By Steven Northover
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola sat down for his first press conference since the end of the Summer Transfer Window, and a head of the Reds visit to Portman Road on Friday evening.
Inevitably the conference opened with attention on new £106 million man, Bradley Barcola. The winger, who arrived on Thursday last week having missed the entirety of PSG’s preseason, as negotiations between his old club and Liverpool dragged on until the 11th hour. However, as long as training goes well, the 23-year-old could be on the squad for kick off.
Moreover, Iraola praised Barcola’s mentality simce arriving on Merseyside, saying,
"He has come with the right mentality. I liked from him that he wanted Liverpool a lot. He just wanted to come here and I think that is a good first sign and being the player that he is and the things that he has won.
"He has come with the willingness to help us. I am very happy with him and he trained well with us. If everything goes well in training today, he will definitely be available for tomorrow's game.”
With the Reds out of the Champions League, Slot acknowledged that the added time on the training ground could help address inconsistency but insisted it comes at a cost.
“We have seen a lot of good performances but also a lot of inconsistent ones. In my mind that is because we have mostly had to play with the same players.”
"It has been shown that a large part of our group is ready to play every three days, but not all of them are able to do that. From that perspective, maybe it is a good thing we are not in Europe anymore, but I would definitely prefer to be playing in Europe."
"In reality, we now have a bit more time on the training ground.”
At the same time as Barcola arrived, it was looking increasingly likely that Dutch winger Cody Gakpo was to leave. However, with Manchester City and Liverpool unable to reach an agreement, Gakpo remains at the club.
"Cody is a very smart player. My relationship with him has been honest since the beginning. He has performed with us very well, in all the pre-season games, in all the games. He scored in the first game, assisted in the next one.
"He was well aware of the situation in the market - we were constantly talking with each other. He has trained very well, and I hope we keep him at the same level. He is in a good place, physically, mentally.
"I am glad to keep Cody because he is a valuable player.”
With Gakpo remaining, the Liverpool squad is now ‘heavy’ on the left side - with Gakpo, Barcola, Rio Ngumoha, and Victor Munoz all seen as Left Wingers - and considerably weaker on the right, with currently injured Federico Chiesa as the only recognised Right Winger.
However, Iraola highlighted the versatility that he expects of his team - not just on the wings - and expects players to play on both sides, stating that he would play the best players to win the game.
With discussion around wingers, attention turned to Rio Ngumoha, as the youngest member of the squad. Iraola still expected the 18-year-old to be as versatile as others in the club, but also stated he would need to play more regularly on his favoured left side to build on his natural talents.
Finally, as an 18-year-old, Ngumoha is eligible for a professional contract. When asked about an update, Iraola remained tight-lipped, flatly answering ‘no’.
When asked about injuries, Iraola stated that he expects Joe Gomez to be back in full training by next week, and Giovanni Leoni to be back training during the international break at the end of the month. Whilst Hugo Ekitike and Conor Bradley remain months away from any specific update.
From there, the conference was brought to a close. Iraola appeared relaxed, stating that he finds the season most difficult when the transfer window was open, and looked forward to being able to concentrate on the players that he had at his disposal.
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