Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has said that his side are struggling to sustain the required level of fitness to compete for 90 minutes following a 3-2 defeat to Monaco in preseason.
Isak struck after 16 minutes before Wirtz doubled the lead on 29 minutes. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz -- who both had disappointing debut seasons at Liverpool -- put the hosts two nil up before half-time but Monaco fought back and Paris Brunner's late header condemned Iraola's side to defeat at Anfield.
“We played a really good first-half, but right now, we don’t have much more in terms of the level required to play like this [for 90 minutes],” Iraola said in quotes picked up by the Daily Mail. “Monaco were much better in the second-half in the same way we were better in the first half. They deserved to turn the game around. We won the first two pre-season games, but in the last two we couldn’t sustain the level that we want throughout the game. “As soon as we made some changes, they started to get tired, so we have work to do. The problem right now is they probably don’t have energy for 90 minutes. It will take time – we’ll do more training with them. “We can take a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives from today.”
Speaking about the fact that several senior players got their first preseason minutes under their belt in this match, Iraola said: "I think they were in different levels but mostly they were in a good place. I think the ones that it was their first game, or even the ones that it was their second game, they had energy. "The problem is right now probably they don't have the energy for 90 minutes and they start to get tired. It will take time with them, we need more training with them.