“I would like to say on the first day we are going to be perfect, everyone will be in place,” Liverpool’s incoming manager Andoni Iraola said through a pained smile, “but probably it is not going to be like this.” He was right. Liverpool never strayed anywhere near perfection during a roller-coaster 2–2 draw away to Newcastle United in Iraola’s first competitive fixture at the helm of the Reds. The Basque boss’s side had to twice come from behind to steal a point in stoppage time and were perhaps fortunate not to have trailed by more than a single goal at any point in Sunday’s wide open contest.Amid stalling transfer business, the collective frustrations of the fanbase weren’t entirely alleviated by the performance produced from the current set of players available to Iraola.Iraola Loses Gamble He Wants to TakeLiverpool were caught cold for Newcastle’s opener. | Canal PlusIraola’s style is a constant game a gambles. There is an underlying organization behind the chaos which he strives for, but the Basque boss has made it clear that he would rather err on the side of risk rather than security. “I prefer to make mistakes,” he told Jamie Carragher in the buildup to his debut for Liverpool. The cost of that approach was exposed in the fifth minute at St James’ Park.When Amar Dedić slid in to win possession back for Newcastle inside his own penalty area, Liverpool’s two most defensively minded midfielders, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai (circled in red) found themselves caught ahead of the ball. Florian Wirtz, the third member of the visiting midfield, was bypassed by Dedić’s slide, leaving Newcastle with an unguarded ocean of green grass in which to sprint.Iraola’s midfield charging forward together like a pack of over-excited puppies chasing a bouncing ball was a theme of preseason. Gravenberch had been guilty of straying out of his holding role at times last term, seemingly uninterested in the defensive discipline which brought so much individual and collective success during Liverpool’s title-winning season of 2024–25.The towering Dutchman was again caught up the pitch for Newcastle’s second goal of the afternoon after losing the ball himself on the edge of the opposition’s box. Szoboszlai was slightly deeper but was too frail in his attempts to dispossess Yoane Wissa or eventual goalscorer Joe Willock.Rio Ngumoha Gives Hint for Transfer PriorityRio Ngumoha (left) is being shunted out to the right this season. | Liverpool FC/Getty ImagesIt’s clear that Liverpool are in the market for a new winger. The priority would appear to be Paris Saint-Germain’s two-time European champion Bradley Barcola for the left flank, yet reports suggest that Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yankuba Minteh is being seriously tracked for the opposite side of the pitch. Both deals require a loosening of the purse strings for Liverpool, but they would have very different impacts on Rio Ngumoha.Liverpool’s teenage gem announced himself to the wider soccer public with a stoppage-time winner against Newcastle at St James’ Park two days shy of exactly one year ago. It was telling that Ngumoha walked onto Mohamed Salah’s cutback from the left wing, his much preferred flank.Of Ngumoha’s first 30 senior appearances for the Reds, only one came on the right. At just 17, there is time for Ngumoha to broaden his skillset. The acquisition of Barcola would force him to, with the Frenchman expected to compete with Cody Gakpo on that flank, thereby shunting Ngumoha and Víctor Muñoz onto the right.One 60-minute cameo is not nearly enough to go on but the early signs suggest that there will be a period of transition for Liverpool’s young star, who was firmly shut out of the contest by the sought-after Lewis Hall. The Manchester United target kept Ngumoha pinned to the touchline. On the rare occasions when the winger was able to jink infield, he found himself forced to shoot with his weaker left foot.Alexander Isak Wilts Under the Pressure— Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) August 23, 2026Iraola scoffed at the suggestion that Alexander Isak would be unduly weighed down by the torrent of vitriol washing his way from a Newcastle public which had not forgotten the circumstances of his stormy St James’ Park exit last summer. “You like to play these kind of games,” Liverpool’s boss insisted prematch. Based on the evidence of Sunday’s showing, Isak didn’t enjoy himself a great deal.As soon as the former Magpies frontman stepped off Liverpool’s bus, he was bombarded by a solid wall of audible hate. Isak, who went on strike to force through his Merseyside move in 2025, had his every touch viciously whistled by the vast majority of the 52,000 in the stadium. The Sweden international had so few interactions with the ball Newcastle’s fans took to booing when he was merely near the player in possession. There was plenty of anger to go around.It felt telling that, when presented with the chance to snatch a point for his side with a stoppage-time penalty, Isak did not step up to take the spot kick. Szoboszlai’s nerveless finish took the heat off his teammate but it will be intriguing to see if he is willing to brave a slightly dimmer spotlight.Liverpool Still Waiting on Stars to ShineCody Gakpo started the season with a goal. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty ImagesWhile Isak toiled away upfront to no avail, Florian Wirtz endured an equally underwhelming cameo behind him. The dexterous playmaker is a fount of darts and dinks and devilishly little flicks which don’t really take him anywhere. Iraola bemoaned Liverpool’s “overplaying” in the final third on Sunday, something that Wirtz can be guilty of.After a disappointing debut year which could be charitably put down to acclimatization, the pressure is on Wirtz to offer some clue that he will come close to justifying his $133 million price tag. His first chance to take a step towards that daunting task has already slipped him by.As Liverpool’s two most expensive players of all time extended their existential crises, a pair of understated forwards offered the clearest tangible impact. In the face of mounting transfer speculation surrounding a potential move to Tottenham Hotspur, Gakpo delivered one of his punchiest performances, rattling in Liverpool’s first equalizer while also creating a match-high three chances; all of which were squandered by his teammates.There’s little danger of the freshly acquired Muñoz being sold already but he was perilously close to joining Newcastle until Liverpool’s hijack this summer. The World Cup winner showed Tyneside what it missed out on by offering the change of pace which forced Hall into his first mistake of the match, drawing a penalty in stoppage time to snatch a point and spare Iraola’s blushes.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow