NewsPress conference: Andoni Iraola on transfer window, Alisson, Szoboszlai deal and vice-captaincy

Following Liverpool’s arrival in the USA for their two-week pre-season tour, the head coach attended a media briefing.

In addition to updates on squad fitness and when World Cup players will return to the Reds, he spoke about the transfer window, Alisson Becker, Dominik Szoboszlai’s new contract, choosing a vice-captain and more.

Read a summary below…

On the importance of Liverpool’s friendlies during the summer…

I think the pre-season is always the foundation of what’s going to be a long season. But when you arrive to a new club it’s even more important because you don’t have a lot of training sessions, you don’t have a lot of even friendlies. We are playing five friendlies before the season starts, so every training session, every pre-season friendly for us is massive.

It’s massive because sometimes we lack days of training properly, of training with all the group of players, so everything that we can get from every friendly we play, we have to use it properly because we want to arrive in a good spot on the first day of the season and at the end the best training is always the friendlies you play.

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On ‘if he has a number of how many players you need’ in the remainder of the transfer window…

No, I think it’s difficult to say a number when the market is open, and you have to be always open to new options to improve the squad. There are obvious situations that we know where we need to sign players. A winger, for example – we definitely need to sign a winger. But there are other situations that we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what’s the cost, how we also see the players we have. We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust but is still not the ideal situation. So, it will depend on a lot of things.

On Alisson’s future…

I’m very happy with the situation we have right now in the goalkeeping area. We have Alisson, we have Giorgi [Mamardashvili]. We are going to send on loan, for example, Armin [Pecsi], ’keepers that probably are in another phase, but have the guarantee of those ’keepers that already because of different reasons also… the three of them here, Freddie [Woodman] played some games [in the] past season, I think it’s a guarantee for us.

Alisson is someone also in a changing room that has lost some references in terms of experience, I think he’s someone that definitely will help us in this process of adaptation of the new signings, of the new players, the young players. We need the references like Virgil [van Dijk], like Alisson, like Joe Gomez, players that have been here for a long time. And I’m sure we will have this help, yes.

On the right-back position and ‘if it’s something you would want to address in the market’…

I think it depends on Conor’s situation. At the end if you have a fully fit, healthy Conor Bradley, we are very happy, ready to go and we would not be asking ourselves these questions. I think it’s a situation that is tricky, because we trust Conor in the long term, we know we want him to be our right-back but right now he is still, I would say, a little bit far from returning. So, with the centre-back, with the right-back situation, in terms of defensive depth, we are, I think, very thin right now so I think it’s a solution that we are trying to find, yes.

On Szoboszlai’s new contract and if he has the potential to be in a leadership role…

I think this is one of the probably greatest news since I arrived, his commitment to this club, his contract renewal. Also, he has come in a great shape. He has been leading by example in training, he’s pushing a lot. I think young players should be looking at him, the way he is training and he competes.

And definitely he has to be one of our leaders looking forward and I’m looking forward to having him in my team, to try to use him in the best way, to try to help him feel comfortable and try to make him continue the same way he’s having, because I think he had a very good season [in the] past season. And even, if we can, improve what he’s already doing.

On the vacancy for a vice-captain in the squad…

I will address [it later in pre-season] because I still haven’t met almost half of the squad, I still haven’t seen them face-to-face. So, I think we will take the decision when it happens. But I always say, you don’t need to wear an armband to be a leader, to be a captain. Sometimes I understand here in England it has a lot of meaning, there is a lot behind [it], but I’ve had a lot of captains, leaders without wearing the armband.

You can lead a team, you can be an important player, you can be… not just because one wears [an armband] it has to be like [that]. No, no, we need more than one or two vice-captains, we need a lot of captains in the pitch, we need as many as we can. Yes, I’m sure that whatever the decisions we take in terms of the armband, a lot of players will continue leading.

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