Andoni Iraola has already begun shaping Liverpool's new era, with an early injury boost and a forgotten face back on the training pitch before most of his squad have even reported for pre-season. The new head coach arrived at the AXA Training Centre this week, and while the majority of first-team players and staff are due to return to Merseyside next week, one previously sidelined player has already been spotted training, handing Iraola an unexpected fitness bonus ahead of the campaign.
Liverpool will begin their pre-season programme imminently, with the Spaniard having just over a month to prepare his side before their first Premier League game away at Newcastle on 23 August. Individual assessments will be conducted on each player upon their return, after which the hard work begins. Iraola’s first press conference is scheduled for 13 July.
“Andoni Iraola starts Liverpool pre-season with injury boost as forgotten man trains before squad reports back.”
A revamped backroom staff is already in place. Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, who worked with Iraola at Bournemouth, have joined as first-team coaches. Pablo de la Torre arrives as assistant coach, having collaborated with Iraola in Cyprus, at Rayo Vallecano and at Bournemouth. De la Torre, described by a Spanish publication as a coach of “rare emotional stability”, is expected to play a major role in ensuring the squad is physically ready for Iraola’s demanding brand of football. “He is incredibly intelligent, leads by example, and has a rare emotional stability in such a visceral sport,” De la Torre told AS last month. “From day one, you sense he’s different – his ability to read the game and its needs is almost unique.”
The key focus will be a front-foot, aggressive style. If Iraola’s time at Bournemouth is anything to go by, intense running will dominate the early days, with the head coach himself often refereeing mini-training games. A clip on Bournemouth’s YouTube channel captures him wearing a microphone during a session in Marbella, urging players: “Get really aggressive. Get used to this, because we will do this every week…” A Bournemouth source told BBC Sport last month: “Andoni likes to take all of the sessions and be in the thick of it as opposed to leaving it to others.”
New to both Iraola and De la Torre, however, will be the challenge of juggling Champions League midweeks with Premier 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 – a damning verdict that Iraola will be determined to consign to history.