Jamie Carragher raises concerns over potential ‘drop off’ for Liverpool under Andoni Iraola | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has voiced some concerns over Andoni Iraola’s track record of injuries and a ‘drop off’ in form during the second half of a season.

The 43-year-old is reportedly closing in on being appointed as the new head coach of Liverpool following his departure from Bournemouth and the sacking of Arne Slot at Anfield.

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The Spaniard is set to arrive on Merseyside with a buoyant reputation after his excellent work with the Cherries, who achieved a first-ever European qualification on his watch as they finished sixth in the most recent Premier League campaign, just one place behind the Reds.

Carragher raises concerns over Iraola

However, speaking about Iraola’s prospective appointment on The Overlap Fan Debate, Carragher raised concerns as to whether the head coach’s notoriously intense style of play could result in an abundance of injury problems at Liverpool.

The Sky Sports pundit said: “That’s the feeling, do they get injuries? If you look at most of his seasons, they tend to drop off in the second half of the season.

“I think last season was the first time they [an Iraola side] have had a great second half of the season – normally they’re up there at the start of the season. These are the things you have to take into account. Does the intensity have to drop off a little bit so you’re not actually getting the full Iraola?

“You’re getting too many injuries, you’ve got too many games, then he has to be more of a footballing manager. You’re also on the ball more at Liverpool than you are at Bournemouth.”

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Carragher’s points aren’t unfounded, but no need to unduly worry

Let’s look closer at the numbers around the Cherries’ injury record under Iraola during the 2025/26 Premier League season.

As per Transfermarkt, there were seven players at Bournemouth who missed at least eight matches consecutively due to injury, with six enduring multiple absences. Those statistics would seem to support Carragher’s argument.

However, when looking at the Premier League overall, the south coast club ranked 13th in terms of total games missed as of the start of May, whereas Liverpool were fifth (also via Transfermarkt). It doesn’t account for the final month of the campaign, but is a more than sizeable sample size to draw a fair conclusion.

What about Carragher’s point in terms of Iraola’s teams enduring a decline in form over the second half of a season? The table below shows his last five league campaigns and how many points were earned before and after the midway mark.

Historically his sides have tended to pick up the majority of their points for a campaign before the 19-game mark, but that trend was shattered during an excellent 2025/26 in which Bournemouth didn’t lose a league match after 3 January.

Also, Iraola has steadily accrued more points in the second half of a season over the past five years, which suggests that he’s learning valuable lessons year on year.

We’re confident that, while Iraola would have greater commitments and higher expectations to contend with at Liverpool, he’ll manage the workload accordingly so that the Reds aren’t burnt out by the end of winter.