Andoni Iraola on his Liverpool appointment, understanding fans, and his letter to the club

Andoni Iraola pauses as he carefully considers his response.

The conversation in a hotel in downtown Chicago has turned to the letter he wrote to Liverpool more than 12 years ago after deciding not to sign for the club as a player.

The silence is eventually broken. “I don’t know if I want to tell you this story so early in my career here,” he smiles.

“I would like to win some games and have more time first. I wouldn’t like to use it this early. If you remind me in some months, you can ask again! But I don’t like to do this from the beginning, as it looks like I am selling myself.”

Both the story itself and his reaction to being reminded about it speak volumes about the character and mindset of Liverpool’s new head coach.

It was late 2013 when the club targeted the experienced right-back and Athletic Club captain as he approached the final six months of his contract in Bilbao. They wanted to secure a deal for him to join Brendan Rodgers’ squad in the January window. Iraola, then 31, considered the offer but couldn’t bring himself to break the bond with his boyhood club, and instead penned a two-year extension.

Andoni Iraola turned down the chance to join Liverpool as a player in 2013-14 (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

The Anfield hierarchy were surprised to subsequently receive a letter from Iraola thanking them for their interest and explaining his decision. The tone was humble and self-deprecating — qualities that shone through during 45 minutes in his company at the start of Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the U.S..

There are no bold promises of glory to launch a new era as the 44-year-old Basque coach wants his side’s attacking brand of football to do the talking. He views himself as a facilitator rather than “the protagonist”.

But he does offer some fascinating insight into what shaped his coaching principles and launched a remarkable journey that eventually led him to Anfield this summer via spells in charge at AEK Larnaca, Mirandes, Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth.

So did he ever seriously consider joining Liverpool back in 2013?

“It didn’t come close because I never wanted to leave Athletic Club,” he says. “For me, Athletic Club was the place to be.

“When I eventually left (in the summer of 2015) to play in MLS (for New York City FC), it was completely different. I went before I almost became a problem for the club. I was 33 and said: ‘OK, maybe now is the moment to go; if I stay, I’ll start fewer games and play a different role’.”

Having graduated from their academy, Iraola clocked up 510 appearances for Athletic Club over the course of 12 years. It was manager Ernesto Valverde who made the biggest impression on him.

Andoni Iraola celebrates after scoring a penalty against Barcelona in February 2011 (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Valverde, who ended Athletic Club’s 40-year wait for silverware by lifting the Copa del Rey in 2024, was among the candidates discussed internally at Liverpool before the appointment of Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp’s successor two years ago.

“I had Valverde when I was in the academy, and he was the one who gave me the chance to play in the first team,” Iraola explains. “I also had him towards the end of my Athletic Club career, and I learned a lot from him.

“Everyone asks me about Marcelo Bielsa. I also had some games with the national team under Vicente del Bosque. They were good managers. Even at the end of my career, playing for Patrick Vieira after I signed for New York City, that gave me a different perspective. But if I have to pick one, then I always choose Valverde.”

What was it about him?

“I think it was his common sense. He never made problems bigger than they were. He always understood the players. He was very firm with the things he believed in. But how he treated the players, both those who were playing and those who weren’t, I liked it a lot.”

It’s certainly a golden era for Spanish, Basque and Catalan coaches. Luis de la Fuente masterminded Spain’s World Cup triumph, two years after winning the Euros. Luis Enrique retained the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain last season, Unai Emery won the Europa League with Aston Villa, while Mikel Arteta ended Arsenal’s Premier League title drought. Pep Guardiola signed off at Manchester City with a domestic cup double and Cesc Fabregas led Como to fourth place in Serie A — and a Champions League place.

Iraola, Arteta and new Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso, all born within seven months of each other, played for the same junior team in San Sebastian when they were growing up in the Basque Country. Now the trio are preparing to go head to head as managers in England’s top flight.

Andoni Iraola will hope to emulate Mikel Arteta’s success at the top end of the Premier League (Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

“People ask me a lot why a lot of Basque managers especially have arrived at this level and why a lot of Spanish teams are winning a lot of things,” he says. “I always say that a sense of collectiveness is very important. Spain has never had the best athletes. If you analyse, in swimming, track and field, they don’t normally win medals.

“But in collective sports they are very good. In football, basketball, handball, hockey… we always put the team first. An example is someone like Rodri. He didn’t score or make an assist, but at the end they won the World Cup and he won best player of the tournament. Team first was always integrated in how we’re raised.

“There are a lot of different styles in Spanish coaching. With the national team, they always say tiki-taka, but even in the World Cup you could see them pressing very well. Yes, they controlled the game with the ball, but it’s the other part without the ball where everyone was doing their job. It’s being proactive without the ball.

“Things work in general when we aren’t just selfish, when we prioritise the situations of those who have less. That happens as well in football. The ones who don’t play, the ones who come from the academy, the ones who earn less, it’s a reference if you want to compare it with society.”

After announcing in April that he would leave Bournemouth when his contract expired at the end of the 2025-26 season, Iraola was a man in demand. There were discussions with Chelsea before the appointment of Alonso. Talks also took place with Crystal Palace, Bayer Leverkusen and Milan, but he left his options open.

“I think the process with Bournemouth was very clean,” he says. “I still have a very good relationship with everyone at the club. We decided to announce I’d be going when it was good for both sides but they knew before.

“I decided not to make any decision until after the season had finished. We were fighting for the European places. I didn’t want to spend time thinking about my future before the season ended. It was only then that I started to think: ‘OK, what’s next?’ I didn’t really have a plan.”

(Robin Jones/Getty Images)

Iraola had guided Bournemouth to a sixth-placed finish and European qualification for the first time in their history when the call came from Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes in late May. The Scotsman had previously recruited him as Bournemouth coach in the summer of 2023.

Within five days of Arne Slot’s sacking, Iraola was stood in the Anfield centre circle with a red and white scarf draped around his neck.

“It happened quite fast,” he adds. “Honestly, yes it was true that I was talking with some clubs. I think it was the first or second week after the season ended. Liverpool contacted me, and it didn’t take a lot (for me to say yes).”

With so much to address, this summer’s holiday with wife Itziar and their two young children was limited to a week back home in San Sebastian. Cycling and spending time with his family helps him switch off from the rigours of management. “I’ve mostly been in Bournemouth but also some trips to Liverpool to sort out the schools and the housing before I started working officially. If I have a day off maybe I’ll go somewhere with my wife, but most of the time it is about the kids and what they want to do.”

(Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Iraola sees plenty of parallels between Athletic Club and Liverpool in terms of the deep emotional attachment supporters feel. That brings with it both pressure and responsibility for players and staff.

“Yes, this sense of belonging. Being proud of being a little bit different. This connection with players from the academy. The atmosphere inside Anfield. Liverpool right now is one of the biggest clubs in the world, so in some ways the comparison is probably not fair, but I see a lot of similar things.

“At Athletic Club, you have to maximise every player in the squad because you can’t just sell and choose another one. As a player, you always have to give extra. It’s the only way that policy (of only picking players from the Basque Country) is going to be successful. It creates a connection which has allowed Athletic Club to win things, never be relegated and to continue being competitive.”

At Liverpool, that connection was damaged by the morale-sapping events of last season. Liverpool finished fifth in the Premier League with just 60 points, the club’s lowest total for a decade. Negativity stemmed not only from results but also the slow, predictable brand of football. Iraola is tasked with bringing back the intensity with a commitment to staying on the front foot.

“It’s not only about playing well,” he says. “This helps a lot, but supporters also have to feel identified with what they see on the pitch. Sometimes it’s not about just putting a ball in the top corner.

“A lot of times the ones watching the game say: ‘OK, they cannot do it, but they can run, they can fight for the balls, they can press, they can fight until the last line for every situation’. When they see this from the players of their team, it’s easier to get behind that team. I will encourage my team to give these things.

“Sometimes I lose my temper, but I try not to. On the bench, it is true that sometimes it is difficult to control yourself. Every time you have to talk to the players at half-time, they have to see you under control a bit. Sometimes it’s good for them to see you are angry or disappointed, but at half-time it’s about finding solutions, how we’re going to approach the second half, not blaming someone. You learn that with experience.”

Liverpool fans already have a song in his honour to the tune of ‘Viva la Quinta Brigada’ by Irish folk artist Christy Moore, but Iraola prefers the focus to be on those leading the fight on the field.

“It’s for me a strange situation because I always understand that football is about the players,” he says. “When I arrived in England, I remember the first few games I didn’t go with the players to clap the supporters (after games).”

(Michael Steele/Getty Images)

“In Spain, they’d say you’re becoming the protagonist. Normally we leave it to the players. They are the ones who have played the game, and normally we are the ones who stay a bit behind. But my assistants Tommy (Elphick) and Shaun (Cooper) said: ‘No, here, normally managers are the ones’. Since then, I have done it every time, so these are the cultural things when you arrive in a new league.

“I always say we are assistants to the players. They are the main part. Coaches are important in terms of trying to maximise the potential of every player and try to create the environment to perform better. But our main thing is to help players and they are the only ones who can give us success. We are not as important as they are; that is very clear.”

Iraola’s reluctance to share the story about the letter he wrote to Liverpool all those years ago ties in with his desire to only sign a two-year contract at Liverpool. He doesn’t want to “sell himself” and feels a duty to prove that he belongs at Anfield. He wants to do that through decisive actions rather than bullish words.

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So what would success look like in his first season at the helm?

“For me, now, it is about creating a very difficult team to beat,” he adds. “The team that I envisage now, that I see and think of, if we become that team, I think we are going to be successful.

“But you have to do the job. You have to create a team, improve the team, you have to find the best positions for every player, the good combinations for the team and that is what we’re now using the time for.

“The most important thing that we can deliver is our performances. It doesn’t matter if I speak well, if I don’t speak well, if I say the right things or if I don’t say the right things.

“At the end, people just want to see the team play well and deliver good results. I know this is 90 per cent of my job.”