Andoni Iraola's next chapter

Andoni Iraola didn’t arrive in England as a fan favorite. Instead, there was widespread confusion and even some criticism from certain sections of the media. The context was he had to replace Gary O’Neil, who had helped guide Bournemouth to safety in a turbulent but ultimately successful season in 2022-23. There were even calls for O’Neil to be a serious candidate for manager of the season.

In hiring Iraola, Bournemouth hoped for a progressive coach who could achieve something greater, relative to the available resources at his disposal. His resume at that point was promising, although one which didn’t stand out to many. The three years he was manager of Rayo Vallecano from 2021-23 saw the club achieve promotion to La Liga in 2021, followed by back to back mid-table finishes. What made this impressive was Rayo’s lack of financial firepower, ranking among the lowest in squad cost limit for both 2022 and 2023. 

Clearly, the bet has worked out in Bournemouth’s favor. The 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons saw them achieve their best ever single season point tally in England’s top flight. This season could be their best year not only for possibly breaking the 60 point threshold, but if Aston Villa finish 5th and win the Europa League, their current positioning of 6th would get them into the Champions League. Even if they can’t make it through, they look set to play in Europe next season in some form.

Iraola’s career has gone from strength to strength, progressing in an almost linear fashion. Such performances haven't gone unnoticed by the rest of Europe, being linked to lucrative jobs throughout his time in the Premier League. With the announcement of him leaving Bournemouth at the end of the season, he’s set to enter this summer as maybe the most intriguing coaching free agent out there. 

This all begs the question; just how good of a manager is Andoni Iraola?

Winning with Controlled Chaos

When you’ve tuned into a Bournemouth match over the past three seasons, it’s been an experience which differs from the rest of the Premier League. If there was a quick way to describe their style of play, it would be controlled chaos. Even with the league becoming more direct in-possession, they’ve still stood out with their high octane style. Iraola himself has previously mentioned not giving the opposition the time needed to play, especially in matches where his team is facing a talent deficit. This has been the case both with and without the ball.

There was a profound difference in going from how O’Neil had Bournemouth set up to what Iraola brought to the table. Bournemouth’s success under O’Neil came from a back to basics 4-4-2. What brought Iraola success in Spain stemmed from a hybrid press, a substantially different tactical framework. The hybrid press looks to combine both an aggressive man-to-man approach with zonal concepts, in an attempt to get the best of both worlds. There’d be a series of coordinated jumps to cover the free players, with one playing a hybrid role and having different responsibilities depending on the sequence at hand. When done properly, it allows the defending team to cut-off half the pitch and squeeze the opposition into high turnovers or hopeless long balls.

There were some early struggles in Iraola’s first season, unsurprising given the difficulties of trying to implement a functional press. Dominic Solanke made mention of the complexities behind it in an interview with The Times in Dec 2023. The first few months saw Bournemouth in 17th through 13 matches and a -14 goal difference. Only Sheffield United (19th) and Burnley (20th) had a worse goal difference at that point of the 2023-24 season. In the remaining 25 matches, Bournemouth were 8th with 36 points to finish comfortably in 13th. What sparked the turnaround? Doubling down on the aggressive high press which was Iraola’s main selling point. They used their ability to create high turnovers in a manner which got them shots on the break, helping compensate for a lower level of technical skill in the squad. Solanke himself benefitted from such chaos, finishing tied for 4th in PL goals, and T-9th for goals and assists.

Bournemouth went from strength to strength in the following season, as the tactical blueprint laid out in the prior campaign was more ingrained. The press worked at a higher level, and they were more consistent in destabilizing opponents with constant attacking of space through ball carrying. The pace of play was the most frantic in the division, and it was by design. This was helped by a steady stream of talented youngsters and early prime players who were signed from across Europe across these two seasons. The backline saw an infusion of talent from the likes of Ilya Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez, Marcos Senesi, and even Dean Huijsen’s one year stint. Further forward saw the signings of Dango Ouattara, Antoine Semenyo, Alex Scott, and Evanilson who replaced Solanke in the summer of 2024. By the end of February, Bournemouth were 7th and only four points out of 4th. They eventually ran out of gas, in part due to injuries, before eventually finishing at a commendable 9th place with 56 points.

It’s almost inevitable that a mid-table club who had a successful season ends up being picked apart in the summer, and Bournemouth were no exception. Zabarnyi, Kerkez, Hujisen, and Ouattara all departed, while Semenyo ended up leaving in the following January window. Reinforcements were brought in to steady the ship, such as left-back Adrien Truffert and Bafodé Diakité. As a result, there were some early season struggles once again before another second half surge that has put them in pole position for Europe. 

The 2025-26 iteration of Bournemouth has not been quite as helter skelter compared to the past. We’ve written previously about how being a bit more selective with the press during the second half of the season has helped fuel their return to the top half of the table. In possession, there's been an added layer of control, primarily due to different personnel, while the broad attacking profile remains similar. Playing at least two of Eli Junior Kroupi, Alex Scott, and Ryan Christie has made it easier to control matches. Bournemouth have still been able to kick it into high gear when needed, such as their away victory last month versus Arsenal.

Overperformance and Scalability

It’s hard to overstate how good Bournemouth have been under Iraola. As mentioned earlier, he’s led them to their best ever campaigns in the first division, and 25-26 might end up being the most memorable of the three if they’re able to qualify for Europe. This has not been on the back of massive overperformance like others in the past. In fact, an argument can be made for them being somewhat unlucky for parts of the past two seasons after accounting for variance and lack of injury luck. Coaching a mesmerizing style of play while working with one of the league’s smallest wage bills adds further to the accomplishment.

One would think that because of those factors, bigger clubs should go out of their way to sign Iraola. At least on the surface, there is logic to this line of thinking. Every club is trying to find a manager or head coach who can help them perform at the highest level possible. Someone like Iraola, who has already shown in his young career to help oversee clubs outperform their wage budget, should be a strong candidate to take a chance on.

Yet, it’s not that simple. We’ve seen managers from smaller PL sides who had tangible success but couldn’t figure it out when they made the step up. Two examples, one recent and another from a different era, stick out for many. David Moyes’ move to Manchester United in 2013 was the reward for routinely having Everton between 5th and 8th over 11 seasons, with Sir Alex Ferguson hand picking him as his successor. His time leading United was characterized by languid attacking play, a ton of crossing, and an infamous meme. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t even finish his first season of a six year contract.

Thomas Frank’s failed run with Tottenham this season may also instill some skepticism. He had taken Brentford from the Championship to the PL in 2021, and then kept them in the league for four straight seasons despite having one of the smallest budgets. His Brentford sides were characterized by compact mid-blocks, playing off of second ball recoveries, vertical attacks, and being ahead of the curve on set pieces. Those aspects did not scale up to Tottenham, who historically have wanted to play on the front foot in all phases of play. Like with Moyes, the deficiencies were eventually too much to overlook and Frank was let go after only eight months in charge

The questions surrounding Iraola have typically been about how his teams might fare if being forced to take the initiative on the ball more often, rather than having the leeway to make games vertical. There’s also worries over how he’d be able to manage a packed schedule with European football included due to his intense style. In fairness to him, European football at a higher level has become more direct compared to a few years ago when absolute territorial dominance was crucial. It might be his style of play, alongside a higher quality of players, could scale better now than before. There’s also an argument to be made that Iraola being an innovative tactician makes it more likely for him to figure it out.

If one was to be hopeful of Iraola’s capacity to make a jump towards managing a bigger club, a comparison which could be helpful is Mauricio Pochettino, specifically the years before the uneven results he had managing Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. He cut his teeth in the managerial game with Espanyol in LaLiga, having a successful tenure despite the instability inside the club. The peak was an 8th place finish in 2010-11, almost a preview of what was to come at future stops.

It was Pochettino’s short run with Southampton which vaulted him into becoming a top coaching prospect, helping guide them to 8th in the PL in 2013-14 during his only full season at the club. That iteration of Southampton was a breath of fresh air during a down period of English football. They were on the front foot out of possession, while trying interesting ideas in attack compared to most of the league. Former Southampton players from back then have spoken fondly of the impact the Argentine had on their careers. It’s not hard to see at least some similarities between Pochettino at that point of his career versus Iraola’s current standing with Bournemouth.

Most of you reading this will know what happened afterwards with Pochettino during the rest of the decade. His run as Tottenham manager saw the club reach heights not seen in several decades. He was the perfect man to help amplify the likes of Dele, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, and Christian Eriksen. While they famously won no silverware in the over five years he was in North London, they were consistently finishing in the top 4 and even peaked as title contenders in 2016-17.

If a bigger club than Bournemouth were to hire Iraola this summer, they’re certainly hoping for something similar to what happened with Pochettino during the 2010s, versus the bad outcomes with Frank and Moyes.

Going Forward

So far in his coaching career, Iraola has done a lot of what you can hope for from a manager who’s been at smaller clubs. Rayo Vallecano graded out as a decent LaLiga side under his stewardship who can even get memorable results versus the big dogs of Spanish football,  taking 10 out of a possible 12 points vs Barcelona in 21-22 and 22-23. It was a notable achievement given the financial constraints they were working under. With Bournemouth, they’ve gone one step further by consistently being in the top half of the table and are in pole position to qualify for Europe. All the while, he’s platformed a ton of young players and helped raise their value for the club to profit in future transfers.

Iraola has been linked to a variety of jobs in recent weeks, including Manchester United and Chelsea. Interestingly, Crystal Palace have also been rumored to aggressively try and sign him, since they’re of a similar level to Bournemouth. At least on the surface, it would be confusing for him to make what many would consider a lateral move when accounting for the success he’s already had. Besides the obvious reason of wanting to stay in English football, it could allow him to further fine tune his in-possession model and find more ways for his teams to create chances in a sustainable manner. There’s also a chance that Palace will play in Europe as well if they win the UEFA Conference League final vs Rayo. 

Getting it right with the next club will be massive for Iraola. We saw what happened with both Frank and Moyes. On the bright side, Pochettino was able to string together clubs which made sense for his development and he ended up being a top manager during the 2010s. The gold standard for a manager who focused heavily on out of possession ideas is how Jürgen Klopp’s career progressed after leaving Mainz. Alongside smart recruitment, he was able to help revive two big clubs (Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool) back to the elite tier of European football. All the while, he utilized the higher caliber of talents to add enough layers in his in-possession model to not solely rely on pulling teams down to their level via gegenpressing. 

Time will tell whether or not Iraola’s next club ends up being the right one for him. What we can say is between what he’s shown with Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth, there’s enough to believe he could rise into a select tier if circumstances go in his favor. For now, Andoni Iraola is clearly an above average coach, and maybe in a few years time, we’ll be thinking of him as one of the best in his profession.

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