Wednesday night's demolition of LASK was exactly the kind of evening Liverpool needed. Six goals, free-flowing football, the sort of result that puts a smile on your face heading into the weekend. But let's be honest with ourselves here: LASK are not Arsenal. They are not Manchester City. And the competition that actually defines this season is the Premier League, where the story has been considerably less comfortable.

Under Andoni Iraola, Liverpool have mustered just seven goals in six league matches. That figure places them behind twelve other sides in the table by that measure, and most of those clubs spent a fraction of what Liverpool have on their attacking resources. It is not a damning indictment of the manager, not yet, but it is a problem that cannot be waved away by a Thursday night scoreline.

To his credit, Iraola has done something genuinely impressive in building a solid defensive foundation before anything else. Only Brighton have recorded more than Liverpool's three Premier League clean sheets this season, and their goals conceded record was holding up well until Sunday's late flurry at Anfield. Given the chaos that can surround a new manager's opening weeks, establishing that defensive solidity first is a reasonable approach.

But here is the thing: Iraola was not brought in to make Liverpool hard to beat. He was brought in to bring back the kind of forward-thinking, high-energy football that made Anfield a fortress under Jurgen Klopp. That attacking identity is his next mountain to climb, and the numbers suggest he has a proper ascent ahead of him.

What makes this particularly concerning is that Liverpool cannot even lean on bad luck as an explanation. Their xG for total of 9.3 places them ninth in the Premier League, and they rank eighth for shots on target per ninety minutes. In other words, they are getting into decent enough positions. The problem is that those positions are rarely translating into genuinely high-quality chances. No side in the division has created fewer big chances this term than Liverpool, sitting on nine. Brighton, leading the way, have created 27. That gap is not a blip.

Some of this predates Iraola entirely. The source of the problem arguably traces back to the second half of Arne Slot's first season, when the entire attacking machine became overly dependent on Mohamed Salah operating at the most extraordinary individual level of his career. When that began to fade, the structural failings underneath it were exposed. Personnel turnover has added further complexity, leaving Iraola with a frontline still finding its feet and its relationships.

The new pieces are in place. The combinations are still being built. Liverpool currently sit sixth in the Premier League for both total shots and shots on target, which tells you the intent is there even if the execution is falling short at the critical moment. Turning volume into quality is the specific challenge Iraola must now solve.

The defensive platform is laid. The work ethic is evident. But Liverpool did not appoint this manager to grind out 1-0 wins. The attacking football has to come, and how quickly Iraola can unlock it will go a long way to defining whether this season becomes one to remember.