Faster, Faster: Liverpool's New Coach Races to Fix His Team Before the Season Starts

Liverpool's new head coach, Andoni Iraola, is working as fast as he can to get his team ready for the Premier League season. The season starts in just three weeks, and Liverpool has a lot of problems to fix. Several key players are hurt, and the club still needs to sign more players. Iraola held an open training session in Chicago on Friday, and he could be heard shouting "faster, faster" throughout the entire practice.

Liverpool has been in the United States for two weeks as part of their pre-season tour. They are finishing up the trip with a friendly match against Leeds at the famous Soldier Field stadium in Chicago on Sunday. Iraola threw himself into every drill at Chicago Fire's training center, pushing his players hard at every turn. It was clear he wants Liverpool to play with speed and energy from the very start of the season.

Iraola faces a big challenge because so many players are missing. Eight players are still on vacation after the World Cup, and six more are injured. Three of those injured players are central defenders — the key position that protects the goalkeeper. Jérémy Jacquet, who Liverpool paid £60 million to sign from Rennes, is recovering from a shoulder problem. Giovanni Leoni is healing from a serious knee injury called an ACL rupture, and Joe Gomez pulled a muscle just eight minutes into the first game of the tour.

Having so many defenders hurt is a serious problem that Liverpool also dealt with last season. Two young 18-year-old players, Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, have stepped up and impressed coaches while the older players recover. However, Liverpool may send Ndukwe out on loan next season because they have not been able to get him a work permit to play in England. The team badly needs experienced cover at the back.

Mike Gordon, the president of Liverpool's ownership group called Fenway Sports Group, watched training on Friday. He has recently taken a more active role in running the club after the previous football chief executive left. Gordon is expected to be at Soldier Field on Sunday to watch two of Liverpool's biggest new signings play for the first time this pre-season. Those two players are Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, who together cost the club a combined £241 million.

Iraola explained this week that he plans to play Wirtz just behind the main striker, rather than out on the left wing. Wirtz played on the left at the World Cup but did not perform well there. Iraola said, "We need a very good version of Florian," making it clear how important the German playmaker is to Liverpool's plans. The idea is for Wirtz to create chances for Isak and fellow forward Hugo Ekitiké.

Last season, those three players only played 119 minutes together because of injuries. That disappointing stat played a big role in the club's previous coach, Arne Slot, being let go after a difficult season. Now Isak also needs to prove himself, especially since he recently played in all four of Sweden's World Cup games. He looked sharp in training, but he must show he can stay healthy and fit into Iraola's system over a full season.

Liverpool is also working on signing winger Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain. Barcola is willing to move to Liverpool, but PSG want around £145 million for him, and a deal has not been agreed yet. Iraola has admitted that he "hates this month of August" because so much is still uncertain while the season is already beginning. Between Sunday's game at Soldier Field and Liverpool's Premier League opener at St James' Park on August 23, the club has a lot of work left to do.