Iraola will make Liverpool fans excited again - Murphy
Andoni Iraola is set to be announced as the Liverpool head coach this week - but what is the feeling around the city to his impending arrival?
Liverpool took the decision to part ways with Arne Slot on Saturday and have moved quickly to secure his replacement - reaching a verbal agreement with the Spaniard on Tuesday.
Iraola is set to move to Anfield after an impressive season in which he led Bournemouth to sixth in the Premier League, securing European football for the first time in the club’s history.
But there are some reservations about his lack of ‘big club’ and European experience.
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy feels the Reds will be in a much better position next season than they were under Slot.
“I’m quite excited because after watching Bournemouth play, there’s no reason to think he’s not going to try and play the same way - in terms of being courageous and on the front foot and trying to press teams with high energy and play attacking football,” Murphy said.
“When a fanbase becomes disillusioned with a manager and his style of play - and then start turning on him - you’re delaying the inevitable. I do believe Liverpool are better placed now and that’s not all down to Slot.
“Bringing in Iraola was the best option because the fans go into a new campaign with hope and excitement, rather than fear. You do not want to start the season where the players are feeling the anxiety from the outset, and this was the best way for Liverpool to do it.”
Managers have often struggled to make the step up in the Premier League in the past, the most recent example when Thomas Frank joined Tottenham from Brentford.
But will Iraola - who moved to Bournemouth from Spanish side Rayo Vallecano - succeed where others have not?
“I do have a couple of reservations because he’s never managed a club of this size before and he will be a little bit surprised at how intrusive it will be on his life, when you manage Liverpool,” added Murphy, who is a Match of the Day pundit and BBC Sport columnist.
“Even as a player, that changes overnight because it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world and everything you do will be scrutinised and talked about, locally and globally.
“The only other reservation is whether he will be able to play high-intensity football every few days because that will require a certain level of fitness - which we saw with Jurgen Klopp’s teams with the flying full-backs, the midfield dynamism and the work-rate of the attackers.
“It’s difficult to see how to create that with what he’s got at the moment so the summer transfer window is huge for Liverpool in that respect. The current squad lacks legs and dynamism and isn’t filled with brilliant players off the ball.”
So is Murphy right? Will Iraola’s appointment bring hope and excitement rather than the fear of another underwhelming campaign?
Slot’s side cantered to a record-equalling 20th league title in his first season in charge, but finished fifth (25 points behind champions Arsenal) in his second.
Peter Bolster - from the Spion Kop podcast - told BBC Radio Merseyside: “I’m very excited and I’m a little bit surprised with how excited I am.
“Large parts of last season I wasn’t excited to watch Liverpool. I wasn’t excited to go to Anfield and I certainly wasn’t excited for pre-season or the start of next season. And whatever happens from this point onwards, I am excited.
“Iraola might be the perfect replacement. We might be sitting in this situation in two years, saying it didn’t really work, but I’m excited with the project and that’s what all fans want to be.”
Following Slot’s departure, Liverpool were keen to make an appointment at the earliest possible opportunity and wanted a manager who fits their preferred playing style, which is to deliver front-foot, aggressive football.
A style more aligned to how they played under former boss Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool fan Ian Walker said: “I have mixed feelings. That awful style of play [under Slot last season] had to be turned around as soon as possible, but the role has proved to be too much for some, both in terms of consistently securing results or in coping with the expectations and pressures of the media and the fanbase.
“I can still see Roy Hodgson tearing at his face on the bench when things weren’t going well. Even Jurgen Klopp - adored by the fans, the players and the club - had to stop after great success and an exciting style of football. Good luck to Iraola.”
The Redmen TV’s Ste Plunkett told BBC Radio Merseyside: “Of the talent pool that was out there and the managers that were available, it seems an obvious fit in terms of what he does with his team and what we really want a Liverpool manager to do with our team.
“I think the construction of the squad last summer - and potentially with the additions we do this year - we have to find a manager for the squad and I very much think we didn’t have that last season.
“You would have liked to have seen [Iraola] have some experience in Europe, but then he’s never really worried about reputation or who he’s playing against.
“That doesn’t seem to bother him, so I think the fact that he’s fresh to all of that, he’ll go into it invigorated and there won’t be a hangover over previous campaigns where things have gone wrong.”
