{"id":246743,"date":"2026-06-04T19:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/liverpool-hire-iraola-as-new-coach\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T19:03:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:03:00","slug":"liverpool-hire-iraola-as-new-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/liverpool-hire-iraola-as-new-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool hire Iraola as new coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Liverpool named Andoni Iraola as their new manager on Thursday after sacking Arne Slot following a calamitous Premier League title defence.<\/p>\n

Iraola quickly emerged as Liverpool’s top target to replace Slot, whose two-year reign came to a shock end when he was dismissed last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Liverpool gave no indication as to the length of the 43-year-old Spaniard’s contract but British media have reported that he has signed a two-year deal.<\/p>\n

“Really excited, really excited, because obviously you know about Liverpool, you know that it’s a big club, a massive club, one of the biggest in the world,” Iraola, who called time on his impressive spell with Bournemouth at the end of this season, said on Liverpool’s official website.<\/p>\n

“But feeling inside and understanding a little bit more of this club, I always thought it’s a special club.<\/p>\n

“You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool. Liverpool is Liverpool.”<\/p>\n

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We can confirm Andoni Iraola has agreed a deal to become the club\u2019s new head coach ahead of the 2026-27 season \ud83e\udd1d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Liverpool FC (@LFC) June 4, 2026<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

After criticism of Liverpool’s lacklustre performances in Slot’s second season at Anfield, Iraola is expected to deliver a more urgent, aggressive style of football, which characterised the team under beloved former manager Jurgen Klopp.<\/p>\n

Iraola earned rave reviews for Bournemouth’s sixth-place finish in the Premier League this season, which secured the club’s first qualification for Europe, in the Europa League.<\/p>\n

He arrived at the south coast club from Raya Vallecano in 2023, having previously managed Mirandes and AEK Larnaca in Cyprus.<\/p>\n

Bournemouth improved each year under Iraola, finishing 12th, ninth and sixth.<\/p>\n

The former defender was praised for his astute tactics and development of youngsters including Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott.<\/p>\n

Limp 5th-placed finish<\/h3>\n

Prior to leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, Egypt star Mohamed Salah recently called for a return to the “heavy metal football” that led to so much success under Klopp, heaping pressure on the beleaguered Slot.<\/p>\n

Iraola has previously talked about his desire for his teams to play with an attacking, high-pressing style, in contrast to Slot’s more controlled approach.<\/p>\n

Born in Spain’s Basque Country, Iraola played more than 500 games for Athletic Bilbao before a stint in Major League Soccer with New York City, where he teamed up with Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo.<\/p>\n

He will arrive on Merseyside with Liverpool at a crossroads after Slot’s failure to maintain the club’s position at the summit of English football.<\/p>\n

Slot had the tough task of replacing Klopp, who left in 2024 after winning the Premier League and Champions League during a golden nine-year spell at Anfield.<\/p>\n

The former Feyenoord boss made a strong start, leading Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th English league title in his debut season, spearheaded by Salah’s 29 goals.<\/p>\n

But Slot was unable to halt Liverpool’s slide in the 2025\/26 season as the Reds collapsed from late September, finishing a turbulent season without a trophy.<\/p>\n

The death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota in a car crash last July had an immeasurable impact on the squad, while the club’s \u00a3450 million ($605 million) splurge on new signings failed to pay off.<\/p>\n

Slot’s relationship with Salah also deteriorated, while Liverpool fans turned on the manager due to his team’s lifeless displays and poor results.<\/p>\n

The club limped to a fifth-place finish, 25 points behind champions Arsenal, which at least guaranteed qualification for next season’s Champions League.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liverpool named Andoni Iraola as their new manager on Thursday after sacking Arne Slot following a calamitous Premier League title defence. Iraola quickly emerged as Liverpool’s top target to replace Slot, whose two-year reign came to a shock end when he was dismissed last Saturday. Liverpool gave no indication as to the length of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-246743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}