Liverpool's American Tour: Insights Ahead of Chicago Clash
Liverpool’s American tour rolls into Chicago on Sunday night, and with it comes the first real glimpse of Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool as something more than a summer experiment.
Two wins from two – against Sunderland and Wrexham – have eased him into the role. Leeds will ask sharper questions. Iraola now has the players to start answering them.
Big guns join the tour
The mood around Liverpool’s camp has shifted this week. The World Cup contingent has finally walked through the door.
Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are all available after their delayed returns from international duty. Until now, Iraola has worked largely with a split squad: senior pros topping up fitness, youngsters trying to catch his eye, and a skeleton of regular starters just feeling their way into a new system.
That changes in Chicago.
Isak, after a difficult first season at the club, suddenly has a stage. A neutral venue, a pre-season crowd, and a manager who prizes movement, pressing and sharp combinations between the lines – it feels like a soft reset for a striker who badly needs one.
Behind him, Wirtz offers something different again. Iraola has already confirmed the German is ready to play, and his inclusion would immediately raise the technical level in the final third. If Harvey Elliot steps aside, Liverpool gain a creator who thrives in tight spaces and can quicken the tempo with one pass.
Gravenberch, meanwhile, gives Iraola a powerful, progressive option in midfield. Whether he starts or comes from the bench, his ability to carry the ball and break lines fits neatly with a manager who wants his team to surge, not stroll, through the middle of the pitch.
New faces, delayed arrivals
Jeremy Jacquet is the curiosity of this tour. Announced a year ago, only officially completed in June, and then sidelined by injury, the £60m defender has been a name more than a presence. Chicago could change that.
Iraola may throw him straight in from the start, most likely alongside one of the academy centre-backs: Luke Chambers, Ifeanyi Ndukwe or Talla Ndiaye. It would be a bold move, but pre-season is exactly where managers test partnerships and personalities. Jacquet’s first steps in a Liverpool shirt will be watched closely, not least because of the fee attached to him.
Not everyone is ready to join in. Victor Munoz, fresh from Spain’s World Cup triumph, remains on an extended break. The same applies to Cody Gakpo, Virgil van Dijk and Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister. Their absence strips Liverpool of experience and leadership, particularly at the back, and places even more importance on how quickly Jacquet and the youngsters can adapt.
There is also bad news. Joe Gomez, injured in the Sunderland friendly, is unavailable and may miss the start of the Premier League season. For a squad already juggling late returns and new arrivals, losing a versatile defender at this stage is a significant blow.
Iraola’s early blueprint
Across the opening two friendlies, Iraola has rotated heavily. Only Giorgi Mamardashvili and Harvey Elliot have started both matches, a clear sign the new manager wants to see as many players as possible under match conditions before he settles on a core group.
Mamardashvili looks nailed on to continue in goal. In front of him, the shape is starting to emerge.
At right-back, Jeremie Frimpong is expected to reclaim his place from Calvin Ramsay. Frimpong’s energy and attacking thrust suit Iraola’s front-foot approach, and this feels like the moment to re-establish him as first choice.
On the left, Milos Kerkez – a player Iraola knows well from Bournemouth – is set to start ahead of Kostas Tsimikas. Familiarity counts. Kerkez understands the intensity and positional demands the coach expects, and that trust is invaluable when building a defensive platform in pre-season.
In midfield, Dominik Szoboszlai stands out as one of last season’s few consistent bright sparks. He could line up alongside Gravenberch, forming a dynamic, aggressive pairing that can both press and create. If Iraola decides to manage minutes for his senior options, youngsters Trey Nyoni or James McConnell are ready to step in, continuing the theme of youth being given real opportunities on this tour.
Further forward, Wirtz is the likely candidate to replace Elliot, adding guile and vision between the lines. Ahead of him, Isak will hope for service and, just as importantly, understanding – the kind of early combinations that can restore a striker’s confidence before the serious football begins.
Kids with something to say
Pre-season always throws up a story from the academy, and Rio Ngumoha is making a strong case to be this summer’s headline.
He scored the winner against Wrexham and did more than just finish a chance. He played with personality, demanding the ball, driving at defenders, and refusing to treat the occasion like a gentle run-out. Performances like that get noticed by a new manager. They also tend to get rewarded.
Ngumoha is expected to start again against Leeds, another opportunity to prove that his Wrexham cameo was not a one-off. With senior attackers still working their way back, this is his window.
Around him, Iraola will continue to blend youth and experience, searching for the combinations that click. Chambers, Ndukwe and Ndiaye at centre-back, Nyoni and McConnell in midfield, Ngumoha in attack – this is more than a box-ticking exercise. It is an accelerated audition in front of a manager known for trusting players who earn it, not those who simply have the biggest reputations.
Chicago as a marker
On paper, it is only another pre-season friendly. In reality, Chicago offers Iraola his first real chance to stitch something resembling a starting XI together.
The spine is taking shape: Mamardashvili in goal, Jacquet’s potential debut at centre-back, a Szoboszlai–Gravenberch axis in midfield, Wirtz floating between the lines, Isak leading the line. Around them, the full-backs he trusts, the youngsters he is testing, the tactical ideas he is drilling.
Leeds will not define Liverpool’s season. But how Liverpool look against Leeds – how coherent, how sharp, how aggressive – will tell plenty about where Iraola’s project stands with the Premier League opener creeping into view.
Two wins have set the tone. Chicago will show whether this is just a pleasant pre-season or the early stirrings of something more serious.
