Bill Shankly often described Liverpool Football Club as a ‘holy trinity’ – manager, players, and supporters acting as one, with directors existing only to sign cheques.
For decades, that trinity was felt every week. Players performed knowing Anfield would hold them accountable; managers understood they weren’t simply coaching a team but representing a city; supporters believed the man on the touchline was one of them.
That unity has frayed. The grievances that sparked the most anger over the last year weren’t defeats but the manner of the losses and the signs of disconnection.
Liverpool is a hard-working, proud, passionate city. Fans can forgive poor form for periods, but they expect effort and humility.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Saturday, April 4, 2026: Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai looks dejected after the FA Cup Quarter Final match between Manchester City FC and Liverpool FC at the City of Manchester Stadium. Manchester City won 4-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Liverpudlians will accept defeat sometimes, but they won’t accept players not fighting for the team. Over the last 12 months, the club has looked like a global brand more than a community institution.
The departure of the cultural gatekeeper, Jurgen Klopp, is obvious, but other figures such as Jordan Henderson and James Milner have left a leadership vacuum. There are now fewer in the dressing room to enforce standards or invoke new signings what the shirt means.
When the team is outfought, supporters feel insulted when players post luxury-watch pictures 12 hours later.
The unwritten contract that Shankly described, you enjoy the rewards but you never forget the people whose loyalty made those rewards possible, has been broken.
Learning from the Basque culture
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Friday, August 15, 2025: Bournemouth's manager Andoni Iraola during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth at Anfield. Liverpool won 4-2. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
To understand why Andoni Iraola might be the right man to mend that contract, you have to understand where he comes from.
The Basque Country is not just a region; it is a culture that has spent centuries defending its language, traditions and autonomy.
During General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, their language, Euskera, was suppressed and towns like Guernica were bombed severely, yet they preserved their identity, regained some self-governance and still mark graves with the lauburu, a four-headed symbol that reminds them some values are worth preserving whatever the score.
Basque life revolves around participation. Txokos, private gastronomic societies, are not restaurants but clubs where friends buy ingredients together, cook together and share costs.
Under Franco, they were among the only places where the people could speak their language freely.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Thursday, May 8, 2025: Athletic Bilbao supporters before the UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg match between Manchester United FC and Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford. Man Utd won 4-1 (7-1 on aggregate). (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
The point was not the food but the act of making something together. Public festivals operate on the same principle.
During San Sebastián’s Semana Grande, the streets fill with drummers, giant puppets and fireworks, transforming entire neighbourhoods into an expression of a shared identity.
The Basque identity in football
That philosophy extends to football. Athletic Club, Iraola’s boyhood club, famously fields only players born in the area, with roots in the region or developed within the Basque Country.
In an era of global recruitment, this approach is almost irrational. Yet, Athletic’s youth system prioritises patience, tactical education and community.
Their motto is simple: success matters but identity matters more.
Far from limiting them, this approach has seen Athletic Club become Spain’s third-most successful club, with eight league titles and 24 Copa del Rey trophies.
The club’s loyalty to its principles is a form of stewardship. Each generation accepts responsibility for something that existed before it and must remain intact after it.
Liverpool have long understood the same idea. Bill Shankly built the culture then Bob Paisley became its custodian, inheriting something precious and ensuring it was passed on stronger than he found it.
The Boot Room itself was founded on the belief that identity should outlive individuals. The challenge facing Iraola is not to create a new Liverpool, but to reconnect the club with the values that made it successful in the first place.
Andoni Iraola must be more than a tactician
AFC Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola following the Premier League match at the City Ground, Nottingham. Andoni Iraola was taking charge of his last match for Bournemouth and set his final mission to secure a place in the Champions League, but they fell agonisingly short. Picture date: Sunday May 24, 2026.
The man tasked with restoring that communion must know that representing Liverpool is about more than winning matches.
Iraola spent 12 seasons as a player at Athletic Club, internalising the Basque understanding that football clubs are social institutions before they are commercial entities.
When he was unveiled at Anfield, Iraola did not talk about pressing triggers or data models. Instead, he spoke about emotion, passion, and belonging.
In his first message to Liverpool supporters, he said:
“For me, football is about emotions. This inner energy, you need it as a player, you need it as a supporter, as a coach.”
File photo dated 31-01-2026 of Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is set to be unveiled as Liverpoolís new head coach after flying into Merseyside to complete the final details on a deal to succeed Arne Slot. Issue date: Thursday 4th June, 2026.
He acknowledged that he can’t simply assume acceptance: “At the beginning, when you arrive, you need to earn the right to belong. I want to become one of you so I can be a part.”
In another part of his first interview, he emphasised that football is about more than systems:
“Football at the end is about emotion, and I understand it’s also a privilege but also a big responsibility. All those people want to be represented properly and we are here for this.”
He also recognised what supporters wanted to hear after a season of lethargy: “There are some things that obviously we need to change but I wouldn’t like to lose our identity: the intensity, the aggressiveness, the organisation.”
In other words, he promised to restore the traits Liverpool consider non-negotiable.
Most strikingly, he said: “I want to become one more of you. I want to earn the right to be one of you so we can enjoy all together.”
These quotes reveal a manager who understands that belonging must be earned. Coming from a culture where identity is protected by community, he recognises that clubs thrive when their values are embodied by everyone inside them.
Iraola is not just offering tactics; he is offering stewardship. He sees Liverpool not as a brand but as a “special club” where “people think about [the club] even during the week”.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola ahead of the Premier League match at Craven Cottage, London. Picture date: Saturday May 9, 2026.
These ideas should sound familiar to Liverpool supporters. The club’s greatest periods have never been built solely on tactics or recruitment but on a shared understanding of what Liverpool Football Club is supposed to represent.
Shankly’s holy trinity worked because players, supporters and manager all felt accountable to one another. Iraola arrives from a football culture that places similar value on belonging, stewardship and collective responsibility.
If he can reconnect those threads, it may be his most important achievement.