Andoni Iraola has made quite the impact at Bournemouth since his arrival, and as well receiving plenty of praise in England and Spain, the manager is building a name for himself elsewhere too.
The Spaniard’s stock has risen in the last two seasons and there is no surprise that he has been linked with multiple clubs in England. Now, backing for Iraola has come from an unlikely source.
Former Italy international Antonio Cassano spoke to Viva el Futbol and claimed he recommended the Bournemouth manager to Fiorentina before they appointed Stefano Pioli.
Cassano said, as relayed by FirenzeViola: “Before there was talk of his return as Viola coach, I sent a message to [Fiorentina sporting director] Pradè to recommend Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola. The Viola sporting director told me he’d contacted him, but that it was a complicated path.”
Cassano also had big praise for Iraola and the work he has done at Bournemouth.
“I think Iraola is a phenomenon because of the way he plays football. I think we need to look for other profiles for Serie A, otherwise they’ll always be coaching the same people and we’ll fall behind.”
Fiorentina appointing the 43-year-old would likely have been an impossible task. First La Viola would have had to convince Iraola that he should leave Bournemouth and the Premier League for Fiorentina, and as beautiful as Florence is that would have been difficult.
Then there would have been the equally difficult job of negotiating a fee with the Cherries.
Regardless, Cassano is usually using his platform to slate others in football so it’s nice to grasp a little praise from him.