Iraola: My demands on Isak are not about goals, I am very happy to have him

In the third round of the Premier League, Liverpool defeated Ipswich Town 2-0 away from home. After the match, Liverpool manager Iraola spoke to Sky Sports in an interview.

On Isak:

He is a very important player for us. Maybe my demands on him are not about scoring goals. I know he is in very good physical condition and good form, and he will produce numbers. The demands between him and me are more about other aspects, such as how he can help the team in different situations.

But I am very happy to see that he has played two full matches in a row, had plenty of playing time today, and scored a goal. So yes, I am very happy to have him.

Can you talk more specifically about this point? In which areas would you like him to become more involved in matches?

I think our pressing was much better today, especially in the first half. So we were able to win the ball back in very high areas, and then we could connect with him in good positions. If we won the ball back in deeper areas, I think it would be much harder to find him, and there would be less space for him to use. So this requires the whole team to work together, so that we can get our number 9 into attacking positions like the ones he was in today.

How much did you enjoy the performance of this centre-back partnership? Yacques looks like a very good player, he is only 21 years old, while Virgil van Dijk is a player we can learn a lot from. But at the moment, this partnership is indeed very strong.

Yes, obviously I think for any centre-back, being able to partner with Virgil is a masterclass and a learning opportunity.

Agreed.

Yes. In this situation, today was also the first time Yacques completed a full match. In the first two games, from a physical perspective, he was unable to finish them because he felt tired. There was also a period in the second half today when I was a little concerned because I saw that his condition was slightly...

In the 89th minute, I think that was the moment when he made a small mistake while competing for possession.

But I think he has to go through these stages and get through these difficult moments so that he can eventually complete matches successfully. He needs to continue improving his physical condition little by little.