Alexander Isak’s record-breaking move from Newcastle to Liverpool last September has so far looked like a warning over the dangers of spending big on players with a concerning injury history.
What it also showed was the benefit of getting new signings through the door early and having them integrated into the group long before the season starts.
Given how poorly things have gone with Isak, you’d have thought Liverpool would have learned their lesson for this summer, and made sure their new signings would be available to work with Andoni Iraola as soon as possible.
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With Iraola already working with a small group of first-team players at the AXA Training Centre, that has clearly not happened. But, what is more of a worry, is that in the one player Liverpool have signed this summer – Osasuna winger Victor Munoz – the Reds could be running straight into another Isak situation.
The fees spent on the two players are obviously vastly different, but Liverpool have once again bought a player who has so far had no pre-season, and will most likely not have played a minute of football for months when he finally does arrive.
After Spain reached the World Cup final with a win over France on Tuesday, Munoz will spend at least three weeks on holiday following Sunday’s showpiece, meaning he will not join up with Liverpool until August 9th at the earliest.
That will leave Munoz available for only the Reds’ final pre-season friendly before the season starts. That game comes on August 16th against Como, one day short of being fully three months since the 23-year-old’s last action.
Liverpool are risking a repeat of last summer
Though Munoz is not expected to be an instant starter for Liverpool, it is a worry that he is so far the only new signing, and that he will not be available straight away.
The Reds badly need things to change from last season, and if Iraola has all of the same players to choose from, that will not happen immediately.
As a result, while the change in style of play will hopefully be clear, it is going to need a vast improvement from a number of the Liverpool squad to get some positive results early doors.
If things do not click and Iraola starts off with some bad results, the pressure will then be on Munoz – and whoever else eventually ends up joining along with him – as it was on Isak, to make a difference as soon as he comes into the team. As we’ve seen with Liverpool’s No. 9, that expectation can wear a player down and lead to less than optimal results.
Liverpool have to be patient with Munoz
After the fee spent on him, the fact that he was Premier League proven, and Liverpool’s need for goals, Isak was not afforded patience when he joined last September.
Though that was not the biggest reason for his disappointing campaign, it cannot have helped that there was such pressure on him to deliver immediate results in a struggling team.
The feelings will be different with Munoz, but Liverpool fans must ensure that they do not expect too much too soon from the Spain international.
It will be a big step up for him regardless this summer, but given the state of his pre-season, things will be even more difficult.
Whatever Liverpool can get from Munoz is those early months of the 26/27 campaign will just be a bonus. It would have been brilliant to have him ready to fire on the opening day against Newcastle on August 23rd, and that he won’t be is a concern and a big frustration. But the early weeks and months of a player’s career at a new club do not define their stay there, and though this is undoubtedly an issue for Iraola to navigate, it does not have to be a decisive one.
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