Iraola Replaces Slot at Liverpool, Faces Newcastle in Debut
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- Andoni Iraola replaced Arne Slot as Liverpool head coach just over two months ago after Liverpool lost 12 league games and finished fifth, 12 months on from being crowned champions — his first competitive match is Sunday at Newcastle's St James' Park (4.30pm, live on Sky Sports Premier League).
- Liverpool had little summer transfer activity, prompting fan nervousness; Iraola told Carragher the club will sign players before the September 1 deadline and admitted the squad is "still quite thin" and needs "more help from here until the end of the market."
- Iraola said the team won't be "100 per cent" ready for Newcastle and acknowledged Liverpool "are not going to wait 10 games until this gets going," noting his previous projects at Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth each lasted three years.
- Iraola outlined a hybrid pressing system mixing man-to-man and zone marking, saying "I don't want to be risky" and insisting he prefers "to be a good team and win things than to be entertaining" — and that what looks like "chaos" is actually highly organized.
- Iraola said he is deliberately erring toward "more control" in games at Liverpool than at Bournemouth, but "prefers to make mistakes, probably going more towards the other side" early on, because adapting later is easier than unlearning habits.
- Iraola, 44, joined from Bournemouth where his third season delivered the south coast club's highest-ever Premier League finish of sixth place, and sat down for the launch episode of Sky Sports' new "Boss with Jamie Carragher" series.
Why it matters: Iraola admitted Liverpool's squad is "still quite thin" heading into his competitive debut at Newcastle on Sunday, with the September 1 transfer deadline now the team's only path to the depth a top club demands. His stated philosophy — "win things rather than be entertaining," control over chaos — signals a tactical break from the high-pressing, attacking football that defined the Klopp and Slot eras at Anfield.
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