Andoni Iraola has key to unlock Liverpool's season

Over the last couple of years, Liverpool have spent big money on some of their new players.

Last summer, most fans, journalists and pundits thought that the Reds' £450 million spend would be their last big splurge for the next few years.

However, that has been far from the case with Liverpool almost breaking their record signing once again by adding Bradley Barcola to their ranks.

It's still early days in the 2026-27 season of course but, with their 2-0 win over Ipswich on Friday evening, it certainly feels like things are heading the right way.

But, the best thing to emerge from Andoni Iraola's appointment isn't their wins, it's the fact that he's managed to take one Liverpool star up to another level altogether.

Florian Wirtz has finally become a key cog in Liverpool's system

As mentioned, Liverpool spent a lot of money last summer.

The Anfield outfit needed to upgrade many different areas of their ranks despite them only just coming off the back of a Premier League-winning season.

And, while most people thought that they'd be close to unstoppable, they unfortunately managed to become worse than ever.

They finished fifth in the Premier League with their performances hardly being helped by Florian Wirtz.

The German was expected to be the Reds' creative spark after Trent Alexander-Arnold chose to exit and, while he did contribute to 17 goals across all competitions, he failed to live up to expectations.

But, a lot of that seems to have to do with Arne Slot's way of lining his team up as, now that Iraola is at the helm, he seems to have become an entirely different player.

Not only does this mean that he's now a key player for the Anfield outfit but, it also means that he could finally live up to expectations.

Florian Wirtz was one of Liverpool's best performers vs Ipswich

Admittedly, Iraola's first couple of games in charge of Liverpool probably had a lot of fans worried.

Although they remained unbeaten in the Premier League, they drew both of their opening clashes and looked shocking defensively.

Obviously, a lot of new players have been brought in again so it'll take time for things to fall into place.

But, if the Reds are wanting to start challenging for silverware again, they need to get back to their best as soon as possible.

So, the fact that Wirtz is already proving his worth could be massive for them.

As per Squawka, in the 89 minutes that the German played against Ispwich, he made 21 passes in the final third, had six touches in Ipswich's box and won five duels.

Wirtz also won possession four times, made three successful take-ons and created two chances.

Although he didn't score or assist on Friday, he still managed to have two shots with one of them being on target.

In addition to all of this, he also managed to cover the most ground for Liverpool again which goes to show how good he actually is.

Obviously, there's no knowing what will happen throughout the rest of the 2026-27 season but, with the way that things are going at the moment, the new era of Wirtz seems to have arrived.