Liverpool midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch are in agreement that the training sessions under Andoni Iraola are more intense than before as the Spaniard looks to imprint his ideas on his players.
So far this season, Liverpool has had mixed results, winning just two of five Premier League games. But there has been progress made, with the Reds having kept three consecutive clean sheets against Ipswich, Fulham and then Bournemouth.
On the latest edition of the Reds Roundtable, Szoboszlai and Gravenberch both spoke about the intensity that is being shown behind the scenes as Liverpool looks to get back on track again after a difficult 2025/26 campaign.
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«Yeah, for sure the training sessions are hard and long,» Szoboszlai said, while Gravenberch and Milos Kerkez laughed along in agreement.
«I think we need this. You can use this in the game as well. We want to be aggressive. We want to be intense. We want to run more than the other team.
«The words are sometimes useless if you don’t do it. And we have a big chance to win something.»
«It is a manager who always wants to press with full intensity and go man against man,» Gravenberch added. «It’s different, but I like it.»
Szoboszlai also spoke about the need for Liverpool to start winning matches quickly.
At Bournemouth, Iraola took 10 fixtures to secure his first win, but there has been no such leeway at Anfield.
«I think we shouldn’t have the transition time,» Szoboszlai admitted. «When you come to Liverpool, you do your best, and we should still win the games and play in the highest level.
«That was my and our first feeling with (Andoni Iraola), that he is here to do that. The trainings are really hard, and he wants to do it this way.
«Of course, it takes a little time until we know each other, but it can’t take a while — the season has started already.»
Liverpool.com says: The rationale behind bringing Iraola in was in part about rediscovering that intensity again, and it seems to have worked to a point.
There are still questions to be answered — about squad depth, for instance, and the effectiveness of Florian Wirtz — but things are slowly heading in the right direction. Iraola has much more work to do, but he remains unbeaten.