Every day seems to bring another transfer rumour.
One minute it’s a £70 million winger.
The next it’s a £60 million midfielder.
Then another centre-back, another right-back, another striker.
The message from many supporters seems clear: Liverpool need half a new team.
I’m not convinced.
In fact, I think the opposite.
Liverpool do not need a complete rebuild.
They need a manager capable of getting significantly more out of the players already at the football club.
That, ultimately, is why Andoni Iraola was appointed.
The easiest thing in football is to blame the squad.
When results disappoint, supporters naturally look at the players and ask who should be replaced.
Sometimes that is absolutely the right conclusion.
But not always.
Last season, Liverpool looked flat.
Predictable.
Lacking intensity.
Disconnected.
Those problems weren’t caused simply because the players suddenly became poor footballers.
Many of these same players have already shown they can compete at the highest level.
Alexis Mac Allister continues to dominate matches for Argentina.
Florian Wirtz is regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in world football.
Alexander Isak remains one of Europe’s elite strikers.
Ryan Gravenberch has enormous talent.
Dominik Szoboszlai has already demonstrated he can control games at the highest level.
That isn’t a weak squad.
Far from it.
The biggest question is whether those players are being used correctly.
That is where I believe Iraola can make the biggest difference.
At Bournemouth, he rarely had the strongest squad.
He didn’t outspend rivals.
He simply improved players.
He created a system where individuals looked better because the collective worked.
That is exactly what Liverpool have been missing.
Too often last season it felt as though talented individuals were trying to solve problems on their own.
The structure around them simply wasn’t functioning.
Football doesn’t work like that.
The best teams always make individual brilliance easier.
Look at Florian Wirtz.
Supporters are understandably excited about what he could become.
But imagine surrounding him with an organised, aggressive pressing system where he regularly receives the ball 25 yards from goal instead of 45.
Imagine Alexander Isak making runs into space created by coordinated pressing rather than isolated attacks.
Imagine Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez constantly providing width while Mac Allister controls the tempo underneath them.
Suddenly the entire picture changes.
The players haven’t become better overnight.
The environment has.
That is why I keep coming back to the same point.
Coaching matters.
Perhaps more than ever.
Modern football is increasingly decided by collective organisation rather than simply assembling expensive individuals.
Liverpool have already invested heavily.
The next step is maximising that investment.
Of course, I am not suggesting Liverpool should stop signing players.
Far from it.
I still believe they need another striker while Hugo Ekitike is unavailable.
Another centre-back would strengthen the defence.
A specialist defensive midfielder would add balance.
But those additions should complement the squad rather than disguise deeper problems.
No amount of spending fixes a team without identity.
One thing that has genuinely encouraged me during pre-season has been the reports coming from the AXA Training Centre.
Players are reportedly being pushed harder than they have been for years.
Training sessions have been described as the most intense since the Jürgen Klopp era.
Fitness.
Pressing.
Intensity.
Accountability.
Those words keep appearing.
That isn’t coincidence.
That is philosophy.
And it is exactly what Liverpool supporters have wanted to hear.
Another reason for optimism is the young players.
Rio Ngumoha.
Trey Nyoni.
Josh Abe.
Jeremy Jacquet.
Stefan Bajčetić.
These aren’t simply academy prospects making up the numbers.
Several of them genuinely look capable of contributing.
The temptation at big clubs is always to buy another player.
Sometimes the better answer is trusting the ones already there.
Liverpool have built some of their greatest teams around academy graduates.
There is no reason that cannot happen again.
Perhaps the biggest lesson from Liverpool’s most successful periods is this:
Great teams are rarely built in one transfer window.
They evolve.
They improve together.
They develop chemistry.
The 2019 Champions League winners weren’t created overnight.
Neither were the Premier League champions.
Patience was required.
Coaching was required.
Belief was required.
I understand why supporters are impatient.
After a disappointing season, everyone wants immediate change.
Everyone wants new signings.
Everyone wants reassurance.
But I honestly believe Liverpool’s greatest improvement next season may not come from the transfer market.
It may come from seeing players we already know finally performing at the level we always believed they could reach.
If Andoni Iraola succeeds in doing that, Liverpool will surprise a lot of people.
And if he doesn’t, no amount of expensive signings will change the outcome.
Because football has always been about more than buying players.
It’s about building teams.
And I believe Liverpool already have the foundations of a very good one.
Now they simply need the right man to unlock it.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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