How will Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola handle managing a ‘Big Six’ team? | OneFootball

Andoni Iraola has been appointed Liverpool’s new head coach, but can the Spaniard make the step up from Bournemouth to one of the biggest clubs in world football?

Iraola joins the Reds to replace his predecessor Arne Slot, following the Dutchman’s sacking in May, having secured European football at Bournemouth for the first time in their history.

Many managers have made the jump from midtable teams to one of the historical ‘Big Six’, but not many of them have gone on to achieve major success in the form of silverware.

Here, FromTheSpot breaks down several case studies of managers that made similar moves to little success and what Iraola can learn from each of them heading into the 2026/27 Premier League season.

Nuno Espírito Santo – Wolves to Tottenham

Our first example spent four months in charge of Tottenham before his tenure was cut short in favour of bringing in former Chelsea manager and Premier League winner Antonio Conte.

Nuno registered 1.65 points per game while at Spurs, which places him on the higher end compared to other managers who made similar moves. This perhaps being down to the small sample size, but can also be attributed to his positive start.

Ultimately, he failed at Tottenham. Nuno did not have the time to win any silverware since his appointment in June 2021 and he was sacked by November of the same year. The main issue during his time at Spurs was a matter of style.

Nuno had come from a Wolves side where survival was the main goal after he led Wanderers to promotion from the Championship. Any form of overachievement was a bonus. Look no further than European qualification in 2018/19.

In order to achieve such a feat, Nuno had played a cautious style of football that ensured points were secured by any means necessary. His counter-attacking style of football was not attractive football but it did get results.

When he made the switch to Tottenham, this was not a style of football that excited Spurs fans – winning his first three games 1-0, his style would only grow more unpopular.

To further compound with its unpopularity, when Tottenham began conceding a greater number of goals. Their attacking returns dried up. Frustrations boiled over.

In his final game in charge against Manchester United, Spurs failed to register a single shot on target for the first time in eight years and Nuno departed in November 2021.

Lesson for Iraola: earn the supporter’s trust by justifying your style of football with results.

Thomas Frank – Brentford to Tottenham

Another Tottenham appointment, Thomas Frank arrived in June 2025 lasted just eight months before being sacked.

The move was very similar to Iraola’s: the Dane left a club with a clear structure and project for a ‘bigger’ club that ended up being far more chaotic behind the scenes.

Frank only managed to average 1.29 points per game and was a key part in why Tottenham were in a relegation battle this season, while Brentford enjoyed one of their best seasons in the topflight with set-piece coach Keith Andrews promoted from within.

Particularly damaging for Spurs’ campaign just gone was their home form. Frank only managed one, beating Burnley 3-0 on the opening day.

They went on to register just two more under Roberto De Zerbi, with interim predecessor Igor Tudor going winless – the third worst home record in this year’s top flight.

Without understating the good work of the former set piece coach, Frank highlights how Brentford’s structure allows managers to challenge the bigger Premier League clubs.

Frank suffered a similar fate to Nuno in that he took a safety-first approach. At Brentford, he aimed to make their home ground a fortress and they attacked sides, but when they played away he was much more cautious and aimed to simply not lose.

After eleven games in the 2024/25 season the Bees topped the home table but sat 19th in the away form table. This was acceptable for Brentford as their travelling fans understood that they were a much stronger side on their home patch by design.

However, this didn’t materialise at Spurs – their fans wanted to see wins at home and away. The cautious approach taken by Frank would not work because Spurs fans believed they were a big club who should attack teams every single match.

Ironically, Frank just couldn’t get his team winning at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, burdened by this expectation against the Dane’s more pragmatic mentality.

Simply put, the shift in expectation caught Frank out and together with poor results home and away led to his sacking just eight months after he was appointed.

Lesson for Iraola: understand the fans’ expectations and how it reflects the club’s stature and the players at your disposal.

Roy Hodgson – Fulham to Liverpool

To indicate this is not simply a recent issue or one unique to Tottenham, and to bring things full circle to Andoni Iraola’s appointment, we turn next to Roy Hodgson.

Hodgson was appointed by Liverpool in July 2010 after a successful three-year spell at Fulham, which saw him take them to a memorable Europa League final.

He succeeded Rafa Benitez who oversaw Liverpool’s ‘miracle of Istanbul’ Champions League win in 2005 and their FA cup win in 2006. Benitez had become a popular figure during his time with the Reds.

Benitez and Hodgson’s styles of play differed and could even be compared to the change seen in Arne Slot’s appointment after Jurgen Klopp’s departure from Liverpool.

Hodgson looked to play defensive and cautious football, and a style that focused on not losing rather than just winning.

This negative style that fixated on defensive organisation was the reason he was so successful at Fulham, but as seen previously Hodgson was another manager who failed to adapt to expectation shifts.

Although it may sound simple, it is not easy to rip up the formula that worked at your previous club and start fresh with a new club when the pressure has also ramped up.

Hodgson’s sides did not focus on dominating possession, but instead on being tactically disciplined and worked to frustrate opponents. Liverpool fans did not want to see this football, and it was not all that successful for them either.

Hodgson managed a 1.52 points per game average whilst at Liverpool and famously lost at Anfield to newly promoted Blackpool, who would be relegated that year.

The irony of this being that Blackpool had become fan favourites that season for their attacking style that aimed to outscore opponents. If Hodgson had taken a leaf out of Blackpool’s book things may have ended differently.

Lesson for Iraola: it’s possible that not every one of his decisions will work elsewhere.

What else can Andoni Iraola learn from his predecessors?

Andoni Iraola needs to take the attacking football we have seen Bournemouth play at times this season and apply it to Liverpool.

He has to figure out the best way of using his squad effectively and move away from the cautious and safety-first approaches seen by past managers.

The main reason Arne Slot lost the Liverpool fanbase so fast was his style of play, and if Iraola can excite then he stands a better chance of support.

Bournemouth’s home fixture against Manchester City is a good example of the type of football he needs to try and instil into the new squad, having played fast, free-flowing football, throwing caution to the wind and exploiting City’s few weaknesses.

Having said this, Iraola needs to have a ‘plan B’. The previous managers outlined above all failed to implement the tactics they used at the clubs they managed prior to their moves, and their failure to adapt and be slightly pragmatic at times has cost them dearly.

Iraola is certainly more than capable of doing so, as Bournemouth went eleven games without a win in the Premier League this season before then going the 18 remaining matches unbeaten to surge into Europe.

Similar to Thomas Frank’s move to Tottenham, Iraola will have to be cautious about losing those who make up the structure of the club around him.

Iraola was an important cog in the system and vision that Bournemouth had, but at Liverpool he will be the new centre piece of a club who has been to the very top of club football.

He has moved from a club where there is little pressure to consistently win to one where each week he will be expected to put out a side who will secure three points.

Anfield is over five times the size of the Vitality Stadium, which should highlight the gulf in standing between the two clubs, yet all that did that was a single league place.

However, what it does represent is the pressure on Iraola suddenly scaling up tenfold.

Therefore, he cannot afford to be caught out by the shift in expectations and must rise to the occasion if he is to take the Reds back to the summit of English football.

Roy Hodgson was criticized for his defeatist nature during his time in the Anfield dugout, and Iraola must ensure he embraces the culture of Liverpool Football Club.

This is one of the most successful football clubs in not just England but the world, so Iraola must show he is a winner and capable of leading this historic club.

Andoni Iraola must take the leap of faith that many before him did not. He cannot afford to play it safe and be cautious in his approach. He needs to stick to what he knows – his attacking brand of football – and resort to pragmatism only if things go south.

It is a big risk, but if he can get the Liverpool fans on his side then he will be afforded more time to get it right – much like Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta, who repaied Arsenal’s faith with their first Premier League title in 22 years.

Iraola must learn from those before him at some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, one of them his new employers, and embrace the opportunity he has been given.