For all Andoni Iraola’s attempts to paint Liverpool’s opening two games of his tenure as positive, the pressure of consecutive 2–2 draws had clearly been weighing on the incoming manager. There was a notable airiness about Iraola when he reviewed Friday night’s 2–0 victory over Ipswich Town: “We needed this one.”

Alexander Isak’s first brace for the club in less than three first-half minutes before the game clock had even ticked into double digits proved to be the start and end of the match as a competitive contest. That Liverpool were able to keep their hosts at bay for the following 80 minutes is an understated victory in and of itself given the vulnerabilities Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest exposed across the previous two weeks.

Yet, on a night when there were plenty of concrete positives to take, some focus was also diverted towards a few headaches for Iraola. Fortunately, these are precisely the problems that any manager would love to have.

‘My Fights With Him’—Iraola Reveals Frustration With Scoring Isak

Isak’s debut season at Liverpool was an unmitigated disaster for many reasons. Acrimony, injury and fluency all played a part, but many struggled to look beyond his meager tally of just three Premier League goals. By the first Friday of September, Isak had matched that haul.

Yet, for Iraola, scoring has never been his point of contention with Isak. His work off the ball is of far greater concern.

“My demands will not be about the goals: he’s fit, in a good shape and he will produce the numbers,” Iraola told Sky Sports after Friday’s victory. “My fights with him are more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations. But it’s good he has played two full games and today a good amount of minutes, scoring the goals.”

Alexander Isak’s Premier League Record for Liverpool

Iraola’s style is predicated on a feverish work rate off the ball, starting with his striker who is expected to lead the press. The tireless Evanilson was Iraola’s center forward at Bournemouth for two seasons and he forced one high turnover in the opponent’s final third every 118 minutes he was on the pitch. Isak has played 244 minutes this season and only disrupted the opposition defense once.

“He has to contribute to the collective and when everyone helps, after the goals and results will come,” Iraola explained.

“Today we were much, much better in our press,” the Reds manager added. “We were recovering very high and then we can contact him [Isak] in good positions. If we recover the ball lower, it will be more difficult to find him to have less spaces. So we need more quality effort to put our No. 9 in situations like he had today.”

Cody Gakpo Giving Barcola and Iraola Headaches

Jamie Carragher is never one to hold back from a strong opinion, especially when it comes to his former employers. Liverpool’s trip to Portman Road on Friday was just 10 minutes old when the legendary former defender posted on social media: “Barcola is going to struggle to get a game with this version of Gakpo.”

It was a tongue-in-cheek comment which only served to rile Liverpool’s fanbase, but it unearthed an interesting conundrum for Iraola.

Cody Gakpo set up both of Isak’s goals against Ipswich, the second of which was the sort of pass with the outside of his right boot made with the arrogance of a player in form. The Dutch forward, who came so close to joining Manchester City this summer, had already set Isak up against Forest after scoring Liverpool’s first goal of the new season at St. James’ Park.

Gakpo’s red-hot start to the new campaign shouldn’t be an issue, but when he has been thriving in the one position Liverpool spent $166 million (£123 million) trying to strengthen over the summer, there may be some awkward conversations to have.

Bradley Barcola was afforded a fleeting cameo on Friday after sealing his blockbuster transfer from Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week. The jet-heeled winger can play on the right, but is at his best from the left wing which Gakpo also favors.

Iraola opted to shunt Gakpo centrally when he gave Barcola his debut in Suffolk, taking advantage of the Dutchman’s versatility which may very well be put to the test this season.

“Cody knows how much we value him, I think there is no doubt,” Iraola noted on Friday night. “I rate him very highly. Today again, after the two assists, he finishes [the game at] No. 9 to help us close the game. I think it’s good to have Cody because he can play in the three positions up top and to have him in this place for this beginning of the season is good.”