I’m not going to pretend the sending-off didn’t change Sunday’s game against Manchester City. Of course it did.
Liverpool were reduced to ten men when Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the 62nd minute, and City scored three times in the second half to win 3-0 at Anfield. It was a horrible afternoon for Liverpool supporters.
But I keep coming back to something else.
Look at the players Liverpool had available to bring on. Then look at the options Manchester City had sitting on their bench.
That is where I think Liverpool’s recruitment deserves some serious scrutiny.
Joe Gomez, Federico Chiesa and Jeremie Frimpong were among the players introduced late on Sunday. I’m not having a go at those players personally, but when you compare the options available to the two managers, you can see the difference in depth.
City could bring on Jérémy Doku, who went on to score, and Josko Gvardiol, who helped set up Rayan Cherki’s goal. They had players capable of changing the game coming off the bench.
Liverpool, meanwhile, were trying to find answers with a squad that was already missing several important players.
That isn’t just an Iraola problem. It’s a recruitment problem.
What exactly has Liverpool’s recruitment team been doing?
This is what frustrates me.
Liverpool have spent enormous sums of money assembling this squad. We have some genuinely exciting attacking players, and I still believe there is plenty of potential in this team.
But spending money and building a balanced squad are two completely different things.
You can sign talented footballers and still end up with a squad that doesn’t have the right options in the right positions.
That’s my concern with Liverpool.
We’ve got players who can excite us going forward, but when injuries arrive and the manager needs to change things, where is the depth?
Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak were unavailable against City. Dominik Szoboszlai was also missing, while Conor Bradley remains a long-term absentee. Liverpool were hardly picking from a fully fit squad.
I understand that injuries are part of football. Every club deals with them.
But that is precisely why squad depth matters.
You cannot expect your first-choice players to carry the team through an entire season while hoping the alternatives will be good enough whenever they are needed.
Liverpool should know that better than most.
Iraola has inherited a difficult job
I actually feel sorry for Iraola in some respects.
He has come into Liverpool with expectations of attacking, front-foot football, but he also has to work with the squad he has been given.
He cannot simply invent another top-class defender, a reliable alternative at right-back or an experienced forward when the first choices are unavailable.
He has to make decisions with the players available to him.
And that is where the recruitment team comes into the picture.
Frimpong arrived with a reputation as an explosive attacking wing-back, but adapting to Liverpool’s demands has proved difficult. He has struggled to establish himself as the first-choice right-back, with Ronald Araújo offering greater defensive security in the position.
That leaves Frimpong in an awkward situation. He is a talented player, but Liverpool still need to work out how best to use him.
Then there is Gomez, who can cover several defensive positions but cannot be in two places at once.
Chiesa is another attacking option, yet Liverpool need more than occasional flashes from their substitutes. They need players who can come on and genuinely influence difficult matches.
I’m not saying these players have nothing to offer. That would be unfair.
But a club with Liverpool’s ambitions should not be relying on so many question marks when it comes to its alternatives.
City’s bench tells its own story
The contrast with City was particularly painful.
Even before Gravenberch’s dismissal, Liverpool were finding it difficult to create clear chances. Once they went down to ten men, the challenge became much harder.
City had the quality to take advantage.
Doku came on and scored. Cherki produced a superb individual goal. Gvardiol came into the game and contributed to the move for that third goal.
Liverpool were left chasing a game they could no longer control.
Of course, City have spent years building a squad full of expensive, high-quality players. We cannot simply expect Liverpool to copy everything they do.
But we absolutely should expect Liverpool to compete with them in terms of squad planning.
The question isn’t whether Liverpool can match City’s spending player for player. It’s whether Liverpool have recruited intelligently enough to close the gap.
Sunday gave us plenty of reasons to question that.
The sending-off must not become an excuse for everything
I don’t want Liverpool supporters to lose sight of the red card. It was a major turning point, and the game might have developed very differently had Gravenberch stayed on the pitch.
But it would be equally wrong to use that incident to avoid discussing the wider problems.
Liverpool need better options in certain positions. They need more reliable depth. And they need to ensure that the manager isn’t left trying to solve every problem with the same handful of players.
This is especially important under Iraola, whose style demands energy, intensity and tactical discipline.
That kind of football can be physically demanding. Rotation is essential.
If the squad isn’t deep enough to maintain the standard when changes are made, the whole approach becomes harder to sustain.
And Liverpool have too many competitions to be discovering those limitations every time the fixture list gets busy.
January cannot come quickly enough
I’m not expecting Liverpool to solve everything in one transfer window.
But the club needs to be honest about what went wrong with its squad planning.
Which signings have actually improved the team? Which positions remain weak? And where has the club mistaken having a lot of players for having enough quality?
Those are questions the recruitment department must answer.
Iraola deserves the opportunity to build his team, but he needs the right tools to do it.
If Liverpool want him to challenge Manchester City and the other leading clubs, they cannot leave him short of dependable alternatives.
The manager can coach, organise and improve players. He cannot manufacture squad depth out of thin air.
And that is why I don’t want Sunday’s defeat to be remembered solely for Gravenberch’s red card.
The dismissal changed the match. The squad comparison exposed a problem that existed before it.
Liverpool have talented players. They have young players who could develop into important members of the team. And I still believe Iraola can get much more out of this squad.
But optimism cannot replace proper recruitment.
When I look at the options Liverpool had available against City, I see a club that needs to ask some difficult questions about how it has assembled its squad.
Because if the aim is to compete at the highest level, being able to name a good starting eleven isn’t enough.
You need quality coming off the bench, too.
And right now, I’m not convinced Liverpool have enough of it.
Iraola needs backing. Liverpool’s recruitment team needs to be held accountable.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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