Liverpool have reached a verbal agreement with Andoni Iraola to make him their new head coach.
Confirmation is expected for the Spaniard to join on an initial two year deal to replace Arne Slot, who parted company with the Reds last week just 12 months on from winning the club’s 20th top-flight title.
Iraola, 43, spent three years with Bournemouth and led them to a first ever Europa League place last season, finishing just three points behind his new club.
This will be the first time Iraola has managed a team in the Champions League, with his previous experiences coming at AEK Larnaca, Mirandes, and Rayo Vallecano.
He does have experience of the competition as a player with Athletic Bilbao, where he was the captain under Marcelo Bielsa, and also played for Spain as a bit-part star during their golden age, before finishing his career as a team-mate of Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa at New York City FC, who are part of Manchester City’s multi-club network.
A proponent of heavy pressing and fast transitions, Iraola would seem to fit the ‘heavy metal’ playing style which Jurgen Klopp introduced and for which the departed Mohamed Salah yearned.
Liverpool have reached a verbal agreement with Andoni Iraola (pictured) to become their new head coach
But there are questions over whether Iraola’s intense brand of football and management will translate to a potential 60-game-plus season. His former player Antoine Semenyo claimed on one podcast that during his time on the south coast, Iraola would often make players train seven days per week.
Strong athleticism is key to his style. He told The Guardian in 2024: ‘It is key because we try to play with a fast rhythm. We don’t want the games to stop and you don’t have time to recover.
‘I always say: “You have to ask for the ball when you’re tired.” If you are waiting to rest before asking again for the ball or making the run into space, everyone can do this. But you are a Premier League player and if you are tired, this is the moment you have to push the opposition, when they are also tired, and try to break them. To do that you have to be at your best physically.’
Iraola spoke in that interview about how he tries to take inspiration and from technique from other sports such as cycling, American football, and basketball.
His doggedness may fit the spirit of Anfield. Last campaign, Bournemouth earned 17 points from losing positions, the third-best tally in the Premier League. Obviously Liverpool would never intend to go behind, but it gives promise that Iraola could lead his team to a comeback on a feverish Anfield night if required.
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Iraola’s Bournemouth side, while not particularly high-possession, was classy on the ball and easy on the eye.
It should also be noted how well Iraola managed to improve the players working under him.
Semenyo (Manchester City), Dean Huijsen (Real Madrid), Ilya Zabarnyi (Paris Saint-Germain), and Dominic Solanke (Tottenham) all secured big moves after being managed by him, and you’d imagine Eli Junior Kroupi will be the next cab off the rank. Liverpool will hope he can have a similar influence on the development of 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha – though the intention is to keep hold of him long-term.
His pending appointment sees yet another Basque manager take a top job. The region of around 3.15 million inhabitants has sent Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery, Xabi Alonso, and now Iraola into the footballing stratosphere.
