Iraola has made a decision following Liverpool's shocking home loss to Monaco.
Andoni Iraola, manager of Liverpool "The Reds," admitted that his players could not maintain the level of performance he wanted after suffering a 2-3 defeat to Monaco, a strong French team, in the latest pre-season friendly at Anfield. He said the team has decided it must work and improve on this issue.
In the match, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz scored to give Liverpool an early 2-0 lead, but Monaco came back to score three goals and win 3-2.
After the game, Iraola said, "I think we played very well in the first half, especially the first 30 minutes, but we couldn't maintain the level of play we wanted throughout the entire game, and they deserved to come back. So, we have work to do."
"I believe my players have varying levels of ability, but overall it is good. Those playing their first or second matches have plenty of energy. The problem is that they may not be fit enough for the full 90 minutes yet and start to tire. It will take time for them. We need to train more with them, but we can take many lessons, both good and bad, from today."
Regarding the fitness progress of players who missed the game, Iraola said, "We hesitated whether to play Jeremy Jackett today and decided not to, but he should be ready for the next match. It will take some time as expected. As for Curtis Jones, he trains every day but had a hip issue yesterday. It doesn't seem serious, but it wasn't worth the risk. He is the player closest to returning."
Reflecting on the team's situation after four pre-season games, he said, "I think we are in a good position now, especially considering we won the first two games. But in the last two, we couldn't maintain the level we wanted throughout the whole game. As soon as we made substitutions, players started to tire. We couldn't keep up that level, so there is still work to do."
About the feedback and support from fans at Anfield, Iraola said, "Of course, it was very good, especially in the first half when we attacked strongly and everything went well. We enjoyed it a lot. The second half was tough because when they expect you to do well but you don't, and you can't give them what they want, it's frustrating."