Andoni Iraola will be forced into a key change at Liverpool as the scale of the job becomes obvious. The new Reds boss has previously found comfort in the role of the 'unsung hero' — but all that could be about to change.
From Unsung Hero to Anfield Spotlight
Ten years ago, Andoni Iraola stood inside the Playwright Pub in Manhattan, just a goal kick from the Empire State Building, and was presented with an 'Unsung Hero' award. The gong, given by his long-time friend David Villa, recognised Iraola's contribution to New York City FC during their Major League Soccer campaign.
For head coach Patrick Vieira, there was no more fitting winner of the award than Iraola. The party on West 35th Street was said to have gone on long into the night with the club's fans.
“I think the award really reflects Andoni's contribution to us this year,” Vieira said at the time. “A lot of players get a lot of credit but the work he does on and off the field deserves recognition. There are players who work really hard for the team but never get mentioned and those kind of guys are really quite special because they sacrifice themselves for the team. Andoni is the perfect image of a team player – everyone loves him on and off the field.”
Less than a week later, in November 2016, Iraola announced his retirement, with more praise from Vieira, Villa, and Claudio Reyna, City's sporting director, ringing in his ears.
“I believe his experience and professionalism have made a huge impact in the young history of NYCFC,” Reyna said. “Showing the younger players in the locker room the standards they must aspire to in order to compete at the top level year after year. Off the pitch, Andoni embodies the type of human being we want at the club – he is a humble guy who always puts himself at the service of the collective. It's not just his team-mates who will miss him, everyone at the football club will.”
Iraola made just 40 appearances for the MLS side but clearly made his mark. In many ways, that's how Liverpool's new head coach has tended to work ever since: short spells that have yielded memorable results.
A Track Record of Exceeding Expectations
Inside two years of his official retirement, Iraola was in charge of AEK Larnaca in Cyprus, where he led them to the Europa League group stages for only the second time in their history. He was there for just one season before returning to his homeland.
Iraola then took charge of Mirandes, a second division side in Spain who avoided their widely-tipped fate of relegation by comfortably surviving in midtable during the 2019-20 season — the same time Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool were Champions League and Club World Cup holders en route to the Premier League crown with 99 points.
A three-year spell with Rayo Vallecano saw Iraola far outstrip what many believed to be the modest club's capabilities. After earning promotion from the second tier by beating Girona, Rayo then recorded a first-ever La Liga double over Barcelona around the time there was no tap water in the dressing rooms and their Vallecas stadium lacked wifi access.
Exceeding expectations has become a theme for the new Reds boss, which is why there is little internal concern at Anfield that he lacks the glittering CV of other coaches who would have jumped at the chance to succeed Arne Slot at the start of this month.
Bournemouth Success and Player Development
“I have to be honest, at first I wasn't too sure,” former Bournemouth goalkeeper Darren Randolph told Redmen TV this week. “I wasn't too sure of him, wasn't too sure of his staff, how it was all gonna go, from the first couple of days. But after about two, three weeks, I thought: 'This guy — he knows what he's doing.' He has his own philosophy, his way of playing, and he's gonna stick to that, and he's gonna find people that will fit into the way that he wants to play. He's a great guy. There's no ego about him. He doesn't really fall out with people. He just has a weird knack of just getting everybody on board.”
Bournemouth have the smallest match-day revenue in the Premier League and have still been able to thrive and prosper on Iraola's watch, despite selling a slew of their fastest-rising stars. In the last year alone, the Cherries have cashed in on Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, and most recently Antoine Semenyo. In 2024, top scorer Dominic Solanke was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £60m.
What is more impressive is the fact Iraola has been able to coach the aforementioned quartet to the level where they are wanted by clubs like Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, and Manchester City. The Cherries' recruitment team deserve ample credit for their ability to spot a rough diamond, but each player undoubtedly left the south coast with a debt of gratitude to Iraola.
Humility and Work Ethic Key to Liverpool Move
The 43-year-old, however, is unlikely to want too much personal credit, but his humility and work ethic were two traits Liverpool identified in their character references when they searched for Slot's successor. Richard Hughes, who appointed him to the job at Bournemouth three years ago, was particularly effusive in his own recommendations.
Iraola had been tracked by AC Milan and Crystal Palace prior to Liverpool's interest, and it was interesting to note how talks with the Italian giants cooled in the days leading up to Slot's sacking. The Dutch coach only learned of his sacking during an end-of-season review on Saturday morning of May 30, but given the breakdown in discussions between Iraola and Milan earlier that week — and the subsequent speed at which he was appointed — it's fair to speculate the Basque's IDUB Global agency, with whom Hughes enjoys a good relationship, had been gently sounded out.
And perhaps for Liverpool it was even a case of Iraola or no-one when it came to the prospect of replacing Slot, who had been expected to be given a chance to turn things around next season.
Randolph adds: “Andoni working with Richard Hughes again — who's a brilliant man, top, top man — those two working back together again at a club the size of Liverpool with the players at their disposal. It could be unbelievable. You could literally have Klopp time back, with Iraola.”
If Iraola has previously found himself comfortable at the 'unsung' nature of his heroics, success at Liverpool, whether he likes it or not, will enforce a change in the new man in the Anfield hotseat.
