After a difficult 2025-26 season, Liverpool decided to move in a new direction. Last weekend, the Reds parted ways with head coach Arne Slot after two seasons in charge for the Dutch trainer and quickly moved to bring in Andoni Iraola after three successful seasons with Bournemouth for the Basque manager.
After a week of updates and briefings tracking their pursuit, today the club officially unveiled their next head coach. Iraola will be 21st full time managerial appointment in the history of Liverpool
Football Club and the tenth of the Premier League era, and he flew in to Liverpool today to put the finishing touches on his move and sign a two-year contract.
“Really excited, really excited,” Iraola said of becoming Liverpool’s next head coach. “Because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world. But feeling inside and understanding a little bit more of this club, I always thought it’s a special club.
“You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool. But obviously the atmosphere, the supporters, the club, the players, the chance for me to coach top-level players, the chance to fight for titles. I think it cannot be more attractive than this. It’s difficult to find it. So, really excited to start.”
Bournemouth finished sixth last season in the Premier League last season, qualifying for the Europa League by finishing just three points behind the Reds with a far less costly squad and following a summer of heavy squad turnover that wasn’t enough to stop Iraola effectively playing his favoured high-intensity, high-pressure tactics.
Before Bournemouth, Iraola spent three seasons at Rayo Vallecano in La Liga, forming a close bond with that club’s left-leaning supporters before moving to England and endearing himself with Bournemouth fans. He has credited his time at Athletic Bilbao under Marcelo Bielsa for his tactical foundations as a manager.
Expectations will be higher at Liverpool, and it will be the first time Iraola has to implement his demanding system while playing two games a week regularly, but it very much appears a conscious move back towards the heavy metal approach to football that was synonymous with Liverpool before last season.
