Andoni Iraola's Ruthless Decisions at Liverpool
Andoni Iraola has wasted no time showing where the new lines of power run at Liverpool.
Before a ball is kicked in the Champions League, he has left two established internationals, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo, standing on the outside of Europe looking in.
Ruthless first call from the new man
Liverpool’s 25-man List A for the 2026-27 Champions League is in, and Chiesa and Endo are nowhere near it. They will watch from the stands when Atletico Madrid come to Anfield on September 9, their European ambitions effectively frozen before the league phase even begins.
This is not a clerical oversight. It is a deliberate choice shaped by UEFA’s registration rules and sharpened by a manager intent on reshaping a squad in his own image.
Clubs are allowed a maximum of 17 non-locally trained players on List A. Those slots are gold dust. Iraola has spent them on £123 million signing Bradley Barcola, fellow summer recruit Victor Munoz, and even Hugo Ekitike, who is injured and unavailable for the start of the campaign.
Chiesa and Endo did not make the cut.
Carragher’s blunt verdict
Jamie Carragher did not dress it up. Speaking on The Overlap, the former Liverpool defender cut straight to the point about where the pair now stand.
“Liverpool have got two players in the squad who are never going to play,” he said. “And there are all these quotas, you can only have 17 players and all that. They have got Chiesa and Endo. It’s like they are never going to kick a ball.”
No nuance. No safety net. In Carragher’s eyes, Iraola’s list tells you everything about their place in the pecking order.
He was even more pointed when it came to Endo, whose status as a fan favourite has not translated into trust from the new regime.
“Endo should have been moved on,” Carragher added. “He has done great, a bit of a cult hero.”
The affection is clear. So is the conclusion: sentiment does not survive long when squad numbers tighten and a new manager starts trimming.
Two careers drifting to the margins
Both players are under contract for the long haul – Endo until 2027, Chiesa until 2028 – but the direction of travel is obvious.
Endo’s influence had already faded last season. He managed just eight Premier League appearances and only one Champions League outing, a sharp drop for a player once trusted to steady the midfield. The numbers tell a simple story: he has slipped from regular option to emergency cover.
Chiesa’s Liverpool career has barely had the chance to breathe. Flashes of his quality have been constantly interrupted by fitness problems, and the 28-year-old is again sidelined with a muscle issue. This latest setback is not thought to be long-term, yet that has not saved him from the chop.
The real sting lies in who made the list ahead of him. Iraola has chosen to register long-term absentees Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni, players who will not be available for some time, while leaving out a forward edging back towards fitness. That choice underlines how far Chiesa has slipped from the manager’s immediate plans.
Europe closes its door
The immediate consequence is brutal. Chiesa and Endo are effectively confined to domestic duty, their European season over before it begins unless injuries elsewhere force a rethink later in the campaign.
Liverpool’s calendar will not slow down for them. Ipswich Town arrive at Anfield on Friday in the league, a domestic hurdle to clear before the stadium turns its attention to the glamour and grind of the Champions League.
Atletico Madrid await in the opening group fixture. Trips to Inter and Fenerbahce loom on a league phase schedule that looks unforgiving even for a full-strength squad. Iraola has nailed his colours to a new core of players for that journey.
Chiesa and Endo are not among them.
For now, their stage shrinks to the cups and the odd league appearance, waiting for an opening that may never come. The message from their omission is unmistakable: under Iraola, their fight is no longer for a starting place in Europe, but for relevance at Liverpool at all.
