Liverpool took no time between sacking Slot to certified rumours to announcing Andoni Iraola as the new head coach of the club. They’ve uploaded a video to YouTube of Iraola sitting down and introducing himself, and now the official site has published an in depth, two-part interview with him.
While there were no “call me The Normal One” immediate bangers, the new boss did a solid job explaining his coaching and football philosophies and why he’s a good fit for the club.
On his off-pitch management
style, Iraola said: “For me, we are a lot of things as a manager but especially we are here to help the players. We have to provide, I always say, like a collective platform so everyone can do their job properly and we can find the best roles for every player, we can make them think that they will improve individually also with us, we can give them a culture, an atmosphere, so everyone kind of works as happy as possible.”
The glaring fact that Iraola has never managed a team in the Champions League before was touched upon. He talks about his excitement at the opportunity to take on that challenge and gives credit to Arne Slot for leading the team to qualification.
“Yes, massive respect for Arne, massive respect,” he praised his predecessor. “He’s been a Premier League champion and this is something that is massive, especially for a club like Liverpool. The Champions League, I had the chance to play it just once as a player. We used to qualify a lot for the Europa League [as a player at Athletic Club] but the Champions League, I’ve only played it once and I’m looking forward to play [it for the] first time as a coach. Big demands, also big chances to face the best teams in Europe and see where we are.”
While the Iraola has the benefit of a full preseason, it comes with the downfall of that preseason falling during a World Cup year. With players scattered around the globe, the question is how he will deal with this. Iraola seems to approach it by starting from the inside and organizing as much of the backroom staff as possible so that the players come back for a fresh start in July.
“I want to talk to the staff, to the people that were here every day, that know very well the players, to arrive as ready as possible to that first day of pre-season. I think especially with a lot of those young players that will do the pre-season with us, a lot of things about the organisation, about the staff, about how we can create the best atmosphere, the best environment so when they arrive [on] day one, everyone feels everything is in place and we can do this process of adaptation, that it will take some time as soon as possible,” Iraola explained.
With the formalities out of the way, it is time for Iraola to step up and prove himself worthy of the position. Tight scrutiny will be on the players he targets in the transfer window and how he sets up the team. After a tumultuous season and with several key figures at the club leaving, for better or worse, Iraola has a big job ahead of him.
