“Everything points to Liverpool not pressing the red button, which is no doubt the reason why Xabi Alonso moved to Chelsea. However, after a season that fell well short of expectations, the board decided to end their relationship with Arne Slott and allow Andoni Iraola to take over the reins of the team. He is contracted until 2028.”
“I’m really excited,” was the first thing he said as the new Red manager on the club’s official website. “Of course, you already know what kind of club Liverpool are. Liverpool is a great club, huge, one of the biggest clubs in the world. But from the inside, when you feel it and understand it a little bit, I always thought it was a special club. You don’t need a lot to be attracted to Liverpool.”
The Usurville-born manager earned the right to the big bench job after spending three seasons with the Bournemouth team. Despite falling from the top of the league, the team continued to improve year by year and qualified for the Europa League for the first time in their history. In fact, they were undefeated in 18 games up until the final round of the Premier League and were fighting for a place in the Champions League.
On 14 April, Andoni Iraola officially announced his departure from Bournemouth, and it was quickly confirmed that Marco Rose would arrive in the dugout at the Vitality Stadium. Since then, he began to be linked with countless teams, with Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Milan and Bayer Leverkusen themselves interested in his services.
But Iraola was in no hurry to make a decision. He didn’t rush and waited patiently for the right opportunity… recognizing that Arne Slott was on the ropes. Negotiations have accelerated since the bombshell of the Dutch manager’s sacking exploded on Saturday.
“The atmosphere, the fans, the club, the players, the opportunity to coach top-level players and compete for titles… I can’t think of anything more attractive than this. I’m very excited to get started,” Andoni Iraola, who became the second Spanish manager to manage Liverpool after Rafa Benitez, said in a presentation.
Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director, had a lot to do with this decision. He is the man responsible for bringing Iraola back from Vallecas to Bournemouth in 2023. They will cross paths again at Anfield to resume their rebuild after a summer in which they invested around $500 million in deals. Among them was Milos Kerkes, who flourished under Iraora.
With the departures of Konate, Robertson and Salah confirmed, Liverpool are expecting a busy summer and will be hoping to restore their ‘lock and Klopp’ essence with the arrival of Andoni Iraola in the Anfield dugout, but Iraola will now face the biggest test of a career that has only been on the upswing against AEK Larnaca, Mirandes, Rayo and Bournemouth. He certainly grabbed this chance.
In this way, the slots for four Spanish managers in the Premier League will be maintained. That’s not all. Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Andoni Iraola (Liverpool), Xabi Alonso (Chelsea) and Unai Emery (Aston Villa) were all born in Gipuzkoa. In other words, the state of just over 700,000 people will make up 20% of the competition’s dugouts…while only three coaches in the remaining teams were born in England: Eddie Howe (Newcastle), Frank Lampard (Coventry City) and Michael Carrick (Manchester United).
