A Liverpool Fan’s Take on the 2026/27 Season

Note: This article has been contributed by our guest writer who is a supporter of Liverpool FC.  

With Andoni Iraola coming in, Liverpool might go back to their old exciting and entertaining style of play with constant pressure and counterattacks, as we saw in the preseason matches.

First of all, Alisson remains one of the world’s elite goalkeepers, but his recent fitness issues have created ongoing problems for the squad. As we saw last season, Giorgi Mamardashvili is just not good enough as a keeper, with poor ball distribution and the habit of making many careless mistakes.

The defence honestly feels so much stronger than last season with the introduction of centre-backs Jeremy Jacquet and Ronaldo Araujo. Giovanni Leoni, who impressed everyone in his debut match before unfortunately suffering an injury, is also nearly back. Under Virgil van Dijk’s guidance, the central defence appears to be in safe hands.

As for the full-backs, Milos Kerkez seems to be finding his form, and is expected to excel under Iraola. On the right-hand side, Conor Bradley, who, on his day, is unstoppable and immovable needs to work on his fitness. Jeremy Frimpong is a very pacey player and can also be used on the wing, but the problem is that he usually seems to rely solely on his pace to beat defenders. For both Kerkez and Frimpong, delivery from wide areas is one clear department for improvement. They seem to mindlessly run to the edge of the box simply spamming crosses compared to the measured deliveries of Robertson and Alexander-Arnold.

The Midfield seems pretty balanced so far, and young players like Trey Nyoni may get more minutes under the new boss. Dominik Szoboszlai is on track to be the engine and heart of this Liverpool team. His work rate while attacking and defending is unmatched and is quickly reaching world-class status. Macca had a drop in form last season, but I believe he has more to offer this season.

On the left wing, we have decent players in Cody Gakpo and Victor Munoz. On the right, we only have Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha from the first team. Rio is not a RW/RM by default, but in the preseason games, he seemed to fit right in. A player like Lewis Koumas can also be utilised more this season. For the CAM position, we obviously have one of the most exciting CAMs of our generation in Florian Wirtz.

Depth in attack is thin, especially with Alexander Isak’s well-documented fitness struggles. With Hugo Ekitike sidelined by a ruptured Achilles, our central striking back-up is depleted until late 2026 or early 2027.

In Andoni Iraola’s recent interview, he talked about how the players can run for only 30 minutes, and that raises a huge concern over the current physical state of the team. Unlike Slot’s tactics, I feel like Iraola will be testing the players’ physicality more, as seen from his time at Bournemouth. There will be a lot more pressing this season, and I’m all for it.

I’m sure many of the Liverpool fans are going into the new season with high hopes but also knowing we might not be able to contest for trophies just yet. We lack depth in all positions so far, thus, competing in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup might be challenging.

Players like Tsimikas, Chiesa, Elliott, Jones and Endo might not have much time in Liverpool anymore and might need replacing as soon as possible.

The link-up play we saw in the preseason was exciting to watch, and we can only hope for the best. Our starting 11 may be strong, but in the long run, we need better quality players, and hopefully we make a signing or 2 before the window closes.