Five matches is nowhere near enough to judge a new manager.

It is enough, however, to begin identifying patterns.

Andoni Iraola entered his first international break as Liverpool head coach unbeaten in the Premier League, with two victories, three draws and three consecutive clean sheets.

The raw numbers suggest a solid opening.

The performances tell a more complicated — and more interesting — story.

Liverpool have already experienced almost every type of game Iraola will have to solve.

There was the chaos of Newcastle United, the openness of Nottingham Forest, the controlled victory at Ipswich Town, the attacking frustration against Fulham and, finally, the uncomfortable 1-0 win at Bournemouth.

Each has provided Iraola with information.

Five games into the process, he should have a considerably clearer understanding of what he has inherited.

The defining issue of Liverpool’s opening weeks appeared almost immediately.

Iraola wants his side to defend aggressively.

His players are encouraged to jump forward, press opponents high up the pitch and prevent comfortable progression through midfield.

When the timing works, Liverpool can suffocate teams.

When it does not, enormous spaces can appear.

Newcastle exposed that repeatedly on the opening weekend. Nottingham Forest did the same six days later.

Once Liverpool’s first wave of pressure was bypassed, opponents suddenly found themselves running at a defensive line asked to protect far too much space.

It would be easy to describe that simply as a midfield problem.

It is broader than that.

Pressing is collective. If one player jumps and another does not follow, the entire structure can unravel.

That remains one of Iraola’s biggest challenges.

There have already been signs of improvement, particularly in the defensive organisation behind the press, but Liverpool are not yet at the point where their aggression feels completely secure.

If the opening two league games raised serious questions about Liverpool’s defensive structure, the next three have provided an encouraging response.

Ipswich, Fulham and Bournemouth all failed to score.

The improvement has coincided with greater familiarity between Jeremy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, Ronald Araujo and Milos Kerkez.

Iraola spoke after Bournemouth about those players beginning to develop “connections”, and it is becoming visible.

Jacquet increasingly looks comfortable defending the large spaces Iraola’s system can create. His recovery speed provides Liverpool with insurance when opponents break through midfield, while Van Dijk remains the stabilising presence alongside him.

Araujo has offered greater security on the right and Kerkez’s relationship with the centre-backs is developing.

There will be significantly tougher examinations after the international break.

But Liverpool have moved from looking fragile whenever opponents escaped pressure to appearing capable of defending periods of sustained pressure.

Bournemouth was a particularly useful example.

Liverpool were pushed backwards for long stretches late in the game, but their defensive shape largely held.

That is progress.

The Fulham draw remains perhaps the clearest warning from the opening month.

Liverpool had possession.

They had territory.

They did not have enough ideas.

For the first time under Iraola, the attacking problem was not simply finishing chances. Liverpool struggled to manufacture them.

Florian Wirtz found it difficult to influence the game. Alexander Isak became isolated. The movement around the penalty area lacked speed and unpredictability.

Iraola described it afterwards as the first occasion during his tenure when Liverpool had genuinely struggled to create.

That matters because not every opponent will give his side transition opportunities.

Some will sit deeper, protect central spaces and ask Liverpool to break them down.

The question then becomes whether Iraola’s side can generate enough combinations around the box without relying on an individual moment.

There have been promising signs from Wirtz, Bradley Barcola, Cody Gakpo and Isak.

The relationships between them remain unfinished.

One of Iraola’s more reassuring discoveries is that his centre-forward can decide games even when Liverpool are not dominating them.

Isak scored twice at Ipswich and provided the decisive moment at Bournemouth.

The latter was particularly revealing.

Liverpool had spent much of the game struggling for fluency and had started the second half poorly.

Then one attacking sequence fell Isak’s way and he finished first time.

That is the value of an elite striker.

Iraola was keen afterwards to stress that Isak’s responsibility extends beyond scoring. He wants him helping Liverpool establish possession higher up the pitch and allowing the team to play closer to the opposition penalty area.

That part of the relationship is still developing.

But Liverpool now have a forward capable of changing a game without requiring six chances first.

Over a season, that will matter enormously.

Few Liverpool players have generated more discussion during the opening month.

Some of the criticism of Wirtz has been excessive.

Some of the questions are legitimate.

His technical influence is obvious. He receives between the lines, changes the direction of attacks and sees passes that others do not.

The weighted ball that released Barcola against Atletico Madrid was an obvious example outside the Premier League.

But Wirtz himself has acknowledged the next step.

He wants to decide games.

That means the discussion around goals and assists cannot simply be dismissed because his contribution often begins earlier in attacking moves.

Liverpool did not sign him only to make possession prettier.

They signed him to determine matches.

Five Premier League games into the season, those decisive contributions have not yet arrived frequently enough.

That does not mean the experiment is failing.

It means the most important part of his adaptation is still ahead.

Perhaps the most significant lesson came at Bournemouth.

It was not Liverpool’s most impressive performance of the season.

It might have been one of their most useful.

Iraola’s side started badly, improved gradually, scored when the opportunity arrived and then spent much of the closing period defending their lead.

They did not dominate.

They won.

That distinction is important.

Iraola’s best Bournemouth teams were associated with intensity, pressing and aggressive attacking football, and those principles are already evident at Liverpool.

But competing across an entire season requires more than one type of victory.

There will be afternoons when Liverpool cannot impose themselves.

There will be opponents who beat the press.

There will be fatigue, difficult away grounds and periods when the football does not flow.

The ability to survive those games is as important as the ability to overwhelm teams.

Bournemouth offered the first real evidence that this Liverpool side may be capable of both.

There should still be caution around any conclusions.

Liverpool’s opening league schedule was relatively favourable on paper, and the difficulty increases sharply after the international break.

Iraola acknowledged as much at Bournemouth, warning that Liverpool are heading into a demanding sequence involving leading Premier League opposition, Champions League football and Carabao Cup commitments.

That is where the early progress will be properly stress-tested.

Can Liverpool press aggressively against better teams without becoming exposed?

Can Wirtz become more decisive?

Can the defensive unit maintain its solidity?

Can Iraola rotate without losing the intensity his system requires?

Five games have not answered those questions.

They have simply made clear which ones matter most.

Liverpool are unbeaten. They are becoming harder to score against. Their new signings are beginning to settle and Iraola’s ideas are increasingly visible.

But the team remains unfinished.

After five Premier League games, perhaps that is the most useful thing Iraola has learned.