Andoni Iraola gives verdict on Liverpool’s win over Wrexham and pre-season progress
By Joel Masibo, July 30, 2026Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola was encouraged by the team’s more collective performance in beating Wrexham 1-0 in a pre-season friendly in New York on Thursday, July 30, 2026.
The Reds made it two wins out of two so far this pre-season as Rio Ngumoha’s deflected second-half strike separated the sides at Yankee Stadium.
Post-match, the head coach offered his verdict on the team’s display.
Assessment of the game
The tactician said; “Yeah, I think overall we were more solid than the other day. It was a different kind of game, the pitch is quite narrow and there are not a lot of spaces. But I think we had good spells. And even if the other day maybe you score more goals and it looks nicer, I think today we were more a team and more collective.”
On pre-season matches being important to get players physically read, Iraola said; “I’m happy today because we played a lot of the young players. Some of them had difficult match-ups, [Luke] Chambers playing as a centre-back against big bodies, he covered very well and played very well from the back. The wingers – Josh Abe, Kieran Morrison at the end. Good performances from young players, which I think is always good.”
On a learning curve for the younger players against senior professionals, the Liverpool boss said;
“Yes, I think both [Lewis] Koumas and Will [Wright] have done a very good job today. They were helping us on the press, helping us also attacking the spaces, linking up also with Harvey [Elliott], with Dom [Szoboszlai], with the players behind them. Both of them have done a good job.”
Game plan
Speaking on On where the squad is at in terms of creating his identit and implementing his game plan, the former Bournemouth coach said;
“I think we’re still not there. We are sometimes arriving late, but I think it’s a step forward, since especially the first half against Sunderland. That is more of a reference than the second half. Slowly, slowly I hope every game we are closer and closer. We start to add new bodies, because now we are playing with a lot of the young players. Slowly, slowly we have to add the senior players that are starting to train with us, so we can arrive to the beginning of the season in a good place,” he added.