Bradley Barcola scored a hat-trick in Austria as the Reds continued their perfect start to the European campaign, with Jeremie Frimpong, Lewis Koumas and Ronald Araujo also amongst the goals.
Florian Wirtz also put in an improved performance in a rotated side, and Iraola beamed post-match as he said he could not have asked for much more from his side going forward.
“I am really happy for Bradley. I think both he and Wirtz played really well today and made a difference,” said Iraola. “Bradley was always a threat one-v-one and in behind. Flo helped us a lot to control the game, finding the pockets, I’m happy for both of them.
“I think we attacked really well, especially in the first half. I think (the defence was) in a very compact block, there were small spaces in between, and we found good spaces in the pockets with the three players up front.
“The second half was more about exploiting the spaces. I think offensively, it was a very complete game.”
Three’s company: Bradley Barcola hit a fine hat-trick against LASK
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He continued, asked whether he has a message of congratulations for Barcola after his first Champions League hat-trick: “I think he has to enjoy this. Scoring a hat trick in the Champions League is very difficult.
“Even yesterday I could feel he was very lively, you feel these things. I didn’t know how he would play the next day, but it wasn’t a big surprise because you could feel he was in a good place.”
Despite the six-goal performance, Iraola was left frustrated by his inability to fully rotate his centre-backs. Jeremy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk started against Manchester City at the weekend, but the former was forced to start again here as Ronald Araujo took the Liverpool captain’s place.
Iraola explained his decision to persist with Jacquet: “I think there is a reason why you never change both centre-backs together. It is difficult, a new pair comes.
“But obviously, you have to start thinking about the next game. We play in three days against Brentford away. I think Ron and Jeremy were players that have been demanded lately, have played a lot of games with us and the national team.
“This seemed the right moment to give them rest, but thinking about today’s game, it did not seem like the right thing to change both centre-backs.”