Photo: AFC Bournemouth / CC BY 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Liverpool ended their three-match pre-season tour of the United States with a 4-2 defeat to Leeds United at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday, head coach Andoni Iraola said the result carried clear lessons for his squad.
Luke Chambers and Florian Wirtz put Liverpool two goals up at half-time, but Brenden Aaronson, a Dominic Calvert-Lewin double and Sean Longstaff completed a second-half turnaround for the Premier League side.
"Obviously it's not the result you want but I think [it was] probably the most useful friendly we played – in a positive way in the first half and in a negative way in the second half," Iraola said. "I think we've learned a lot from today and I think we can take good conclusions and solve some things."
Iraola was broadly positive about the contributions of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Ryan Gravenberch, all of whom made their first pre-season appearances. "I think they did really good. They played their first 45 minutes," he said, adding that Wirtz and Isak benefited from playing in the first half while conditions were more favourable.
Jeremie Frimpong was substituted during the match, though Iraola downplayed concerns over the winger's fitness. "I don't think it's an injury. It was just some overload and I hope he's not injured in that way. I don't think we've lost anyone," the Liverpool head coach said.
Iraola noted the scale of Liverpool's global support base during the tour and underlined that preparation for the competitive season remains the primary objective. "We want to get ready [for] the start of the season – that is when people want to see us play well and get results," he said.