Inside Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool: Everything he’s changed from the Arne Slot era behind the scenes, how he clamped down on team leaks, his private challenge to Alexander Isak and where he feels Reds can still improve

After most games, Andoni Iraola chooses not to speak to his players.

The Basque boss may appear calm but his mind is usually whirring, fuelled by adrenaline after 90 minutes of shouting instructions from the technical area.

So the squad are left in the dark, left to wonder whether they have impressed or not. Iraola will cool off, collect his thoughts and sleep on it before delivering a measured verdict, never getting too high or low.

Normally, it is the next afternoon that Iraola addresses his troops and debriefs them on the good, the bad and the ugly of their performances.

This time, the best part of a month will pass before the majority of Liverpool’s big-hitters are back at base.

An unprecedented three-week international window follows. Most club managers will tell you that although these ‘breaks’ may earn them a chance for a bit of autumnal sun, they are also periods spent stressing over tactical deficiencies and potential injuries.

Iraola and Co have plenty to mull over during the time off – though he is expected to spend some of it still working at the AXA Training Centre with those not on international duty. He will have a well-deserved rest, of course, but he is hardly heading on holiday for three weeks.

After seven games of his tenure, he has won four and drawn three. Iraola had made slow starts at all of his previous clubs – especially Bournemouth, where his nine-match winless run was well documented – so his first real month in situ represents a fair return.

But has he seen the intensity, verve and exciting football he so craves from this Liverpool team?

The answer is yes, but only in glimpses. Half an hour against Ipswich at Portman Road, an hour against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, a comfortable win over Atletico Madrid.

Those high points are balanced out by an insipid draw with Fulham, and vulnerable afternoons against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest that could have ended in two defeats rather than two draws.

Iraola wants his team to suffocate their opposition like his Bournemouth side did. In this regard, Alexander Isak is key. The £125million man has started the season well: four goals in the Premier League including a brace at Ipswich and one at Bournemouth to help Liverpool to wins they might not have achieved last season.

But Iraola wants more from his front man. He craves a style that sees his team camped in the opposition half, not giving them a second’s respite. His goal return has been pleasing but the boss will not be happy until he sees Isak morphing into a more complete forward.

‘Defending is an attacking weapon,’ said Isak in an interview with BBC Sport last week.

Iraola insists the demands on Isak are the same as anyone, be it a £125m player or an academy kid like Lewis Koumas, whom he has described as ‘contagious’. The Welshman clearly lacks Isak’s finishing instinct but more than makes up for it with his relentless off-the-ball running.

Iraola does not treat Isak differently based on his price tag and has been unafraid to show him clips of rookie Koumas, who sets the gold standard for off-the-ball work.

On the other hand, Iraola has been demanding more of Koumas with the ball at his feet and the former Hull City loanee had several loose touches on Sunday that were noted.

Everyone, in the manager’s eyes, can improve and become more rounded – though he is aware each player has their own skillset.

Under 21s boss Rob Page, once of Wales, has been in regular contact with Iraola, who seems genuinely interested in the youngsters. ‘I knew the gaffer would love Koumas from the minute he stepped in,’ said Page last week.

In an ideal world, Iraola would switch at least two of his front three around the hour mark. He has told them he wants them to be ‘dead’ when they leave the pitch, allowing fresh legs – ‘finishers’ not substitutes – to take their place.

If Cody Gakpo and Bradley Barcola, say, have put in their shift, Iraola believes Rio Ngumoha and Victor Munoz – or any combination of the wide quartet – can come on and finish the job. No player is treated differently based on their price tag or status, remember.

Iraola wants Isak to lead the press with more ferocity, getting on the ball more, working better in tandem with Florian Wirtz.

Speaking of the German, Iraola also will spend the break considering his midfield puzzle. In the first fortnight of the season, it was a contentious issue as Liverpool were played through far too easily. Ryan Gravenberch has since paid for it by being replaced in the favoured XI.

Alexis Mac Allister has shown his best form in well over a year but the issue is not resolved just yet. Iraola, for what it is worth, does not think his midfield conundrum is a personnel issue. He wants to play with one No 6, one No 8 and one No 10.

Often, all three of them want to be the No 10 and players have got in each other’s way.

In this regard, 19-year-old academy star Trey Nyoni is seriously knocking on the door for a first Premier League start after impressing in cameos and in other competitions.

Iraola likes Nyoni a lot and trusts in youth. It is why the club opted not to sign a midfielder in the last week of the transfer window when Lamine Camara of Monaco was offered around.

Had Wirtz not been a £116m signing whom Iraola was tasked with getting the most out of, the move might have already happened: Nyoni and Mac Allister at the heart of midfield, Dominik Szoboszlai as a No 10 with fewer defensive duties, a role in which the Hungarian thrives.

These are all issues that plagued Arne Slot and ultimately cost him his job.

Iraola, though, believes his side are improving every week and slowly getting to grips with his complex off-the-ball demands, including when to ‘jump’ forward and initiate pressing movements.

He is learning on the job and getting his ideas across is harder at Liverpool than Bournemouth because of one simple reason: they cannot train as much. Due to midweek games, Iraola is getting nowhere near as much time on the training pitch as he would like.

Days have become a lot more on-pitch focused and Iraola is more hands-on than Slot, who would hold lots of meetings. He appears to have buy-in from the dressing room, but so does every new manager who replaces one that failed.

It is about making early impressions stand the test of time and that will be Iraola’s next task. His English assistants, Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, are said to be well-liked. Both are younger than the boss and perhaps connect better with the squad.

The trio, alongside Spaniard Pablo de la Torre, often have mini-meetings in their offices and the managerial team see themselves as ‘assistants to the players’ rather than authoritarian figures.

This fits in with Liverpool’s head coach model and, for this reason, Iraola has not been able to change too much from the Slot era – though there are some alterations. For example, training times are different, as are the ‘report’ times (when players are asked to arrive at the training ground). He adjusts the schedule based on the kick-off time of the next game.

Slot would often name his XI the day before the match, whereas Iraola does not tell players until a matter of hours before kick-off. It has put a halt to online team leaks which became all too common under the previous regime and were frustrating for many.

Former boss Slot chose to live away from the city to have a chance to switch off, whereas Iraola is living in Formby, where Jurgen Klopp resided. His main hobby is cycling – the wind mask and helmet have helped him go under cover during coastal rides.

Iraola’s two children already have their favourite player at Liverpool – though out of fairness to the whole squad, the boss will keep the individual a secret! – and his family is settling after the boss delayed his move up to allow the kids to finish the school year in Dorset.

In terms of his demeanour, Iraola is likeable and pleasant to deal with. So was Slot, to be fair, and Iraola will know being a nice guy gets you nowhere. He is always smiling and fiddling with a pen that has five different colours.

While some areas of the pitch have required the red pen treatment, one area that has been a major positive is defence, and in particular new signing Jeremy Jacquet.

The Frenchman has looked imperious, with a maturity way beyond his years.

He is only 21, remember, and barely had a pre-season due to a minor injury. He had not played for previous club Rennes from February onwards due to a shoulder problem and had, of course, never played in the Premier League until a month ago.

Noting all of those factors, Jacquet could have been forgiven for needing a bedding-in period but he has taken to his new surroundings with ease and appears a perfect partner for Virgil van Dijk, 14 years his senior.

The loss of Ibrahima Konate on a free transfer to Real Madrid felt like a hammer blow at the time but the topic has been forgotten thanks to Jacquet’s impressive start.

Ronald Araujo deserves praise, too. Iraola called the Uruguay international to sell him on the move to Liverpool and the Barcelona captain agreed to it immediately. Within 48 hours, the deal was done and he signed on loan. It is understood he is already hopeful of making the move permanent for a pre-agreed fee of £47.1m.

Giovanni Leoni is on the comeback trail and in the last stages of recovery after tearing his ACL on debut last September, while Conor Bradley is doing ball work for the first time since his nasty knee injury in January. Light at the end of a very long tunnel.

Left back Milos Kerkez has been criticised by fans and pundits alike but Iraola believes he is making strides and slowly becoming the player he was at Bournemouth before his big move to Liverpool in 2025.

So the defence feels settled, for now at least. The attackers all know where the goal is, too, but it is that all-important off-the-ball work that will buy them a golden ticket into Iraola’s good books. Intensity, intensity, intensity.