Andoni Iraola says new Liverpool coach Tommy Elphick is "living his dream" after rejecting managerial jobs in the Championship to move to the Anfield side this summer
Andoni Iraola and some of his coaches during a Liverpool training session in Chicago.
Andoni Iraola and some of his coaches during a Liverpool training session in Chicago.(Image: Nikki Dyer/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says his assistant, Tommy Elphick, who also joined from Bournemouth this summer, is "living the dream" because he is a big fan of the Reds.
Elphick, 38, retired from playing in 2021, but has since moved into coaching. He worked with Iraola on the south coast and was one of four coaches that the Spaniard wanted to bring with him.
Alongside Iraola and Elphick, there is also Shaun Cooper, Pablo de la Torre and Tom Webber. Meanwhile, Alejandro Rosalen has come in from Spain to replace Xavi Valero, who departed at the end of the season.
"Tommy, I tell him, he is living his dream! I think he had this summer a chance to coach in the Championship," Iraola told LFCTV.
"Good clubs called him, but I think he couldn’t miss this because he’s been a big Liverpool fan.
"We were talking the other day, meeting with the legends we have here, with Robbie Fowler, Ian Rush — he was like, ‘Oof, this is big’.
"I like how he is feeling it, and I think it’s very nice for him, yes."
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola during a press conference.
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola during a press conference.(Image: Nikki Dyer/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool continues its pre-season preparations later today (Sunday) when it takes on Leeds in Chicago. It then takes on AS Monaco and Como at Anfield when it returns to the UK.
"Tommy and Shaun (Cooper) are very valuable," Iraola continued.
"They have been English players; they’ve played in the Premier League, the Championship, League One; they understand the culture, they understand what the players are thinking.
"So now, I think they are the best ones to transmit the same thing (his processes) to the players and to the new coaches that we already had in the club. They are helping me a lot.
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"I think they are sometimes in more touch with the players than me, because always with the manager, there is a little bit more distance.
"I think the players are more comfortable sometimes with the assistants. They also know when to filter the information, when I need to know things.
"Sometimes they don’t tell me the things that for sure stay between them and the players. They are brilliant in this."