Andoni Iraola has been unveiled as the new Liverpool manager.
A little shy of two weeks ago, Arne Slot was looking to add Etienne Reijnen to his coaching staff at Liverpool. Work permit issues stopped the pair from moving to Anfield together in 2024, but having left Feyenoord at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, a Merseyside reunion appeared to be a formality.
All of the noise suggested the Dutch manager would remain with the club despite a difficult season in which he guided Liverpool to a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League. Slot had been confident that the summer transfer window could help him turn things around.
Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, was being courted by AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, and Crystal Palace after leaving Bournemouth. Nobody thought the former Rayo Vallecano boss would be calling Anfield home next season, and yet here we are.
Slot was dismissed on the day of the Champions League final. It caught a lot of people off guard. Last Thursday evening, less than a week after the club announced the departure of their title-winning manager, Iraola was unveiled as his replacement. In what felt like a blink of an eye, everything changed.
What to expect from Andoni Iraola’s appointment
Why was Arne Slot dismissed by Liverpool?
Liverpool appeared to be in limbo under Slot. This change needed to happen. The Reds won just seven of their 20 Premier League outings in 2026. They picked up only three wins in their final 10 matches of the season, and finished the campaign winless in their last four. Had the season been a little longer, they would probably have slipped out of the top five and had to make do with a Europa League spot. Momentum really wasn’t on their side.
Fortunately for Slot and his players, however, it ended with Liverpool in fifth place, three points clear of Bournemouth and in possession of the final Champions League position.
In a piece in The Athletic, it is claimed Slot was dismissed not because of poor results but because of the loss of identity. Liverpool’s hierarchy had concluded that the downward spiral had gone too far. They felt that if they didn’t make the change and the next season started badly, the mood could quickly turn toxic. After witnessing a loss of identity over the course of 2025-26, they wanted to see a change in playing style.
The Reds couldn’t attack as a unit. They also didn’t defend as a unit, either. And Slot, when pressed in the media, seemed bereft of ideas on how to fix these issues.
The confident, meticulous schemer, who had been headhunted by Richard Hughes to replace Jurgen Klopp, was no more. For this project to be a success, they needed someone who was married to their approach and unwavering in their belief.
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Andoni Iraola-ball
In his first official interview as Liverpool manager, Iraola hammered home exactly why he was hired.
“People for sure have seen Bournemouth play. There are some things that obviously we need to change coaching Liverpool. But I wouldn’t like to lose our identity, the intensity, the aggressiveness, the organisation, certain things that I would like always to have in my team.”
“Obviously after you have to adapt to the players you have and it’s not the same one club or the other, but they are fundamentals that I also think match quite well with what has been Liverpool during a lot of years. I think we can make it work.”
Anfield feeds off of energy. To tap into that energy, you need to play a certain style of football. It needs to be chaotic and high energy. Iraola-ball is that.
He wants his players to take gambles in possession – his style demands risk. It is high energy, attack-based football that has the potential to turn the Liverpool fans into a 12th man.
This is the opposite of what was going on under Slot. Control for the sake of control. Possession for the sake of possession.
Slot might have said otherwise in press conferences, but the Dutchman’s passive style was apparent in the way Liverpool played last season. No risk, no reward. Slow and patient which in turn made supporters impatient.
Iraola awakens Anfield. With Anfield on side, Liverpool are a different beast entirely.
Attacking returns
In another section of The Athletic’s piece on Iraola, his ability to extract value from the attack was flagged.
Liverpool were particularly struck by Iraola’s record of improving attacking players. Eli Junior Kroupi scored 13 league goals in 2025-26 – the highest number by a teenager in his debut season in Premier League history, surpassing a record previously held by Robbie Fowler and Robbie Keane.
Under Iraola, Dominic Solanke had a career-best campaign and moved to Spurs for £65 million. Antoine Semenyo also scaled new heights under the Spaniard before his £64 million move to Man City. Iraola has a knack for getting his attack firing and this is a key area for Liverpool.
The Reds spent heavily on Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. They’re expected to invest in attackers this summer in a bid to replace Mohamed Salah. These players in the final third are the match-winners and difference-makers. These are the marginal gains often spoken about. Slot didn’t manage to eke enough value from these players.
Iraola’s primary task will be to make these players look like bargains. He has a history of improving attackers. If he does it again, the Reds will have struck gold.
