Where next for Iraola?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Athletic FC.
Hi there and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal.
How did Andoni Iraola build Bournemouth into an 18-game unbeaten team?
So after ending the season 18 games unbeaten, Andoni Iraiola leaves Bournemouth with Europa League football to come. But without a job lined up, has he left the Cherries too soon? Well, alongside me for this one, John McKenzie and Jack Pitbrook. Slightly warm still in the UK. Slightly red-faced, all of us. So bear with us on this one. Bournemouth, after all their hard work this season, finished sixth, giving them Europa League football. It was very nearly Champions League football. Could have been on the last day. John, first to you, it is remarkable considering where they were, what, just under 20 years ago.
Yeah, 2008 in League Two, very close to actually dropping out of the English leagues altogether. So yeah, an incredible turn of events. And, you know, I mean, we say 20 years, but it was only the point at which Iraola arrived where they narrowly avoided relegation from the Premier League. And it was quite a controversial appointment at the time because Gary O'Neill had saved them from relegation. And then they made the decision to bring in Iraola. And yeah, I guess the rest is history.
And Jack, obviously they had a say in the title race as well. They beat Arsenal back in April. Then they held Manchester City to that one-all draw, which secured the title for Arsenal. How much have you enjoyed watching them this season?
I love watching them play. I think they've got so much energy.
What is Iraola’s distinctive out-of-possession and in-possession style?
They've got such a clear idea about what the manager wants to do. I think their style is quite distinctive relative to other Premier League teams. I think John would probably be able to explain that better than me. But it's just always great watching a team which is where the players have a real conviction and belief about whatever the manager's ideas are. And you can see how much buy-in Iriola's managed to get from that squad over the years. And yeah, it makes them a joy to watch.
Define that distinctive approach, John, then.
It's funny, you know, because I think everyone focuses on Arreola's out-of-possession approach, and I think rightly so. But actually, I've heard him say that he thinks that his out-of-possession approach is slightly overrated and his in-possession approach is slightly underrated. And I think the story of his time in the Premier League is... Very much one of imposing that out of possession style. That's a non-negotiable, obviously famously taking a little time getting that going at Bournemouth. And, you know, the fundamentals of that style are to have this sort of hybrid approach to defending where at times you're going to jump up really aggressive man to man and try and destabilize the opponent while they're trying to build up.
but then having the ability to retain enough structure that if the press is broken, you can drop into a block no problem. That's the sort of fundamentals of the out-of-possession approach. But in time, I think we've seen his in-possession approach develop increasingly through, I suppose, introduction of different types of profiles of players. But I think it's been very clear to me that he has constantly tried to innovate his in-possession approach because I guess the difficulty is that his approach, as I've said, is based around creating chaos to an extent and we've just come out of a period of you know maybe 15 years in European football where possession control has been the dominant approach if you can control the game with the ball and to an extent without the ball then you're very likely to come out on top.
what we've started seeing actually is coaches like Iraola destabilizing that for the elite sides and creating more chaotic games. Which means on the one hand, yeah, it's great because you're pulling other teams down to your level. But on the other hand, it does become harder to control the ball yourself. And the big question with someone like Iraola is, how do you start flipping or changing the needle the other direction where you're like, now we have to start trying to control the games with the ball at some points as well.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:09
2
How did Andoni Iraola build Bournemouth into an 18-game unbeaten team?
0:09–1:37
3
What is Iraola’s distinctive out-of-possession and in-possession style?
1:37–22:11
4
Can Marco Rose realistically replace Iraola’s methods at Bournemouth?
22:11–34:38
5
How did Iraola repeatedly rebuild Bournemouth after losing key players?
34:38–35:28
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Athletic FC Podcast
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