Iraola Is Testing Liverpool’s Legs — Mamardashvili Gets Spurs Start
GOATIFYLiverpool’s League Cup tie with Tottenham is arriving at exactly the moment Andoni Iraola needs to learn something important about his new squad: who can really handle a three-day rhythm without losing performance.
The Reds have opened the Premier League season with three draws from four matches, even while showing a different face in Europe with a Champions League win over Atlético Madrid. That uneven start has made Tuesday’s third-round cup match more than a simple rotation exercise. It is an early stress test for a squad being asked to absorb a new coach, new signings and a crowded schedule at the same time.
Iraola has already identified one change. Giorgi Mamardashvili is set to start in goal instead of Alisson Becker. Joe Gomez is back in training and available again, while Conor Bradley remains sidelined. Around those decisions sits the bigger question: how many established starters should Liverpool protect, and how many can be trusted to go again?
Iraola is learning who can survive Liverpool’s three-day cycle
The most revealing part of Iraola’s early Liverpool spell is that he is still building a workload map of his own players. Some footballers can play every three days with barely any drop-off. Others need more recovery time, and the risk is not only injury — it is a decline in sharpness, decision-making and intensity.
Virgil van Dijk is the easy reference point. The captain has years of experience handling Premier League, European and domestic-cup schedules, and Iraola already sees him as someone whose level is relatively stable through heavy stretches. The uncertainty is greater with younger players and recent arrivals who have not yet shown how they respond to this exact environment.
That matters after Liverpool’s flat 0-0 draw with Fulham. The performance reinforced the idea that freshness is already becoming a tactical variable, not just a sports-science concern. Iraola’s football demands energy without the ball and speed when possession changes. If the legs go, the whole system can look slower.
Tottenham therefore gives him a useful test. A cup tie at Anfield still carries pressure, but it also creates room to rotate without treating the match like a throwaway. Iraola can learn which fringe players raise the level, which starters recover quickly and where Liverpool may need to manage minutes more carefully once league and Champions League fixtures begin stacking up.
Mamardashvili gets a real chance, not a ceremonial cup start
The goalkeeper change is the clearest piece of Liverpool’s plan. Mamardashvili is expected to replace Alisson, and Iraola’s confidence in the Georgian goes back well before either man arrived at Anfield.
Iraola knew Mamardashvili from Spain and had previously wanted to sign him while managing Bournemouth. That history matters because this is not a manager simply handing minutes to a backup goalkeeper because the calendar says “League Cup.” He is putting in a player he already rates highly and wants to evaluate inside a competitive Liverpool side.
Alisson remains the established first choice and has been playing well, so this is not a goalkeeper controversy. It is about using a strong second option without waiting for injury to force the decision. For Mamardashvili, Tottenham offers the kind of night that can build trust quickly: a home knockout match against a major opponent with enough pressure to make every decision meaningful.
The move also fits Iraola’s wider workload argument. Liverpool cannot ask the same eleven players to carry every competition. If the squad is going to survive the season, players outside the normal league lineup have to be more than emergency cover. They need to become trusted options who can enter meaningful games without forcing the team to change its identity.
Gomez is back, Bradley is out, and the Spurs tie can reshape Liverpool’s depth chart
Joe Gomez’s return to training gives Iraola another useful option at exactly the right time. The defender is available for selection again, while Bradley remains unavailable, leaving Liverpool with a little more flexibility but not a fully restored back line.
Gomez’s value in a congested run is obvious because he can cover multiple defensive roles. Even if he does not immediately play a full match, simply having him available makes it easier for Iraola to redistribute minutes around Van Dijk and the rest of the defence.
The bigger picture is that Tuesday could change Liverpool’s internal hierarchy. Cup matches often get described as opportunities for squad players, but the useful opportunities are the ones that alter future selection decisions. A strong Mamardashvili performance could make Iraola more comfortable rotating Alisson again. A convincing return from Gomez could expand the defensive rotation. A younger player handling the intensity could earn minutes when the next three-game week arrives.
Tottenham arrive with their own reasons to rotate and their own early-season problems, so the match may look different from a normal Premier League meeting. That actually increases the value of the exercise for Liverpool. Iraola is not searching only for a result; he is collecting information about a squad he is still learning.
Liverpool’s first month under their new coach has already shown flashes of quality and stretches of fatigue. The next step is turning depth from a list of names into something usable. Tuesday night against Spurs is the first real chance to see whether that process is beginning to work.
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