Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says his side do not yet have the energy to maintain their intensity for 90 minutes after they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to AS Monaco in a pre-season friendly.
Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead at Anfield on Sunday, but Monaco fought back after the interval as fatigue and a series of substitutions changed the momentum of the game.
Iraola admitted the defeat was similar to Liverpool’s 4-2 loss to Leeds in Chicago last week, with his side again struggling to maintain their level after a strong first half.
“It was quite similar to the game against Leeds,” Iraola told LFCTV.
“We played a good first half but we don’t have much more in terms of the level required to play like this. And then they were much better in the second half.
“In the same way we were better in the first half, they were much better in the second half and they deserved to turn around the game.”
The Liverpool manager believes fatigue remains a natural part of pre-season, particularly for players who are still building up their fitness.
“Even the ones playing their first or second game had energy. The problem is right now they probably don’t have the energy for 90 minutes,” he said.
“They started to get tired and that will take time for them. We need more training with them, but we can take a lot of positives but also a lot of negatives from today.”
Iraola also provided an update on new signing Jeremy Jacquet and Curtis Jones ahead of Liverpool’s next friendly against Como next Sunday.
Jacquet was left out of the squad against Monaco as the club opted to give him additional time to recover.
“With Jeremy we decided not to put him in today, but he should be fine for the next game,” Iraola said.
“Curtis has trained every day but yesterday he had some issues in his hip. It doesn’t look like anything big, but it didn’t make any sense to risk it.”
Liverpool will continue their pre-season preparations against Como, with Iraola hoping his players can build the fitness required to maintain their intensity throughout a full 90 minutes.
