Carragher, Redknapp React To Liverpool’s Appointment Of Coach Andoni Iraola

Liverpool have confirmed the appointment of Andoni Iraola as their new head coach, with the Spaniard signing a two-year contract at Anfield to replace Arne Slot.

Slot’s reign came to an abrupt end just a year after guiding Liverpool to the Premier League title. Sporting director Richard Hughes, who first brought Iraola to Bournemouth in 2023 before moving to Liverpool a year later, led the search for the club’s next manager.

Andoni Iraola arrives on Merseyside after transforming Bournemouth into one of the league’s most admired sides. The Cherries went on an 18-match unbeaten run in the second half of the 2025/26 campaign, secured a sixth-place finish and qualified for the Europa League, ending the season just three points behind Liverpool.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher praised Iraola’s work at Bournemouth but questioned whether his methods could deliver a Premier League title at a club with far greater demands.

“He’s done a brilliant job in the Premier League, what Bournemouth have done is absolutely fantastic, but there are still huge question marks,” he said.

“The way he plays is definitely the way Liverpool want to go back to: high-intensity football. We know he’s fantastic at that, but it’s not just all about that when you’re the Liverpool manager.

“Off the ball was a big problem for Arne Slot, that was the thing that really worried me, and I said all season that Liverpool off the ball were so poor.

“That’s a big part of Liverpool’s DNA, not just under Jurgen Klopp. The reason we talk about the Anfield factor, a lot of it is off the ball, not just on it, so he’s fantastic at that.

“My worry is, can you play at that intensity when you’re playing every three days, and that was only getting played once a week with Bournemouth. That is completely different.

“Whenever you’re bringing a manager in for a top club in England, you’re thinking: ‘Can he win me the league?’ That’s a big question mark around him, or any manager coming in, but Liverpool had a manager who’s won the league, so that’s why I was always torn.”

Former Reds midfielder Jamie Redknapp, however, backed Iraola to cope with the pressure of managing one of England’s biggest clubs and believes his style is a natural fit for Liverpool.

“I love the man. I never thought what Eddie Howe did [at Bournemouth] could be eclipsed, but he’s done that,” he said.

“The style of football is amazing – they play high pressure, they get after teams, which is exactly what Liverpool fans want.

“They want to see people with high energy, whether that fits the Liverpool mould, because they’ll play man for man a lot. That style of play in midfield is really high energy – whether Wirtz fits into that, it’ll be fascinating to see. Everybody is going to have to run in that team.

“There’s talk that he doesn’t like to talk to his players too much – if you’re not in the team, he doesn’t want to talk to you.

“That won’t appeal to a lot of the players, but in this day and age, a lot of players go straight to the chairman or the director of football anyway.

“But he sets his stall out early – if you’re in the team, he tells you a couple of hours beforehand.

“What will be the question now is going from Bournemouth to Liverpool, how do you handle that transition? I don’t see it as a problem for him.

“As long as he gets the right players he needs… you can see he’s made so many players at Bournemouth go from okay players to fantastic players, that look fit for the bill.

“I’ve got no problems with if he can handle it. He was a great player and is now an elite manager. If it is to be him, I have no doubt.”