Honestly, I don't even know what to make of this Liverpool pre-season.
You watch the team go 2-0 up, everything looks comfortable, and you start thinking, “Okay, this is going nicely.” Then somehow, before you know it, the whole thing turns upside down.
That was exactly what happened against Monaco at Anfield.
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Liverpool started the game really well. Alexander Isak scored his first goal at Anfield after a nice attacking move involving Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai. Florian Wirtz then made it 2-0 before half-time.
At that point, Liverpool looked like they were in control.
But Monaco had other ideas.
Aleksandr Golovin pulled one back from the penalty spot just before half-time, and suddenly the game didn't feel so comfortable anymore. Monaco came out with much more energy after the break, eventually finding an equaliser through Mika Biereth.
Then came the painful part.
With just a couple of minutes left, Paris Brunner headed in Monaco's third goal and completed the comeback.
Liverpool lost 3-2.
The frustrating thing for me is that this is not the first time we have seen it during pre-season. Liverpool were also two goals ahead against Leeds before eventually losing that game 4-2.
Of course, I'm not going to start panicking over pre-season results. There's no trophy at stake, players are still getting their fitness up, and Iraola made a massive number of changes during the second half.
In fact, I think Iraola's explanation makes sense. The players simply are not ready to maintain that intensity for a full 90 minutes yet.
There were still some things I liked.
Isak getting on the scoresheet is obviously encouraging. Wirtz also looked dangerous, and seeing players like Van Dijk and Alisson back in the team was another positive as well.
I was also happy to see Victor Munoz finally make his first appearance for Liverpool. These are the kind of moments that make pre-season interesting because we are still discovering what some of these players can offer.
But I think there is one thing Iraola should pay attention to, and that's the fact that Liverpool need to learn how to manage games when they are ahead.
Going forward, you can't keep giving opponents a way back into matches, especially against Premier League teams who will punish those mistakes.
I'm not worried yet.
It's pre-season, after all.
But I'm definitely keeping an eye on this.
Liverpool have one more friendly against Como next weekend, and hopefully we see a more complete performance—especially in the second half.
For now, I will take the positives and forget the result.
But please, Liverpool… if you go 2-0 up next time, can you just keep the lead? 😂🔴
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