One thing has really stood out to me about Liverpool since Andoni Iraola took over.
The resilience is back.
This Liverpool side might still have plenty of things to improve, but there is something about them that feels different.
They don’t seem to panic when things go against them.
They don’t seem to accept defeat when they fall behind.
And already this season, we’ve seen Liverpool come from behind on numerous occasions.
That cannot be a coincidence.
Another comeback against Atlético Madrid
The latest example came against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League.
Liverpool fell behind to Marcos Llorente at Anfield, and for a while Atlético looked comfortable.
But instead of allowing frustration to take over, Liverpool responded.
Dominik Szoboszlai equalised before half-time.
Then Alexis Mac Allister completed the comeback early in the second half with a brilliant strike.
Liverpool had turned a difficult situation into a 2-1 victory.
And perhaps the most encouraging part was what happened after they went ahead.
They didn’t simply throw everything forward looking for a third.
They showed enough composure and defensive resilience to protect the lead against a dangerous Atlético side.
That’s something I really like about this Liverpool team.
We’ve seen it before
This wasn’t the first time either.
Liverpool’s opening two Premier League matches under Iraola both finished 2-2.
Against Newcastle, Liverpool twice had to respond after falling behind.
Then against Nottingham Forest at Anfield, Liverpool again found themselves having to fight their way back into the game.
Víctor Muñoz eventually rescued a point.
It wasn’t perfect.
Far from it.
But the important thing was that Liverpool kept going.
They refused to accept that the game was gone.
That’s what I mean by resilience
Resilience isn’t about winning every game.
It’s about how you react when things aren’t going your way.
Last season, there were plenty of occasions when Liverpool looked vulnerable once the momentum shifted against them.
This season, I’m seeing a different attitude.
Concede first? Keep going.
Have a poor spell? Keep going.
Things aren’t going your way? Keep going.
That mentality can be worth an enormous number of points over a long season.
Iraola deserves credit
It’s obviously still very early in Iraola’s Liverpool career.
I’m not going to pretend that everything is suddenly perfect.
There are still defensive issues.
There are still questions over midfield balance.
Liverpool can still become too open and give opponents opportunities they shouldn’t be getting.
But Iraola appears to be instilling something important:
belief.
His Liverpool side play with aggression and intensity, but they also seem to believe they can always get back into a game.
That is a very powerful mentality for a manager to establish.
The players are buying into it
You can see it in the way the players respond.
Against Atlético, Liverpool were initially caught out by Diego Simeone’s tactical approach.
Iraola himself admitted afterwards that he got some things wrong at the start.
But Liverpool adapted.
They improved.
They changed the momentum of the match.
And then they won it.
I actually think that makes the comeback even more impressive.
It wasn’t simply a case of Liverpool throwing everything at Atlético.
They recognised what wasn’t working and fixed it.
That’s a sign of a team beginning to understand its manager.
And there’s plenty more to come
Imagine what this Liverpool team could look like once everything starts clicking.
Alexander Isak is finding his goalscoring form.
Cody Gakpo is creating chances.
Florian Wirtz is becoming more influential.
Bradley Barcola has now arrived and offers another explosive attacking option.
Mac Allister and Szoboszlai are growing into Iraola’s midfield.
And players such as Ronald Araújo and Jérémy Jacquet are beginning to settle into the defence.
There are still plenty of things to improve.
But the ingredients are there.
This could become Liverpool’s biggest strength
For me, this is one of the most encouraging aspects of the Iraola era so far.
Liverpool have their fight back.
We’ve already seen it against Newcastle.
We’ve seen it against Forest.
And now we’ve seen it against Atlético Madrid.
The opponents and circumstances have been different, but the reaction has been similar.
Liverpool get punched.
Liverpool punch back.
And that’s exactly what I want to see from this team.
This Liverpool side won’t give up
We’re still only at the beginning of Iraola’s reign.
There will be bad performances.
There will be defeats.
There will be nights when things simply don’t work.
That’s football.
But if Iraola can maintain this mentality while improving Liverpool’s defensive organisation and midfield balance, this could become a very difficult team to beat.
Because talent is one thing.
Tactics are another.
But character can take you a very long way.
And right now, I’m starting to see that character return to Liverpool.
They might not always get it right.
But they don’t look like a team that is prepared to give up.
And for me, that’s one of the biggest reasons to be excited about the Iraola era.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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