NewsAndoni Iraola press conference: Transfers, Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, balance and more

The Liverpool head coach spoke to the media at the AXA Training Centre ahead of his side's home Premier League meeting with Nottingham Forest.

Find a round-up from his session with reporters below.

On trying to sign wingers...

As you know, we are trying to sign in that position and also, as you know, we cannot talk about players that right now are not ours. But it's evident that we are trying to improve or try to fill that position because we don't have the numbers. I hope we can have good news soon but we are still not there.

On finding balance between attacking and defending...

Yeah, that's the key – you said the balance. Because you don't want to lose this, the offensive side, the fluidity, the arrivals with numbers, but obviously we were punished the other day, especially in the first goal. I think we don't do a proper lockdown. I think we've been definitely working on it. It's nothing new, like we've started this week. It's something that we always want to control.

But there is a balance. We cannot go from one way where we send a lot of people forward to after we keep everyone so we don't arrive with numbers, everything looks very stale. I think it's a matter of identifying the situation. You cannot be with the joystick every time with the player. There are players that are very good, they're smelling, 'OK, there is real danger, I can't take the risk of going. Now I think I have to stay.' This is also the quality of the player who takes those decisions.

On his confidence about adding players before the end of the transfer window...

I don't know what's going to happen. We have to be patient – even myself – for another four or five days and then we will know. I will be comfortable the first of September, or the second in this case, when they tell me, 'OK, this is who we are, this is the options we have.' And then we can really start thinking, 'OK, then we might start thinking in the players in these positions.' But right now we don't know. I have in my head what I want. We've been talking not now [but] since the beginning with the club and they all know also what we want, and then it's a matter of closing the deals.

On stepping out at Anfield as Liverpool head coach...

It's definitely a special moment for me to play your first Premier League game at Anfield. I think I already felt it in pre-season. So when the competition starts for me, it's going to be – I will be thinking of the game and the things that I need to think – but I think it's going to be emotional and I think it has to be like this. It is a special place. I've had to fight a lot to arrive to this place and I hope everything goes well and I can enjoy also the game.

On what to expect from Oliver Glasner's Forest...

I think he has been very successful. Here, we know him from the Premier League, we've played against each other quite a lot. You can see straight away the shape, they don't concede a lot of chances. The other day against Leeds [in the Premier League] it was a very tight game, not a lot of chances and Leeds won because they scored a free-kick in the 90th minute. But probably Forest even had more chances than Leeds until that moment.

We will have to earn every chance. They don't give you [anything] for free. You have to be very good on the ball, be patient sometimes because they defensively are very solid, [they] are very good. And after they have also very good players up front – like every Premier League team – and we have to control those situations, especially in the transitions because they also have good threats in the counter.

On the midfield discipline...

Obviously we cannot attack with everyone and then leave everyone at the back, but also there is a balance there. I don't want to tell Ryan Gravenberch, 'Don't carry the ball and don't arrive to the box.' Because I think we scored against Monaco, the goal we scored, I think the one-two, it was Gravenberch to [Dominik] Szoboszlai and then a pass to Alex [Isak] and he scores and no-one asked me, 'Why are you leaving Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai there on the edge [of the box] both together?' No, they said, 'Incredible goal, lovely goal.'

There is a balance there. There's recognising the situations from the others also, how we can balance those numbers with other positions. Sometimes you have to accept [it] and I don't want to keep all the time the players also like, 'I'm in the opposite half, I have to stay here.' Like when a full-back goes, the other has to stay there because one has gone, I have to stay here. Depending [on] the situation and depending on where is your opposition, if your opposition is also very low, we have the numbers at the back, [then it's] probably safer to go. If they are kind of leaving players in behind, we have to be careful. Recognising those situations is the job we have to do now.

On how he can get his players to 'exert more control' in games...

I felt we controlled the game, honestly, quite well the other day. Obviously you concede two transitions and you can tell me, 'No, but you conceded...' [and] it's true, but I think we had a meaningful possession. Sometimes you have possession, [but] I felt like we were quite direct in our attack, we stayed most of our game very far. I was feeling during the game, sometimes you feel [it], I was always feeling we are closer to scoring than Newcastle are in most parts of the game. It's true that you don't win, you draw 2-2 and you cannot change this, but I felt we did a lot of good things in the first game.

On Jeremy Jacquet's Premier League debut...

I think overall he played very well, considering it's his first game [and] also basically 45 minutes of pre-season. It's true that he finished tired; we had to sub him because I was feeling the last five minutes on the pitch he was tired. You can feel [it], especially with centre-backs. He's been very confident on the ball, good without the ball and he's very young, a new signing. For sure he will make some mistakes, we have to accept this, but he's performing and training very well for me.