‘I need to prove I belong here’: Andoni Iraola remains humble in Liverpool’s new era | Liverpool
Iit was Andoni Iraola’s humility that made the biggest impression when he was unveiled as Liverpool’s new manager on Monday. Regardless of popularity or bombardment, the 44-year-old vowed not to change thanks to landing the biggest job of his coaching career and connecting with club and city alike. “The magic of being Liverpool’s manager,” as he described the opportunity. And without being asked directly, it was Iraola who insisted he had to prove himself at Anfield.
For all the magic he produced in three years at Bournemouth, culminating in a European title for the first time in the club’s history and approaches from Crystal Palace and Milan, the Basque coach knows that moving to Liverpool represents a huge leap. It’s a leap he feels ready to take.
Iraola, who was appointed six days after Arne Slot was sacked on 30 May, said: “I feel I have a lot to prove about the fact that I have never coached a big club like Liverpool. It is a big challenge for me. But there must be that first moment. My work has been going slowly, slowly: going to a better team, a better club, and then you get, promotion to the League, Liga with better experience. kind of change of principles or coaching in a big group, and there is always a time when I say: ‘You have to show that you belong.’ And this is the first month for me now.
“I need to prove myself and make everyone know that I belong here, that I have the quality to stay here, that I have the quality to coach Liverpool. That is my short-term challenge. Once you go through this process and everyone understands that you belong, everything becomes easier – from the players, the fans, the media and the opposition. But you have to go through this process. I am very confident and I think that the owner of the problem I have found is ready. I am all wrong. They said we will have some challenges, we will have to we changed important players who left, we have some injuries, but we are here to solve these problems and increase what we have.
Iraola may be humble but it is clear that there is an edge to the coach who has reached one of the biggest places in the world game eight years since he started at AEK Larnaca. The scrutiny and demands at Liverpool will be greater than he has faced before, although he will not change the path that has brought him this far.
“You have to be very careful about mistakes, but I wouldn’t like to be too careful,” he admitted. “I’d like to be normal. I won’t stay in my place – training ground, stadium, home. I’d also like to go to the city, feel the city. I know in some places I’ll have to take pictures. But it’s part of the magic of being Liverpool manager and I don’t like to change too much.”
Iraola’s predecessor was criticized for not focusing on the City when things started to go wrong last season, although that was never an issue when Slot lifted the Premier League title for the first time. It was the loss of connection with the Anfield crowd and the ownership of his title-winning team that ultimately cost Slot his job. Rebuilding both is high on Iraola’s agenda.
The coach of Liverpool explained: “I always talk about power. I want my team to be enthusiastic, to be strong, to play in the opposition’s part as much as we can, sometimes on the ball, sometimes without the ball, we try to squeeze the opponents, especially at Anfield. We have to make Anfield a very unpleasant place to come. Sometimes I have been and it’s a good atmosphere to enjoy, there is no stadium to enjoy it. It’s fun for us but the opposition will suffer. This also requires communication with the fans.
“One of our biggest advantages is that if we get this connection from the team to the fans, from the supporters to the team, it will be very difficult to stop us, especially at home, because I felt that I came from the other side. That is probably one of the first things that we have to do and achieve. Get this connection because this will help us. I think it is something that should come from the team. I know that if the team wants something that we want. to agree and accept.”
With Michael Edwards leaving last week as chief football officer at Fenway Sports Group, the owner of Liverpool, and doubts about the future of Richard Hughes as sporting director when the transfer window closes, Iraola may find himself working without the two managers who were instrumental in his appointment. The chaos, or the threat of it, doesn’t worry him too much.
Iraola insisted: “I have to tell the truth, I focus on my biggest job in terms of getting ready to start working with the players, I try to find a better place for the player, I try to create a team atmosphere where they will be able to play, and in my normal day I am very worried [getting] transfer [done]. I’m talking to Richard, I’m talking to him [the FSG president] Mike Gordon, I spoke to Michael Edwards – he seems very intelligent so it’s unfortunate that he won’t continue with us but he explained his decision and his reasons very well. I think it is at the level of ownership rather than something that will affect the coach.”
