Liverpool just kicked off the Andoni Iraola era with a 4-2 win over Sunderland, but let’s be real, the scoreboard isn’t the headline. The real story, the one everyone’s buzzing about, is Joe Gomez hitting the deck just eight minutes in, completely overshadowing those four goals and leaving a massive question mark over the backline.
One Play, Eight Minutes, and Liverpool’s Defensive Depth Is Already Gone
It was supposed to be a fresh start under Iraola, but Gomez, who was even wearing the captain’s armband at center-back, went down early and had to be pulled from the game. Iraola didn’t mince words after, calling it “probably the worst news” and adding, “we’ve lost Joe straight away.” It’s a gut punch, especially when you consider new signing Jeremy Jacquet, another center-half, was already out. Iraola noted they’re “going to take it easy with him” after “a lot of months without playing,” hinting he might finally get minutes in the last game of the tour. To make matters worse, Virgil van Dijk is still chilling after the World Cup, so what did that leave on the field? Two 18-year-old center-backs, Mor Talla N’diaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, making their debuts until the 68th minute. They “performed admirably,” sure, but you can’t expect them to be regulars. And Giovanni Leoni, another 19-year-old, is still working back from a brutal ACL tear. Iraola himself said earlier in the week his squad was “very thin” defensively, and seeing Gomez limp off surely hammered that home for sporting director Richard Hughes, who was in Nashville for the game.
Goals and Glitches: The Win Was Fun, But The Defense Is a Mess
Yeah, the goals were fun. Kieran Morrison, Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa, and Lewis Koumas all found the net in the 4-2 victory. Szoboszlai, rocking the armband after coming on at half-time, drilled a screamer from outside the box to pull them level at 2-2 after Sunderland’s Timur Tutierov had put them ahead. Harvey Elliott, fresh back from Aston Villa, also got in on the action with a surging run that set up Morrison’s opener. Morrison, the 19-year-old Northern Ireland international, was “brilliant all evening” and definitely asked questions of the Sunderland backline. He could be a solid option off the bench. Iraola was “constantly out of his seat” and the team showed flashes of good pressing, but let’s not forget how easily they gave up two goals. Enzo le Fee had “the freedom of Nashville” to fire his strike past Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Liverpool were “opened up far too easy” for Tutierov’s goal. For 24,897 fans, it provided some joy, especially seeing Chiesa score, but the defensive issues are glaring.
What’s next? The hope is Jacquet gets some minutes in the last game of this tour. Because right now, the defensive situation is about as thin as it gets.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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