Top News

5 June 2026

Jamie Carragher has voiced his concerns regarding Liverpool’s decision to appoint Andoni Iraola as manager, questioning the pursuit of a successor who fits into the mould of Jurgen Klopp.

The Merseyside club parted ways with Arne Slot at the end of the previous season, swiftly dismissing the Dutchman just a year after he guided them to the Premier League title, and promptly turned to the Basque coach as his replacement.

Iraola’s tenure at Bournemouth concluded on a high note, with the Cherries finishing sixth and securing European football – a remarkable achievement for the club.

However, Carragher remains sceptical about the appointment, pointing out that Bournemouth’s league position was somewhat deceptive. Despite finishing sixth, they had the same number of victories (13) as Everton, who ended up in 13th place, seven spots lower.

The Liverpool legend stressed the challenge of persuading a star-studded and expensively assembled squad to fully embrace Iraola’s pressing philosophy.

In his column for The Telegraph, Carragher wrote: “Can Iraola turn Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike into a £310m pressing unit? Are they really suited to that approach?

“Iraola favours a 4-4-2 formation more often than the 4-3-3 system preferred by Slot and Klopp. Getting consistent performances out of £100m players who expect to start every week is very different from guiding ambitious youngsters at Bournemouth who see the club as a stepping stone to bigger and better opportunities. Iraola might go on to become one of Europe’s elite coaches, and perhaps Liverpool are bringing him in at precisely the right moment, but he is still a work in progress.

“This situation is similar to hiring Klopp directly from Mainz, skipping the valuable experience he gained at Borussia Dortmund, which ensured that by the time he arrived at Anfield in 2015, he was the finished article – his impact was evident from his very first press conference.”

It is understood that Andoni Iraola has signed a two-year contract with Liverpool.

Iraola believes his prior experience in English football will help him implement his vision effectively, with “intensity,” “aggressiveness,” and “organisation” forming the core of his approach to how the Reds should play.

“I think I have the advantage of having spent three years in the Premier League, and people have already seen how Bournemouth played,” Iraola told the club’s official website. “Of course, there are some things that we’ll need to adjust when managing Liverpool.

“But I don’t want to lose our identity – the intensity, the aggressiveness, the organisation – those are the foundations I always want in my teams. Naturally, you have to adapt to the players you have, and each club is different, but these fundamentals align closely with what Liverpool have represented for many years, and I believe we can make it work.”

Carragher also highlighted that Iraola’s Bournemouth managed only one more victory against last season’s bottom three teams than against the top three, adding that “counter-attacking will not be a luxury at Anfield.”

He concluded: “This is the main reason why, with no proven, world-class manager available on the market, Liverpool might have been better off keeping Slot. I believed that altering the squad could have been as effective as changing the man in the dugout.”