{"id":1086485,"date":"2026-07-13T12:09:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1086485\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T12:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:09:19","slug":"andoni-iraola-shares-liverpool-vision-and-style-of-play-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1086485\/","title":{"rendered":"Andoni Iraola Shares Liverpool Vision And Style Of Play Plea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andoni Iraola<\/strong> has promised Liverpool<\/strong> supporters they will recognise his team\u2019s identity as the new head coach insisted he will remain true to the principles that brought him to Anfield<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speaking in his first press conference since taking charge, Iraola admitted there will inevitably be tactical adjustments at one of Europe\u2019s biggest clubs but stressed Liverpool appointed him because of the football he has produced throughout his coaching career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have the advantage that you saw me for three years in the Premier League<\/strong>,\u201d Iraola said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand this is Liverpool, we have to change some things, even tactically, but if they sign me it\u2019s because they want a lot of the things I was doing at other clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t want to change the DNA of my teams on the pitch. I try to be as natural as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I want to play in the opposition\u2019s half\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iraola also offered Liverpool supporters perhaps the clearest indication yet of how he wants his side to play.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard admitted different opponents will require different approaches but made it clear his preference is for Liverpool to dominate territory<\/strong> and spend as much time as possible attacking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have to have our core principles,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you face low blocks, but I prefer that because we\u2019re in control and conceding fewer chances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the scenarios we want.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther teams don\u2019t give you that because they want to control the game and play in your half.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be in the opposition\u2019s half, creating chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments are likely to excite supporters eager to see how Liverpool evolve under their new manager following a summer of significant change.<\/p>\n

Squad depth will be vital<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iraola also acknowledged the demands of managing Liverpool across multiple competitions, admitting the schedule means every member of the squad will have an important role to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big challenge for me and a big change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost weeks we have a midweek game. It\u2019s a great opportunity for the players. I loved these seasons as a player because you were playing all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s impossible to deal with it using just a few players. We need the whole squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cInjuries will happen. We have to be ready in terms of squad depth<\/strong>. December and January<\/strong> are very hard months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking beyond the contract<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asked about signing only a two-year contract<\/strong>, Iraola dismissed suggestions the length of his deal carried any significance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be in a place because of a contract,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are happy, I am happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to stay here a lot more years because it would mean I\u2019ve done a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a confident yet measured first appearance from Liverpool\u2019s new head coach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

More importantly for supporters, it provided the clearest indication yet that while Iraola understands the scale of the job awaiting him, he has no intention of abandoning the football philosophy<\/strong> that convinced Liverpool he was the right man to lead the club into its next chapter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andoni Iraola has promised Liverpool supporters they will recognise his team\u2019s identity as the new head coach insisted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1086486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8815],"tags":[14384,1120,748,393,4884,179,763,101,16,15],"class_list":["post-1086485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-liverpool","tag-andoni-iraola","tag-anfield","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-liverpool","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-premier-league","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116912597797938809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1086485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1086485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1086486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1086485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1086485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1086485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}