Andoni Iraola is the favorite to land at Liverpool with the Reds braced for 'rock and roll' soccer, which helped the Spaniard's teams to find success in recent years
18:32, 01 Jun 2026
Head Coach Andoni Iraola of Bournemouth during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth at City Ground on May 24, 2026 in Nottingham, England
Andoni Iraola seemingly will be taking tenets he learned from a coaching legend to Liverpool(Image: Photo by Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
Andoni Iraola learned from legendary head coach Marcelo Bielsa, and the former is close to taking what the latter imparted to Liverpool.
After the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, Liverpool parted ways with Arne Slot after a disappointing campaign. Not long after the news was announced, it was believed that Iraola was the Reds' target for head coach, with the 43-year-old's past with Bielsa setting him up for success.
That said, fans have been given a glimpse of how the next boss could run the club as formal talks are expected to begin immediately.
"I was very lucky to play for him for two seasons as a player," Iraola said to Sky Sports in a 2023 interview while the Spaniard coached Rayo Vallecano. "I think he has another vision of football. They were two very good seasons for us, and, for me, it was a different knowledge."
Iraola also noted that he drew on aspects of Bielsa's coaching at Athletic Bilbao and developed his own style throughout his career. "I use a lot of exercises from Marcelo that I learned from him. I use a lot of things, especially with the ball," he continued when speaking on his former coach's approach.
"Offensively, his teams are very dynamic. He is willing to make all the runs to the space, he is ready to accept this kind of disorder, offensively."
Athletic Bilbao's head coach Marcelo Bielsa (L) and defender Andoni Iraola attend a press conference attend a press conference in Moscow, on February 15, 2012, prior to their tomorrow's round of 32 match of UEFA Europa League against Lokomotiv Moscow
Andoni Iraola (R) is slated to become Liverpool's new coach, learning from Marcelo Bielsa (L)(Image: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)
The "disorder" Iraola states has been part of his coaching style since, which has helped find success with Rayo and Bournemouth in recent years. Under the Spanish coach, Rayo was highly successful, attracting interest from Leeds, though he opted to stay for one more season.
At the conclusion of the 2023 season, Iraola was named Bournemouth's manager, helping lead them to a club-record 48 points, good for 12th in 2024. Two years later, the 43-year-old led the club to an 18-match unbeaten streak and secured qualification for the Europa League, the first in the club's history.
As for the way he wants his clubs to play, he opts to overwhelm the defense with speed and power, signing players who are aggressive and constantly attack, eventually breaking down their opponents.
In some ways, Iraola has similarities to Pep Guardiola, with pundits noting that both men employ the Gegenpressing philosophy, leading some to call his coaching style musical.
In particular, Ander Murillo, a friend and former teammate of Iraola, told Sky Sports that it was akin to "rock and roll" in how the coach's clubs operated. Speaking on that comment, the Spaniard explained that having such a helter-skelter style of play was one he hoped to continue with the men around him.
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"It is true that we like, and we perform better, in high-tempo games," Iraola continued to the outlet. "We need to run a lot. We don't need so much control, not in every single play, but I think we have the legs, we have the willingness, to go up and down."
Regarding what Liverpool fans can expect from Iraola, former Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo gave an insight into how the manager runs his clubs. "The way he structured the weeks, we didn't really have any days off, nothing," Semenyo told All Out Football. "It's very hard going from having Wednesday and Sunday off to having no days off.
"We would play on the Saturday, train on Sunday. The players that were in the starting XI would do like the first maybe 30, 40 minutes of the session, so you're hanging, your legs have gone. ... "You're thinking, 'We're going to get exposed here,' but once you adapt to it, yeah. You see how Bournemouth won at the weekend [against Arsenal]. That's what it was like for the three years I was there."