Anfield legend John Barnes has warned Andoni Iraola should not have to cope with any comparisons to Jurgen Klopp
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with then Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola in January 2024
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with then Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola in January 2024(Image: Adrian DENNIS / AFP via Getty Images)
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Liverpool supporters have been told to forget about the Jurgen Klopp era and allow Andoni Iraola the time to influence the squad in his own way.
Iraola replaced the sacked Arne Slot earlier this summer with the brief to bring front-footed, aggressive and urgent football to a team that scraped Champions League qualification during a dismal defence of their Premier League title last season.
The new Reds boss has previously had his style compared to that of Klopp, who swept the board of honours when in charge at Anfield for almost nine years.
But Anfield legend John Barnes is adamant Iraola should be his own man and warned against the comparisons with the past and the chopping and changing in the dugout that have hampered bitter North West rivals Manchester United since Alex Ferguson left 13 years ago.
"What Iraola has to do is bring his own style to the club," he said. "He can't be somebody else. And if that's who he is and that's how he wants to play, then that's what should happen.
"We have to forget about Jurgen, as much as we love him. We will remember him forever. But if you're going to live on Jurgen's legacy, then you can look at what happened at Manchester United.
"Alex Ferguson left, then they got rid of David Moyes, then Louis van Gaal, then Jose Mourinho, who are all good managers.
"Arsenal, when Wenger left, they got rid of Unai Emery, yes, but then Arteta came in, and the club said 'do it your way'."
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Speaking exclusively to Tribal Football via 247Bet, Barnes added: "Iraola's not bringing Klopp's style, he's got to bring his own Iraola style, and we have to accept that.
"Because if you're going to say that the non-negotiable is that any manager coming in has to do what Klopp did, then no manager is going to last at Liverpool.
"So Iraola has to do it his own way, and the fans have to get on board with what he wants to do. They had to get on board with what Arne Slot wanted to do, and they didn't like that, so they got rid of Arne Slot.
"Now, if all of a sudden we lose the first three or four games, or, you know, we don't start off well and we don't win all the games, are we then going to say 'let's get rid of him?'. We have to stop that, or Liverpool will end up like Manchester United "