Andoni Iraola has arrived at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre, with most first-team players and staff due to report back to Merseyside next week on July 14. The new head coach has just over a month to prepare his squad before Liverpool's first Premier League game, away at Newcastle on August 23.
After individual assessments, the focus will be on playing a front-foot, aggressive style of football. Iraola will be joined by Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, who were with him at Bournemouth, as first-team coaches. Pablo de la Torre will also join as assistant coach, having worked with Iraola previously at Cyprus, Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth.
“Andoni Iraola arrives at Liverpool's training ground, with pre-season starting July 14 and first Premier League game at Newcastle on August 23.”
De la Torre told Spanish publication AS: "He is incredibly intelligent, leads by example, and has a rare emotional stability in such a visceral sport. From day one, you sense he's different - his ability to read the game and its needs is almost unique."
Intense running is expected early on, with Iraola often refereeing mini-training games. A Bournemouth source told BBC Sport: "Andoni likes to take all of the sessions and be in the thick of it as opposed to leaving it to others." In a clip on Bournemouth's YouTube channel, he can be heard saying: "Get really aggressive. Get used to this, because we will do this every week…"
New to both Iraola and De la Torre will be the challenge of juggling Premier League games with midweek Champions League fixtures. "The key is building a game model and team identity where players truly believe in the coach's idea," added De la Torre.
That imperative is underlined by Mohamed Salah's public criticism of Liverpool's style under Arne Slot at the end of last season, comments that were damning even if they did not directly lead to Slot's sacking.