Andoni Iraola has given game away about what Liverpool should now expect

When it comes to taking a first step in convincing supporters he is the right man for the job, Andoni Iraola was sure-footed when facing the glare of the media spotlight earlier this week. But it was perhaps what the Spaniard didn't say that offered a reasonable idea of the weight of expectation that should be placed on his Liverpool team for the immediate future. Among the first utterances of predecessor Arne Slot two years ago referred to Liverpool's third-place finish in Jurgen Klopp's last campaign in charge and the squad he had inherited from the German. "We hopefully can get a bit more points than 82, which is necessary with the likes of Arsenal and City, to end up hopefully a bit higher than we did this season," said Slot. Sure enough, Liverpool ended the campaign with two more points as they romped home to a record-equalling 20th championship, fulfilling Slot's immediate brief. We all know what happened last season, however. And it's those travails that prompted Iraola to take on a very different approach when assessing the position in which the club find themselves at present. "I think we have to accept there are difficult situations right now in terms of, I would say, both sides: a lot of senior players leaving, very important players that have achieved almost everything here in the club, and also some of the very important players (who are) injured," said Iraola on Monday . "Obviously we've signed two players already but we need more players – we know this." Certainly, Iraola is in a very different position to Slot regards transfers. Back in the summer of 2024, those on their way out were either retired, youngsters or fringe players who had rarely featured in the first team and weren't part of Slot's long-term plans, while the only new arrival, Federico Chiesa , subsequently barely featured. Slot had the squad already, and had only to wait for those returning from the European Championship and Copa America before cracking on with his work that led to 23 wins in his first 27 games in charge. Nobody is expecting anything like that return from Iraola because while he has the same issues with late returnees from international tournaments, the squad he has taken over has nowhere near the same level of experience or depth of quality. FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page Indeed, of the 20 players involved in Klopp's final matchday squad in May 2024, eight are no longer at the club while another two are injured. All were fit and available for Slot's first game. Of course, Liverpool have been bolstered this summer by the arrival of centre-back Jeremy Jacquet after a £60million deal was agreed with Rennes in January while winger Victor Munoz has been snapped up from Osasuna for £34.5m. But Jacquet has never played in English football while Munoz won't link up with his new team until next month due to World Cup duty with Spain. Throw in the long-term injuries to Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni, and it's clearly why Iraola is publicly concerned by the lack of strength to his squad. There will be a large contingent of Academy players involved on the US tour to make up for the lack of numbers, but few if any are realistically going to be challenging for senior Premier League involvements during the first period of the campaign. The onus, then, is on Liverpool to start providing behind the scenes for Iraola with the clock ticking down on not only the start of the Premier League season on August 23, but also the transfer deadline barely a week later. The Spaniard will already be playing catch-up this summer and can't afford to fall too far behind during the opening weeks of the campaign. Slot had his squad ready from the off. Iraola hasn't been afforded that luxury. And it's why those expecting Liverpool to instantly banish the woes of last season and hit the ground running are likely to be given a rude awakening. The Reds' rebuild is going to take time - and supporters and players are going to have to be braced for that.