Lewis Steele: Iraola Wanted MORE From Liverpool’s Transfer Window

0:00This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Of course, Irayola was going to get asked about the transfer window and the bit of a review when everyone's talking about it at the moment. You were there, Luis, when he's asked about it, and he says, I'm very happy the signings made. Do I want more signings? At the end, the club has decided those signings we have done are the ones that will improve our team. There were other options we decided not to take for different reasons, sports or economical or the deal didn't make sense in the market. But I'm happy now. The moment is for the players to give it all they have. I know Irayola, as always, said he likes when this closes. This is his bit now. He hates the month of August or with through that. But even the way he said it, because he's quite an honest guy and that's coming through when all this presses. You just get the feeling it's like, how can I say, I'm not fully happy without throwing anyone under the bus type of feel to it? I don't think Hero, there is the sort to make little digs to the board.

1:04Like you might have seen a merino or someone like that in the past. But I think that he just speaks what's on his mind. I think his genuine position is he would have liked more, but his model or his identity is to work with what he's got and improve what he's got. We saw he did that at Bournemouth and we know he came through or he was sort of schooled in the athletic bill, which they can't go out and spend loads of money. They have to they have to sort of coach from within and find solutions from within. So I think he's going to do that, but in an ideal world he wouldn't have had to do that in some positions. He would have just bought a field there or bought a writeback or bought a left back because they would have instantly improved the squad. He says obviously some of it was financial and I understand that they don't have unlimited money in whatever, not saying they have to go out and spend 200 million more or whatever, it was just a 40 year and a 40 there.

2:09But that's just how it is and Hero is going to have to soak it up. And it's going to be an interest in a few weeks. Hopefully you can get off the off the mark tonight with three points. And then because if he doesn't, the pressure will be on from the external people, you know, you can't enables Jamie Caragas of this world. And yeah, he's been left with a weird situation where he would have liked more, but you can't explicitly say it. Yeah, it does have that feeling. And even as you mentioned in the press, it talks about the type of recruitment he said, we prefer at the end to have the best players, rather than play a specifically for that position. I'm used to all the teams to demand wingers to play on both sides, playing with Grille and Cody, talks about that Bradley Barcola comes in. There is almost a feeling Liverpool recent recruitment in the last few years, like a hundred million pound plus players have come into the mix, rather than making the squad stronger overall. It's said, the

3:10best players, rather than specifically for that position, wouldn't say it's a dig book. Time will tell if this is the best strategy quite quickly, won't it? Yeah, I think I think time's already telling that the first two games of the season, I think it's obvious to say they are a couple of players like now, Hero, they could make it work and make everything, you know, make all of us guys look silly, which I suppose slot did two years ago, because we were all berating the lack of activity that window, and by five weeks into the season, no one was talking about that anymore. So that could be the case, but I almost feel like Hughes and Co sort of think, well, look at what happened two years ago. I think they maybe got away with one a little bit by going easy on that transfer window. I think it's one of them, you can look at it and say you can get away with those sort of things once, twice, I'm not sure I think it'll catch up with you, and I think you look at

4:11the how the primary title rivals of strength in this season, asked no, you know, done some okay business, city of completely revamped them in field, Chelsea have made some good sign in Smolgen Rogers, obviously Liverpool have also made some good signings, but I feel like they just a little bit light in certain areas, then that might cost them going into the season. You do get that feeling, and we were talking about funds, they had an 85 million pound offer on the table for Cody Gappo, where they pulled it, pulled the plug last minute, didn't they? And as he said yesterday, when asked about it, my relationship with Cody's been very honest from the beginning, he's played very well for us so far, he's aware of the situation the market, we were constantly talking, I hope we can keep him at the same level, he's in a good place physically and mentally, and I'm very happy to pick him. You kind of get the impression that Gappo will be a model pro, he's not foolish,

5:11you'll know the club try to sell him, I'm quite happy to do that deal if they got a winger, they once heard, and there's even been reports that the owners have been involved in the conversations, but they'll hope he kind of just smooth that over as quickly as possible, won't they? Yeah, definitely, I think it's a weird situation because obviously he was maybe 95% a man city player at one point last week, which I said last time I was on, I thought that sounded like a weird transfer at the time, and it still does, obviously it didn't happen so it doesn't matter, but I think Gappo is one of these players who definitely needs to improve his level, but in the first two games I think he has shown that he's maybe turned the little corner, and I think he maybe now he, I don't know how he will feel about it, the club were obviously sanctioned and say that one point, does he feel like unwanted because of that, or does he think because they've high-bushed it,

6:12does he feel, does he, does it, the opposite, and he feels like, right, this is my time to, to shine now has almost got a second chance at Liverpool, and we all know that on his day, he could have got Poo can be a very good player, but I think last season was just probably a confidence thing as well, and obviously they lost Lewis Diaz and the season before, they had the ability to, if Gappo was having a bad 60 minutes incomes Diaz, if Diaz is having a bad 60 minutes incomes, they've sort of got that now because I think the forewing is very good with with Barco, the Munoz Gappo and and Rio, and I think the competition is going to be really good, I think they can all contribute in very different ways, so we talk about negatively about other areas of the pitch, but we should say the attack, I think looks very strong to be honest. That's probably the hope, is that especially because you think we might have to win some games three, two, four, three, but when you look at sort of Gappo, EZAC there, Ekateek, I know he's got to come back, but Munoz, Barco,

7:13and Rio, Florian, Virtus, and your hope will contribute Dominic Zibosly, you do look when you line us up against other teams attacking prowess, we are up there to be fair aren't we? Yeah I think definitely, I think, I think if, if, if Virtus in the 10 and EZAC in the 9 and Barco and whoever, either side of them, I think that is as good as any front free in the division by by far. You look at Chelsea's Pedro Palmer, Morgan Rogers, JP Morgan, whatever they call it, I think that's very good, but if one of them gets injured, I look at the reserves and they're not as good, I think City with Harland and Docku and Semenu and whoever plays again it's good, but I think Liverpool probably would argue that there's better Arsenal obviously have just won a title, but if still feels like they have a few issues around Giorgio Rez and Havirts and Solis playing on

8:18the left start this season well didn't do much in the second game. So I think Liverpool, overall you could probably make a case that they've got the best front free, it's just a case of this is only the case of when they all click together and so far that's not happened, but the signs against Forest were that they were starting to get to grips with it also, so let's see what happens in the next week or two. Fascinating to see how they get on if they can click and even as we finish the window of summer 2026, how mental is this? Already it seems that 2027's being discussed, I mean everyone's reporting this now, even David Ornstein says on this athletic podcast, inflation reached us around deadline day of Alexis McAllister with left, Liverpool's top choice would have been Lamine, Camarro from Monaco, so maybe we've got to watch this space to see what happens, and even today you've had Pertzila say anywhere's the bright and bad, maybe you could fill his dreams in the next transfer window talking about Youngcuba Minter who Liverpool had been to rejected for,

9:22maybe it's a bad sign that we're already talking about who Liverpool can get in 2027. Yes, yeah, probably is because you know a lot can change, if you think this time last year, we're probably having the conversation and I can't remember who would have been linked at the time, but I don't think any of them ended up at Liverpool, a lot can change that you look at this season with Sala Leever mid season, no one would have predicted that this time last year, can I take that point, looked more likely to stay and leave I think, that obviously changed things, so yeah it's probably a silly conversation to be having so early, but people are obviously interested in it, and I think that the Lamine Camarro one's really interesting because it felt like he was offered to Liverpool, and I remember checking it, was it probably last Thursday or Friday and was just told absolutely not, we're not signing a midfielder, and that was the word all summer, we're not signing a midfielder and you know people like myself and Lynch, we're getting a lot of abuse for reporting that, but it ended up being true,

10:27it's just, I understand why people were angry about it because I feel like they needed a midfielder as well, but they decided to keep the powder dry for whatever reason. And if they do end up signing Camarro, I don't understand it because it was available now, so I don't know why it's not like they're really cast strapped, I don't think anyway, so it doesn't add up to me that, but it'd be an interesting saga to watch in the next few months, maybe, maybe it's all highlighted in the next few months, how drastic the problem is, and they go for him in January, so we'll just have to keep an eye on that for now. Well, that's January's talk taken care of down the line, and it's funny, I wondered if anyone was going to mention this man, red goals, and given how many key players have let go in the last two or three windows, Richard Hughes has left Liverpool short and unbalanced. Now I know to be fair, I have quite a few of written, but you've written specifically about Richard Hughes. Actually, I don't think I've said this to you fully, I think it's a brilliant piece of writing

11:30by you, and you know I don't always say that about your piece, specifically, but you talked about winning the title, the amount that's been spent, history might be kind and to everyone feels that potential, but it feels the team has been left vastly undercooked, because there's a few things to this. I mean, this line just, it's still scandalous in a way, since winning the Premier League title, Liverpool have spent £693 million on first team players. Imagine saying on that day, when you beat Spurs, by the way, they're going to spend £693 million over the next two years, like EZAC vs these players have come in. You'd be saying like, we're going to win it all, we're building a dynasty, and yet the side's far weaker, it's just a bit mental, really, isn't it? Yeah, well, I think obviously, as you can see across the board, the transfer window has gone completely bonkers, and players are worth a lot more money than they were. However, if you had said on that day when they were lifting the trophy, they're going to spend the best part of £700 million,

12:31I'll be putting £100 on them to win the quadruple, because it's just bonkers how much money they've spent, and really, none of them, some of them are obviously because of injury, but none of them have lived up to the potential just yet. Hughes, you know, £450, or the best part of last season, last summer, and then this summer, it's not like he's not spent any money, it's pretty much £2.50, this is including the young goalkeeper, by the way, Brumans, or however you meant to pronounce his name, and then obviously spent another £5 million today on the lad from France, so that, I mean, I say first team players, I don't know if you count them in that, but it's still money coming out of the club bank account, it's an awful lot of money. It's not really in the Liverpool DNA, a lot of them, you know, what we became used to maybe in the last decade,

13:35I do think that Hughes has left the team undercooked, as I say, in terms of the thing that we seem to talk about every single week for the last three months, and that's the midfield, and maybe the right back position and the defence overall, and then he needs a allyson replacement next summer, I'm not convinced by Mama, that's really just yet. I've not seen Brumans play, so I don't know what's cracking with them, you know, either of them could feel the potential, but as it stands, I haven't seen that, they're going to need a Van Dyke replacement, maybe Jacquet and the only can be that man, but again, they'll need to sign a defender, because Gomez is out of contracts as well. So there's a lot to do next summer already, and you know, we're only two days after this deadline day, overall I think history will be kinder to Hughes, as I say, because he was the man that recruited slot out of nowhere, he won the league, of course, I don't think anyone was calling for slot when that happened, and I think, you know, we shouldn't underestimate that achievement,

14:39and I think he was the man that commenced EZAC votes, these sort of players to join the club, I think, as I keep saying, I expect them to fulfill their potential eventually, so history will be kinder, but right now, can't escape the feeling that there's just quite a lot of things that should have been done and seemed quite easy to be done that he didn't do. Yeah, which doesn't depend everything.