Patience needed but Iraola will have pressure to deliver - Houghton

Former Liverpool midfielder Ray Houghton says it will be a "strange start" for Andoni Iraola as the new Reds boss, with so many of his players away at the World Cup, but there will still be pressure on him to "hit the ground running".

"Arne Slot winning the league then finishing fifth and that not being enough has put huge pressure on whoever takes over, because it pressurises you coming in as a new manager to get things right straight away," Houghton told BBC Radio Merseyside.

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"It will be difficult for him because a lot of players are on World Cup duty. He would love to have his players in as early as possible because he wants to get his mantra and way of playing across to them.

"I think it's going to be a strange start for the new manager, having to deal with players not being there until August. From the fans' point of view, there has to be patience. We can only judge him when he's had time to work with his full squad.

"But he'll have to hit the ground running and make sure he gets what he wants across to his players very quickly.

"Every Liverpool manager is under pressure to challenge for trophies. You're at one of the biggest clubs in world football so there should be that pressure."