Andoni Iraola was the hottest free agent on the manager market and for good reason, with a series of non-negotiables underpinning his philosophy.
The Basque led Bournemouth to sixth place with conviction in his philosophy, smart tactics and optimisation of the players at his disposal.
Now he’s at Liverpool with bigger resources but also bigger pressure to succeed. What will he bring to Anfield?
How did Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth press?
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“Only once did we come away from the pressing game he demands and that was in a heavy defeat to Manchester City. Afterwards, he told me that he’d never do that again and that I should never let him do that again.”
Tommy Elphick
Tommy Elphick
Iraola’s assistant speaks of the coach’s trust in his philosophy.
At first glance, the raw data does not suggest that Iraola will bring a markedly more front-footed approach than his predecessor, Arne Slot, but the crucial difference is in the detail.
Bournemouth’s marginally higher possession won in the final third was not only third-highest in the league, but more importantly, they led to the third-most shots taken as a result of a turnover.
Liverpool’s high regains usually came when trying to unlock a low block.
They picked up regains from smothering opponents’ attempts to counter, but they’d still have that settled defence in front of them once the ball was recovered.
Bournemouth’s regains come from pressing high against the opponent’s buildup. This means Iraola’s teams win the ball in situations with fewer defenders to beat and therefore a greater opportunity to shoot for goal.
The key to this is an approach Iraola helped pioneer back in his Rayo Vallecano days of ‘hybrid pressing’.
Essentially, this sees a team start by defending zonally, only to spring a trap and ‘lock on’ to a man-to-man press across the pitch, once triggered.
Here is an example: it’s 1-1 at St James’ Park and Newcastle are building from the back.
Bournemouth are pressing zonally in a 4-4-2 diamond shape, with one midfielder supporting the press and the other protecting the centre of the pitch.
By marking zones, Ryan Christie (at the top of the diamond) is outnumbered two-to-one, but when Bruno Guimaraes drops into the space to receive the ball, Christie presses him aggressively.
Recognising the trigger, Tyler Adams pushes up, the centre-back steps up to take his place and within two seconds Bournemouth are locked on man-to-man.
They steal the ball and score, going on to win 4-1. From zonal to man-to-man, from defence to attack, quickly, confidently and effectively.
On certain occasions, such as the 2-0 win over Aston Villa last November, Liverpool used this hybrid approach. For Slot, it was a tool for solving specific problems, one he was increasingly reluctant to use as his tenure progressed.
For Iraola, it’s non-negotiable: his teams press man-to-man. This is true if he has an injury crisis, if his opponent has better players, if they sit in a low block, his teams press man-to-man, no matter what.
Bournemouth’s buildup with the ball
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“Today, modern football is the way that Bournemouth play. It’s not positional, you have to ride the rhythm. It is unbelievable.”
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola
Guardiola talks about how Iraola’s Bournemouth were the definition of a modern side.
Iraola’s approach in possession is not rated as highly as his innovative out-of-possession tactics, yet the evolution of his Bournemouth side to European qualification suggests he has greater dimensions.
Similar to Arne Slot, Iraola looks to attack through the wide areas, either by playing quickly through the thirds or going long.
However, where his predecessor wanted to create one-vs-ones, Iraola looks to overload these areas with what he calls ‘double threat’.
Both a winger and a support player – usually a full back but it can also be a midfielder – will combine out wide, creating a tension for opposition full backs and dragging opponents away from the centre.
This relies on constant unselfish movement, passing and running with purpose and intent.
Here’s Bournemouth in the first half of the first game of the season. Building up down the wing, Antoine Semenyo backs into his marker, with the midfielder already making a run in behind.
Slot would have his attacker find that midfielder in a one-vs-one against the full-back, but instead Antoine Semenyo uses the space to drive inside and switch to the opposite wing, stretching Liverpool’s defence and creating space in the centre.
As the ball is played wide, the full-back is already bombing up the pitch on the overlap to provide another double threat.
Here the cross is rushed and the attack fails. Yet despite it being the opening game of the season and full-back Adrien Truffert’s debut, Bournemouth already have their pattern instilled and attack with purpose.
Does it work against low blocks?
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“We have to play against deep formations and quick thinking is much more important than quick running.”
Jurgen Klopp
One concern for how Iraola’s football will scale up at Anfield is that his team will have more of the ball than Bournemouth.
How will he coach against opponents who will allow his team to dominate possession and give fewer opportunities to press?
Across three seasons on the south coast, Bournemouth’s average possession rose year on year, as did their final league position.
They won only one of 13 games in which they dominated possession (55+ percent) yet they ranked sixth in the league for xG created against low blocks.
Iraola arguably does not have a problem creating chances against a more defensive opponent: it’s more likely that Bournemouth have a finishing problem.
Against the low block of Burnley in December, Bournemouth toiled until the 66th minute.
With so many Burnley shirts defending deep, defender Bafode Diakhite steps forward to make something happen: a simple double movement sees the right winger drop in, dragging a defender on his back while the right full back dashes into the space created.
But instead of allowing play to be funnelled wide, Diakhite plays short into the busy central region. This collapses Burnley’s block inwards to attempt to win the ball back.
Quick one-touch passes feed the ball across the line, but the initial action is poor and Burnley look to break.
Bournemouth immediately counter-press because Iraola’s teams don’t take a backwards step, so they force a poor clearance straight to Semenyo.
He hits it first time and finds the far corner. Had Bournemouth not conceded a late set piece, that would have been the winning goal.
While Slot relied on what he called ‘individual special moments’ to solve low blocks, Iraola attacks them with a combination of smart movement, wide threat and counter pressing.
How does it map onto Liverpool’s squad?
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“At the beginning when you arrive at any club, I think you need to kind of prove a little bit yourself. You need to earn the right also to belong.”
Andoni Iraola
Andoni Iraola
Iraola was speaking in his first interview as Liverpool head coach.
Much has been said about the stars leaving Liverpool this summer and the individuals who may arrive, but under Iraola, Bournemouth have been able to maintain their progression in recent years despite selling their best individuals because of the efficacy of the system.
Clearly, it’s useful to have Milos Kerkez reunited with the man who developed him on the south coast, and the narrow left-wing role dovetailing with him seems well suited to Florian Wirtz.
A game plan of overloading the wide areas and then finding central attackers in space also seems reminiscent of the Newcastle setup that worked best for Alexander Isak.
But for all the talk of individuals, once the system is embedded at Iraola’s club, it quickly becomes the star.
The new man has spoken about “earning the right to belong” at Anfield. If he can instil the conviction with which he attacks the game in all phases of play, he will quickly do just that.