It is a small milestone but it is an important one: Andoni Iraola has reached 10 games as Liverpool head coach and here is a chance to take stock.

So far there have been 20 goals scored and 10 conceded, six wins, three draws and one defeat in that freakish fixture against Manchester City, when an absurd red card to Ryan Gravenberch, with the score 0-0, changed the dynamic of the contest.

Alexander Isak’s five league goals – already surpassing last season’s total of four – have arguably been worth seven points. Put into that the fact there have been eye-catching contributions from Jérémy Jacquet, the young France defender, as well as a rejuvenated Cody Gakpo, and it would seem things are ticking smoothly.

Write the statistics out and it would seem a more than acceptable start. But then you will hear critics say Liverpool have not won at home in the Premier League under Iraola (their last league victory at Anfield was on April 26) and Yehor Yarmoliuk’s dismissal at Brentford last Saturday saved them.

What’s more, the debate around Florian Wirtz continues to rage and if you look at things a little deeper, you will see Liverpool have only scored three goals in their last four Premier League fixtures, which hardly shines a positive light on an attack that cost £364m to assemble.

So where do Liverpool stand? Asking the Basque that question ahead of a collision, in which he is set on playing his strongest team, with Villarreal, generated a curious answer. For a man who is a football obsessive, studying and scrutinising every detail, he found it difficult to explain.

“I don’t even have time to think,” Iraola said. “Ten matches, you tell me. It is already 10 matches, it has been a bit of everything but we don’t have time to react. As soon as we finished against Brentford, I was coming back in the bus.

“Now it is almost learning through the process and the circumstances all the team will have, obviously trying to learn every day. I had a very difficult to start in Bournemouth, as you remember, but from then we had a very good run of games and I hope we can continue in a good phase.”

There is no getting away from the fact that Liverpool are a work in progress and Iraola is still coming to terms with his new surrounds. If he is guarded with the things he says in public, it traces back to a friendly against Monaco on August 4, which his side lost 3-2.

He had explained afterwards that his team “did not have the energy” to press for 90 minutes. It was a honest explanation and sensible, too, given the squad had only been working with him for around 19 days, but subsequent headlines made it seem as if he was publicly condemning them.

It was a salutary lesson, one in which he realised the difference of working under the radar on the south coast compared to Merseyside’s goldfish bowl. This is not someone who is going to perform in front of the cameras like Jürgen Klopp – and nor should he attempt to emulate the German.

His only aim, at this difficult stage, must be to getting his methods across. Iraola is exceptionally hands on in training, to the point that he would be the one who moves the cones during those high-speed rondo drills before the action gets under way. Sessions are always physically demanding.

Liverpool’s formation will always be written as 4-2-3-1, but the reality is that Iraola’s team do not play in four clear tactical lines. He asks specific jobs of his midfielders, deploying them detailed instructions, and it is going to require some patience before performances become consistent.

What Iraola has shown, though, is that he will not shy away from big decisions. Gravenberch came out of the team after a poor showing in the opening 2-2 draw against Newcastle United, Jeremie Frimpong – now facing five weeks out with hamstring damage – followed the week later after struggling against Nottingham Forest.

Against Brentford on Saturday, he was adventurous with his substitutions, taking off Ronald Araujo when Yarmoliuk had been banished to replace him with the more attack-minded Frimpong. When the Dutchman was injured, Rio Ngumoha, rather than Joe Gomez, came on and Victor Munoz played at right-back, too. Every decision was made with the intention of winning the game.

There is a definite difference from the final 10 fixtures of last season under Arne Slot. Liverpool’s xG is up (17.63 to 13.74); they have had more shots, more shots on target and they are pressing with more intensity. The one curiosity is that they are behind the amount of touches they have had in the opposition area (275 for Iraola’s team, 313 under Slot).

It is, simply, a sound start. There is work to be done, but Iraola knows that better than anyone and he will be looking for another step forward against Villarreal, when a third straight Champions League success would make qualification for the knockout stages even more attainable.

“We go one by one and focus on how the players have recovered,” Iraola said. “It was probably most demanding game in terms of running stats that we have played against Brentford because they demand this. It is important everyone who starts feels ready to go and feels 100 per cent.”