Liverpool fell to their second successive defeat in pre-season as Monaco came from behind to down them 3-2 at Anfield.
After also losing to Leeds United last week, this is a huge blow for Andoni Iraola, whose Anfield debut ended in disappointment.
Liverpool fared quite well in the first half when most of their big hitters played as they went into the interval with a 2-1 lead.
However, they capitulated after half-time as Monaco looked the better of the two sides and deservedly scored a late winner.
And after the game, Iraola’s comments prove that he’s not happy with the overall quality of the squad.
Andoni Iraola makes Liverpool admission
Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and Hugo Ekitike remain on the sidelines and are no closer to returning to action.
Liverpool’s woes got worse before the game as Jeremy Jacquet and Curtis Jones were omitted from the squad, although Iraola confirmed after the defeat that it was precautionary.
The Spaniard also suggested the Reds weren’t able to sustain their level of dominance after most of his big guns went off.
This could be him speaking about the fact that they need more time on the training ground. But another way of looking at it is that he is unhappy with his squad strength, which would be a fair assessment of his current options.
“We can’t sustain that level we want to have. We have work to do,” said the Spaniard after the game.
Liverpool have signed just Jacquet and Victor Munoz, who made his debut vs Monaco. Ronald Araujo is set to join on loan next week, but the Reds need 2-3 more players to have a squad capable of tackling four competitions.
