CHICAGO, USA - Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Andoni Iraola during a press conference at the Endeavor Health Performance Center in Chicago ahead of the start of the club's pre-season tour of America. The team play friendly games in Nashville, New York and Chicago as they prepare for the start of the new 2026/27 Premier League season. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
CHICAGO, USA - Tuesday, July 21, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Andoni Iraola during a press conference at the Endeavor Health Performance Center in Chicago ahead of the start of the club's pre-season tour of America. The team play friendly games in Nashville, New York and Chicago as they prepare for the start of the new 2026/27 Premier League season. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Andoni Iraola has explained Liverpool’s new approach to set-pieces under his coaching staff, with two of his incoming assistants taking the duties.
Set-pieces proved a thorny issue for Liverpool last season under Arne Slot, with dedicated coach Aaron Briggs sacked in December after a worrying decline.
While there was an upturn in performance after Briggs’ exit it remained far from an ideal situation, and no doubt played a part in the Dutchman’s own dismissal in May.
The arrival of Iraola and a new-look backroom team has seen a change of responsibility when it comes to set-pieces, with assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper both involved.
First-team set-piece analyst Lewis Mahoney was retained despite the summer’s change of staff and Iraola is relying on his input too.
“Tommy does defensive set-plays, Shaun does more offensive, more creative ones,” the head coach told reporters including the Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst.
“But also we are working very well here with the set-piece analyst, who was very good in the second half of last season.
“He is already with the club, so they are working on some stuff.
“I always say we are assistants to the players. They are the main part. Our main thing is to help them and they are the only ones who can give us success.
“We are not as important as they are, that is pretty clear.”
CHICAGO, USA - Wednesday, July 22, 2026: Liverpool's assistant coach Pablo de la Torre returns to the team hotel after a morning training session in Chicago ahead of the start of the club's pre-season tour of America. The team play friendly games in Nashville, New York and Chicago as they prepare for the start of the new 2026/27 Premier League season. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
CHICAGO, USA - Wednesday, July 22, 2026: Liverpool's assistant coach Pablo de la Torre returns to the team hotel after a morning training session in Chicago ahead of the start of the club's pre-season tour of America. The team play friendly games in Nashville, New York and Chicago as they prepare for the start of the new 2026/27 Premier League season. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Iraola has clarified that he views Pablo de la Torre (pictured above) – who he has worked alongside at four clubs now – as his No. 2, but it is clear that Elphick and Cooper are similarly important as assistants.
The pair – and particularly former Bournemouth and Aston Villa centre-back Elphick – were crucial in aligning players and staff when Iraola replaced Gary O’Neil at Dean Court in a shock move in 2023.
“They were very prepared, they were very helpful for me in terms of understanding the English culture, the mentality of the players,” Iraola continued.
“[They told me] what they were used to, what they like in training, even the small details that maybe in Spain are different.
“Also the experience Tommy has at Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Huddersfield, they can be in a closer position to the players, if you want, they can feel more identified.
“I am a little bit older. Some of the players maybe didn’t know I was a player.”
Iraola added: “They are very good to me, they are very good coaches, we kind of understand the game similarly and they have different roles in the coaching staff, they help with set-pieces also.
“That’s the reason I continued with them.”
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