"We're not as bad as we look": Iraola responds to the anger of Liverpool fans
Two defeats that ignited the anger
Andoni Iraola wants Liverpool back to winning ways. Beaten twice in a row, the manager admitted he understands the fans' anger at the team's level when he faced the press on Friday, ahead of Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace in the tenth round of the Premier League.
Iraola remains angry at Liverpool's recent home defeat to Arsenal by a single unanswered goal, and at Alexander Isak being denied a penalty in that match. He confirmed the absence of any official clarification, telling "Sky Sports": We did not get any explanation, but this is the system in place, and we will just wait for the referees' committee conclusions exactly as happened after the recent Brighton match, from which we came out with nothing. I think we will have to wait 10 days before they announce their opinion".
The results have dried up. That Arsenal defeat (1-0) last Sunday was followed by a 3-2 loss to Turkey's Fenerbahce in the Champions League last Wednesday. Liverpool now sit fifth in the Premier League with 15 points, a full nine behind leaders Arsenal.
Iraola stressed the need for a swift response. "The challenge at a club the size of Liverpool is that last week we were going through a brilliant winning run, everything is in a good place and everyone is in an excellent mood, but after two defeats everything changes completely, and this is the reality that a club of Liverpool's stature has to deal with. We have to produce the required reaction, as winning against Crystal Palace is a pressing necessity. We went through similar circumstances against Bournemouth and even in the Brentford match, and we have to go there to get the job done and take the points from the match".
There was better news on the individual front. The Spanish manager welcomed Rio Ngumoha's call-up to the England squad, named by Thomas Tuchel on Friday ahead of the international break. "It is very good news for Rio and for us too. He is always a threat when we put him in good positions against opponents, and he keeps developing and helps us a lot".
Palace sit 18th on seven points, yet Iraola was quick to show his respect for Sunday's opponents. "Even with the change of manager there is continuity in their style of play, and the players are completely used to what they do. I watched their match on Thursday, they fought to the end with 10 players and achieved the result in the final seconds (the 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim in the Europa League). It is a team that has high-quality elements, and they play good football with the ball. Their stadium is also not a big one, so you feel the pressure quickly from a throw-in or a long ball, and there are many situations inside the box that require high quality defensively and offensively".
On the injury front, only one name is in doubt. "The only doubts we have come down to Ryan Gravenberch, while the rest of the elements are as they are. Ryan's situation is linked to a daily assessment and depends on his pain tolerance, and we will see whether we can manage the matter so he is able to help us".
Asked about fan pressure and the team's fluctuating results, the manager called for perspective. "When we lose a match everyone becomes angry, but we have to look at things with a balanced perspective and we know that the path carries ups and downs. We have to get past this moment, as we hope to produce strong levels and always win but this does not happen all the time. We were going through a positive run and then we lost two matches so the doubts appeared, and I understand that completely, and if I were a fan I would do the same thing. But we work daily and we know what we are doing, we are not as bad as the picture we show today, nor as good as we appeared a week ago, and the challenge lies in maintaining the group's morale".
His parting words touched on his team's sportsmanship towards referees. "We are an honest group, even too honest at times. The referee congratulated us after the match and I do not know if I really liked that. Things should be natural without pretence, and when we complain the complaint should be genuine. We are a team that wants to press and be aggressive, but the balance in that makes a big difference. Possession and reaching the box becomes much easier when you are ahead in the result and find the spaces, and that is what we have lacked recently when we did not hold on to our lead".
