Liverpool's New Attack Sparkles, But Old Defensive Habits Cost Iraola His Anfield Bow

Andoni Iraola's first match in charge of Liverpool at Anfield ended in a 3-2 defeat, but for half an hour it looked nothing like a warning sign. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz put Liverpool two goals up inside 29 minutes, only for Virgil van Dijk's penalty concession late in the first half to hand Monaco a route back before the break. Mika Biereth levelled early in the second half, and substitute Paris Brunner scored an 88th-minute winner. Somewhere inside that swing from a two-goal lead to a 3-2 defeat sits the real story of this pre-season friendly: Liverpool's new attacking pieces look ready, but the individual errors that let Monaco back in are exactly the kind Iraola will need ironed out before results start to count.

A fast start, then old habits

Liverpool led at half-time, 2-1, after Isak opened the scoring in the 16th minute from Ryan Gravenberch's assist, and Wirtz added a second in the 29th minute with Isak credited as the provider. Monaco's route back began with Aleksandr Golovin's 44th-minute penalty, awarded after Van Dijk's foul. Biereth's finish in the 56th minute levelled the scores, and Brunner, on as a substitute, struck the winner in the 88th minute, assisted by fellow substitute Aymeric Soubeir. The friendly, played at Anfield as part of the Club Friendlies fixtures, was Iraola's first match in charge of Liverpool at that ground, and it doubled as a reunion of sorts: Alisson, Van Dijk and Cody Gakpo all started for the first time since this summer's World Cup. Curtis Jones was absent as a precaution with a hip problem.

Isak and Wirtz: the two names Iraola will build around

Both attackers earned the highest marks in BBC Sport's player ratings, 8 out of 10 apiece. Isak began with some good touches, took his opening goal with a solid finish past Lukas Hradecky, and was later credited with the final touch that made it Liverpool's second goal, even though the goal itself is recorded as Wirtz's with Isak as the assist. It is a small mix-up in the record that will not trouble either man. Wirtz, meanwhile, was described in the ratings as "a class apart", constantly at the heart of Liverpool's attacking play after an early effort was saved by Hradecky. Gakpo, playing his first pre-season minutes, looked threatening and had a header that led to Wirtz's goal, while Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai both earned 7s for combining in the build-up to the opener.

Where it fell apart: individual errors

Liverpool actually edged the overall numbers, with 51.5% possession, 15 shots to Monaco's 14 and more passes completed at a higher accuracy, 500 at 86.2% against Monaco's 469 at 85.1%. But Monaco had more shots on target, 8 to Liverpool's 6, and four corners to Liverpool's none, and made those moments count. Van Dijk's penalty was described in the ratings as "reckless", conceded towards the end of the first half. After half-time substitute Wataru Endo, making his first Liverpool appearance since February, was judged to have got the ball away too slowly before Biereth's equaliser. Giorgi Mamardashvili, on for Alisson at the break, denied Biereth once but could not keep out either his second effort or Brunner's late winner. At the other end of the pitch, Milos Kerkez was judged to have defended the Brunner goal poorly, and Federico Chiesa, given only 15 minutes off the bench, was beaten in the air by Brunner for the same goal.

Squad depth on show

Iraola used the game to look beyond his senior XI. Eighteen-year-old centre-back Ifeanyi Ndukwe started and earned a 7, rated as composed beyond his years, though he cannot play competitive football for Liverpool this season after failing to qualify for a work permit. Lewis Koumas, 20, skied a first-half chance he should have scored but was still praised for his work-rate and involvement in the second goal. Off the bench, Trey Nyoni, fresh from a pre-season tour of the USA, was again rated as a handy midfield option, particularly if Jones leaves this summer, while 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha continued adjusting to an unfamiliar right-flank role. Victor Munoz made his Liverpool debut down the left and showed his pace, and Harvey Elliott made his first Anfield appearance since a loan spell at Aston Villa, receiving a warm reception without doing anything of note. James McConnell, given half an hour, struggled to impose himself.

What it means before Como

Liverpool conclude their pre-season campaign against Como next Sunday, kicking off at 6pm BST at Anfield, with a separate closed-doors match between the clubs earlier the same day at noon. It is the last audition before matches carry consequences, and the split verdict from the Monaco defeat is unlikely to trouble Iraola too deeply: his most expensive attacking additions look the part, and a friendly loss built on individual defensive errors, rather than a tactical collapse, is the kind of problem a manager can address in training rather than panic over. Whether Van Dijk's penalty, Endo's hesitation and Kerkez's positioning were pre-season rust or something more will only become clear once the Premier League season starts for real.

Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: BBC Sport's original report.