Liverpool would have been taking a risk in keeping Arne Slot, but changing comes with uncertainty too — not least if Andoni Iraola takes over as the new head coach
04:00, 01 Jun 2026
Andoni Iraola did an excellent job at Bournemouth.
Andoni Iraola did an excellent job at Bournemouth.(Image: Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
"I have every reason to believe that I am the Liverpool manager next season," Arne Slot said on May 14. "First of all, I am contracted to this club, and second of all, from all the talks we are having."
Two weeks later, having taken the tally of defeats to 19 in all competitions, qualifying for the Champions League but limping over the line into fifth spot, the Liverpool hierarchy reluctantly took the decision to fire him.
Slot, it was determined, is no longer the right man to take the Reds in the direction that they want to go. His style of play, it was decided, is not compatible with the aims for next season and beyond, and fan opinion had long turned against him.
What next, then? If it is to be Andoni Iraola, viewed by many as the obvious and leading contender for the role, then the Spaniard represents a risky option in his own right.
It would have been a gamble to stick with Slot — had next season started slowly, a repeat of the Brendan Rodgers firing a few weeks into the campaign may have followed — but there does not appear to be a sure thing like Jurgen Klopp available this time around.
Already, as it stands, Liverpool is two or three players short of the squad size that it needs. More could leave this summer, following Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate out of the door.
The scale of transfer activity that will be needed will increase even further with Iraola coming in.
Andoni Iraola on the Bournemouth bench.
Andoni Iraola on the Bournemouth bench.(Image: Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
His Bournemouth team played at full throttle, but they were not in European competitions. They also had a lot of injuries and went 11 games without a win between November and January — something that simply wouldn't be tolerated at a big club.
In a similar vein, Iraola took 10 games to get his first victory at Bournemouth. At Liverpool, he is going to have to hit the ground running.
"Wow, that’s real coaching," Klopp said when Iraola turned things around. "He found a way to set this team up, and they have a really good mix."
Iraola's managerial career began in 2018, when he did a year with AEK Larnaca (in Cyprus) and then a year with Mirandes (second tier in Spain), before staying three years at Rayo Vallecano and another three at Bournemouth.
The 43-year-old has not been a coach for that long, and he has never managed a team anywhere near the size of Liverpool. He spent the vast majority of his playing career at Athletic Bilbao, but has not managed a side in UEFA competitions before.
Additionally, Slot's Liverpool tended to struggle with deep-lying defenses, while Iraola's Bournemouth were often a counter-attacking underdog. Style-wise, though Klopp was a major inspiration for him, the Spaniard is going to have to evolve.
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There is no doubt that Liverpool's players would need to be fitter next season, regardless of the identity of their head coach.
Irrespective of injuries, those who were available were simply unable to play a high-intensity 90 minutes every week last term, and that has to change. But while Iraola's style and ideas might be one way to combat that, there comes with it some jeopardy.
"My worry is can you play at that intensity when you're playing every three days?" Jamie Carragher asked this weekend.
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"Whenever you bring in a manager for a top club at England, can they win the league? Liverpool had a manager who won the league; that's why I was always torn. Whoever comes in is a risk, but Liverpool did have a manager who won the league."
Keeping Slot would have been risky too. Turning the tide of negativity in the stands would have been a tough ask, and a slow start to next season could have turned toxic very quickly.
Going with Iraola, though, comes with its own challenges too. That is not to say that he isn't the right man — but there is a lot of work to do at the start of another new era.