NASHVILLE -- It didn't take long for Andoni Iraola to acquire a new Liverpool headache. The Basque's first game in charge ultimately ended in a 4-2 preseason victory over Sunderland but, with just four weeks to go until the dawn of a new Premier League campaign, the sight of defender Joe Gomez going to ground with an injury after just eight minutes in Nashville reinforced the Reds' glaring need for decisive action.
At his first news conference as Liverpool boss earlier this month, Iraola acknowledged the importance of adding to his ranks in the transfer market this summer. It was a sentiment he echoed while speaking at the Reds' preseason training base in Chicago this week, citing his team's need for a new winger as well as potential solutions for their "very thin" defence.
It was the latter issue that was brought into sharp focus on Saturday evening, with Liverpool's paucity of options at the back laid bare when new signing Jérémy Jacquet was ruled out with a minor issue before kick-off. Sources told ESPN the center back's absence was merely precautionary, with the club keen to allow him to build up his fitness after missing the second half of last season with a shoulder injury sustained at Rennes.
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However, his lack of involvement left Gomez as Iraola's only senior center back option and the 29-year-old's subsequent withdrawal meant the majority of the contest saw teenage duo Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe -- both signed this year for the club's academy from Amitié FC and Austria Vienna respectively -- anchoring the heart of Liverpool's defence.
Of course, the impending return of captain Virgil van Dijk, who has been omitted from Liverpool's travelling party to the United States on account of last season's heavy workload, will soon bolster Iraola's resources. In Jacquet and Italy youth international Giovanni Leoni, who was signed from Parma last summer, Liverpool believe they possess two of the brightest young defensive talents in Europe.
While that may prove to be true, neither player has yet featured in the Premier League, with Leoni still working his way back from the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury he sustained on debut against Southampton last September. The departure of Ibrahima Konaté on a free transfer to Real Madrid last month has left Liverpool shorn of defensive experience -- a problem which will be exacerbated should Gomez's injury prove to be significant.