The boss spoke to the media this afternoon about the meeting with the Eagles at the Vitality Stadium.
Here's every word from the broadcast section of Iraola's press conference.
**Mark McAdam (Sky Sports News): You've won four of your last five, unbeaten in five matches. At what point do Bournemouth get considered to be serious contenders for European football? Because this is not just a fluke now, you are one of the best teams in the league, the fifth best team in the league. And that's after a considerable amount of games now.**
Andoni Iraola: Yeah, I want to repeat what I tell you every day. I don't believe in the long-term goals. I think we are not still halfway through the season, I think we have another two games or two more opportunities to add to our 28, I think, we have now and we have to take it like this.
For me, there is not a big difference, I don't know, if we lose the game yesterday, I think we would be 12 in the standings or 11th or it wouldn't be a big difference now because we are higher, it's not a big change.
You know, we have to continue being competitive.
It's still very early in the season and with 28 points you don't have anything. You have nothing. You still need more points even to play next year in the Premier League.
So I don't think it's the moment to start looking further than Palace, Fulham, at most, and from my side, I'm not going to do it.
**MM: If someone had said to you at the start of the season, after 17 games and on Christmas Day, Bournemouth would be fifth, what would you have said?**
AI: I don't know.
I suppose I would be probably surprised, because I know the level of the Premier League. But I know that this can change very quickly also.
And the standings are, everything is super compact. We are seeing, especially this season in the Premier League, every team can win against anyone can lose.
So we have to keep being competitive and let's see where the table puts us. Not now, at the end of the season.
That is what it really matters.
**MM: Your message in the media is one game at a time, we've achieved nothing yet. Is that the same message in the dressing room to the players?**
AI: It's not the message, not to the media, to the players. It's what I believe, what I really believe. And if you ask me about how I see the things, I see it like this.
I would be very happy to talk to you in different circumstances, if this was April, but It's not April, it's still very early in the season. So we have to continue.
**MM: Football's about dreaming, believing, getting excited. Obviously the dressing room is very together and very grounded and that's the message that comes across. But will you allow the Bournemouth fans to get excited about this team that they're watching these results that they're turning in not just you know, fluke results but consistently good performances and enjoy what might happen and start to dream about what might happen.**
AI: I think they are enjoying but they are enjoying because the team is performing well. But I think you have to enjoy the game for sure. The ones who went yesterday to Old Trafford had a good time for sure and they will be willing to go against next away game, Fulham, whatever they want to go.
And I think you have to do it this way. You don't have always to be thinking in the maths in the table. No, no.
Just be competitive, enjoy, try to support your team, try to do it all together and I think it's the best way and let's see at the end but it's very early for me. We cannot start talking about these things.
**MM: And just finally on this subject, your targets at the start of the season and your targets now because of the way you've played and you position the table, have they changed or have you got the same ambition that you had on game one as you have on game 18?**
AI: I think when you asked me before the season about the targets I answered you the same. I don't believe in long term targets because if you lose three games you are going to change your target.
If you win three games you are going to change your target it’s okay, let's see. I don't know our level. We know, I know the level from past season we were 12th.
This was our level. This season I don't know. Nobody knows.
We'll see but not now. We'll see when it matters at the end.
**MM: Crystal Palace up next in the Premier League on Boxing Day here at the Vitality Stadium.**
**They had a tricky start to the campaign but they picked up recently, beaten Brighton, drew with Manchester City. Have you identified where perhaps they've changed their form? What they've done differently or are they still the same side but results are coming?**
AI: No, I think they are getting better results and they are performing better. I think even listening to Glasner, he was the first one saying that physically now they are in a much better position, they feel more confident and I think you can see it in the games. It's a team that we know even from past season, the level of the players they have. They had a lot of players even in the England squad.
They will recover for our game also Daniel Munoz, now Ismaila Sarr is in great form. The players we obviously know from past season and it's going to be difficult. I think the game we played against Palace with Glasner past season here was super, super tight.
It was decided at the end by one goal from Justin. But it was very, very level and I expect more or less the same.
**MM: Obviously a tight turnaround between games, there's a lot of games coming up over Christmas. What's the team news ahead of the match with Crystal Palace? Have you got any question marks over players from the game of Manchester United or are you welcoming back anyone?**
AI: No, I don't expect anyone new in the squad. I hope we don't lose also nobody. It’s true that some players finish with niggles from yesterday with things that I hope they recover and they are able to help the team against Palace.
But we still don't know because today we will be assessing them and see if they can train these two days and be available against Palace.
I think we are now quite thin numbers wise and it's a busy period so I'm not worried but I think you have to be very aware and we also take the decisions of the lineups and these things considering every small detail in the physicality of the players.
**Paul Belverstone (Premier League Productions): Andoni, busy time of year, because you won at Old Trafford, will the Iraola family have a more sort of present Andoni, on Christmas Day, will you be able to enjoy it a bit more?**
AI: No, at the end it's not going to change a lot. At the end we play, we don't have free days this week.
This is what it is. We play three games. So basically we'll be here every day and probably it's going to be tougher for the staff around the club.
Probably they are not so directly involved as us in the football side and they have also to come. But it is what it is. I think you have to look at the positive side of this that also there is a good experience for people for sure on [holidays](http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/leisure/travel/), kids coming to watch the games.
And I think it's also nice that we can play during Christmas.
**PB: You said to us before Wolves that the next step for this team was to win matches when not playing brilliantly, absolutely at their best. Did you do that at Old Trafford?**
AI: I hope we can win games that we play worse than yesterday.
I hope, it would be a very good sign. I think we were very solid yesterday. I think we were not brilliant.
But it's difficult to play against United now because they control a lot the game, basically you cannot put a very high pace in the games you play against them because they control especially in the build-up. This three, four with the keeper that is good also with the ball at his feet. They have almost eight players there in their build up.
So it's difficult to make it quite open the game and in that scenario I think we competed really well.
**PB: So as you sit here now, what is the next, next step for this team? What do you want to see above anything else?**
AI: I want to be as efficient as we can.
If we can continue with the level in both boxes that we had yesterday, it will be much easier. But this is not a guarantee.
As long as we continue creating chances and I think having the performances we are having I think we will be fine. But this is easy to say that is not easy to keep this consistency during a long period.
**PB: Given your answers to Mark. I know I'm on a loser with the next question, however I’m going to ask it. Last year record points total, and a target, I admit that I don't think you uttered but players and staff and these have said we just want to improve on it, better than that. With 28 points now you only need a point a game to better last season.**
**But how disappointed would you be if you only averaged a point a game from today?**
AI: Past season as you said we started talking about what we could achieve, I think it was probably end of March or something like this where we had a good amount of points and we didn't decide anything.
We could see and okay we have you know eight games remaining or I don't remember right now but then okay, maybe we can arrive, it's a good challenge. You can use it the last games of the season as a motivation side.
But right now I'm going to repeat it again. We are very far from that point. Past season, we had a very good I think first round, even if we started very bad and we had 25 points in the first round of games. So we were very good also.
It's not like we have now 28. I hope we can make the difference more than three points. We have two more chances.
But the Premier League is very difficult, very difficult. We have behind us in a matter of one or two games, eight teams that are very good. So, it changes a lot the picture, if you are now fifth or you are 12th, its one or two games.
Okay. I prefer to be now a little bit higher, but it's not a big difference.