Why Andoni Iraola returns to Bournemouth with something still to prove | OneFootball

Andoni Iraola almost did too well for his own good at Bournemouth. As Liverpool stuttered and stalled towards the end of Arne Slot’s reign, they were nearly caught by the rising force on the south coast. Bournemouth finished the season unbeaten in 18 league games. Had the campaign been a couple of weeks longer, they may have overtaken the team in fifth. And as that side was Liverpool, maybe Iraola would have cost himself the chance to manage in the Champions League.

Instead, they held on, three points ahead of Bournemouth. The Cherries’ first foray abroad for a competitive game came this week in the Europa League, in Iraola’s native Basque country, to beat Real Sociedad. It may have been particularly special for a former Athletic Bilbao captain; but, long before Bournemouth came sixth, Iraola had already informed them he would not renew his contract. They had a successor lined up before Liverpool sacked Slot and anointed him as their next head coach.

Perhaps, had Iraola known he would be staying in the Premier League and would require three points at the Vitality Stadium a month into the next campaign, he may not have been as helpful. Maybe it was entirely in character that he was. One of his last acts at Bournemouth was to hold a meeting with his replacement, briefing Marco Rose. It was part of an amicable transfer of power. It was a rarity in football.

“I think everything was so clean with the club that normally in this process you don’t have the chance to talk to the previous manager,” Iraola said. “Everyone knew in this case the situation, everyone knew that Marco was coming. I stayed in Bournemouth until the kids finished school at the end of June. We had chance to have a proper meeting and we were talking until they stopped us, over two hours.”

Iraola took Rose through the squad he would inherit, one by one. “Yes, we had a lot of good players,” he said. “Private things also that I hope can help him in this process. All the club, all the staff, all the players, it is nice to know. It was good for him and good for me also.” Iraola had questions in return. “I asked him about other teams he has previously had and he is a good manager and a good person,” he said.

That may not have just been polite conversation. Iraola is the Spaniard with pressing principles that is more associated with the German school of thought. Rose has managed both Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. Liverpool chose Iraola in part to try and return to Jurgen Klopp’s high-paced football. Rose may be a seamless successor to Iraola in Dorset.

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Andoni Iraola will hope his insight into Bournemouth will yield a positive result for Liverpool this weekend (PA)

“I don’t think they’ve changed too much, definitely not in terms of names,” said Iraola. “You see mostly the same starting 11, very few changes. They lost Marcos Senesi and they’ve signed [Antonio] Silva that is a very similar kind of player. I also have this advantage – I know their strengths, their weaknesses.”

He also has the disadvantage that he took Bournemouth to a new level. Eddie Howe may forever remain Bournemouth’s greatest manager but Iraola took them to the highest finish in their history. He was the first man to take them into Europe.

If there are similarities between his old and new side, it is understandable. One may be unwelcome at Anfield: a drawing habit. Liverpool have drawn three of their four league games under him. Bournemouth have drawn their last three under Rose, to follow 18 last season. Eight of their final 12 matches under Iraola finished all square. Had they won a couple more, and every other result stayed the same, they would have ended up above Liverpool.

Iraola may have shared his knowledge with Rose. He realises he cannot carry on sharing the points with other managers. “It’s something that I knew before coming here,” he said. “When you draw 2-2 at Newcastle with Bournemouth, it is a good result, but I understand that with Liverpool it is not. If you draw a game, you lose two points.”

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Liverpool have drawn three of their four Premoer League matches this season (Getty)

A question for Iraola, as for every manager who makes the step up to a club of Liverpool’s stature, is whether his methods work at elite level. In his case, it means whether his players will buy into his requests for relentless running, as Bournemouth’s did. “For me the demands on the players and positions are the same,” Iraola said. “I don’t give different instructions to one player because he is more expensive than another player because he has cost us less money.”

At Bournemouth, though, they never cost huge sums, by Premier League standards. His side were the energetic underdogs whose running took them further than most had expected. Now he faces the team he built and improved, with the risk his unselfishness will backfire if his parting advice to Rose proves telling.