Wingers come in different guises and at different prices. On the day Liverpool agreed to pay up to £123m for Bradley Barcola, the man signed for rather less, and with rather less fanfare, again spared Andoni Iraola a first defeat of his reign. On Sunday at Newcastle, Victor Munoz won the penalty that produced Dominik Szoboszlai’s 99th-minute equaliser. On his Anfield bow, the £34m Spaniard delivered a devastating equaliser.
That both contributions came from the right flank, though he had started on the left against Nottingham Forest, may be pertinent. The presumption is that Barcola will be used on the left. While Liverpool are yet to replace Mohamed Salah, they got two equalisers from the men stationed in his old spot here, with Cody Gakpo affording Alexander Isak a tap-in. The Dutchman is scarcely a right winger and faces an uncertain future at the end of the window. If Munoz had a fine introduction, this could prove Gakpo’s goodbye, and his was a valiant effort.
An encouraging element for Liverpool is that Iraola has exerted an impact with his changes in each of his first two games. Munoz, who came on at St James’ Park, swapped flanks at Anfield, took Florian Wirtz’s pass, span and unleashed a vicious shot, even if a deflection off Murillo helped. It may not have been the first example of fine decision-making by Iraola: he pushed for Munoz’s signing when Newcastle were closing in on his signature. “Victor has been very good both games,” said Iraola. “Everything hasn’t been perfect but he tries again and again and again and I like this from the wingers.”
And so his tenure has begun with twin 2-2 draws. If it promises to be fun, at times his Liverpool can be both fast and flawed. Yet this underlined the size of his task if Iraola is to succeed his way. Liverpool had more defensive difficulties, with a susceptibility to the counter-attack again apparent, but with variations on a theme. Newcastle had scored twice by running straight through the heart of Iraola’s team. Forest struck twice courtesy of balls in behind, the first punted 80 yards by goalkeeper Matz Sels; both involved throw-ins, too, the second a quick one by the debutant Liam Delap.
After the Forest striker added to the family tradition of Delap throw-ins, Alisson upended Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White, an increasingly regular scourge of Liverpool, converted the resulting penalty. “It could and probably should have been a win,” said Oliver Glasner. “Very proud of the performance but frustrated and disappointed about the result.” So both new managers remain winless.
It looked a perfect storm for Liverpool; or maybe a Venn diagram of doom. Forest had won on their previous two trips to Anfield. Glasner had beaten Liverpool three times last season with Crystal Palace. Iraola tends to begin slowly in new jobs.
But they avoided the worst-case scenario and had a point to show for a rather mixed display. “The first half has been poor from our side,” admitted Iraola, who drew more optimism from what followed.
Yet Liverpool again had a high defensive line and a susceptibility to counter-attacks. Glasner, despite his back-to-back losses to Leeds, seemed to be the new manager who had made the more immediate impact.
Liverpool were run ragged by Dan Ndoye and Igor Jesus. Gibbs-White showed there is life after Elliot Anderson for Forest. He played a part in both goals. For the opener, the Liverpool defence, attempting to push up, were caught out by Sels’ long kick to Jesus, before Gibbs-White fed Ndoye to slot in. Alisson made a terrific save to deny Forest a second, tipping Jesus’ shot on to the bar.
Florian Wirtz had a goal disallowed when Jeremie Frimpong was offside. The German provided more promise than he had at Newcastle, drawing a fine save from Sels after a lovely Gakpo cross, finding the Dutchman in the build-up to the first equaliser and ending with an assist of his own. Isak, though, got his goal, just his second for Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League.
A subplot in a match where substitutions felt significant was that Iraola was readying a triple change, with Rio Ngumoha about to come on; the manager revealed that Gakpo would have been among those going off.
Instead, Glasner summoned Delap, fresh from his £45m club-record move from Chelsea. Iraola was aggrieved Liverpool were trying to make a triple change when the forward took the throw. “I wanted to make the subs about three minutes before,” said Iraola. “I don’t have an explanation.” He suggested the fourth official’s board was malfunctioning. So, though, was his defence.
They look in need of bolstering, though Liverpool are instead adding a winger for a nine-figure sum. Meanwhile, Glasner, set to sign Daniel Munoz and amid Forest interest in Harrison Armstrong, is eyeing more arrivals. “Definitely one, potentially two and probably three,” he said. It could lead to departures. “Definitely one, potentially two and probably three,” he grinned.
