How Andoni Iraola's Tactics Can Put Liverpool Back on the Winning Track?

Andoni Iraola stepped into the footballing world as a promising right-back at the proud and prudent Basque club Athletic Bilbao, where he amassed 510 appearances.

Iraola hung up his boots after a brief stint at New York City FC in 2016, after spending 12 years at Athletic Club, citing a higher calling, pressing his mind to look at the game from a broader perspective. Iraola's formal managerial career began in Cyprus at AEK Larnaca in 2018, where he won the Cypriot Super Cup before being dismissed midway through the season.

The psychological battle against his doubters was fought by Iraola at CD Mirandés, a Segunda División club of modest means, the command of which he took in 2019. The young Basque manager implemented a phenomenal brand of attacking football that subsequently maximised the players' abilities.

Iraola's profile-wise, seemingly docile resume is further accentuated by his historic management and revival of scrappy but hardworking underdogs Rayo Vallecano (2020-2023), where his three-year spell stands out as one of the most remarkable overachievements in recent La Liga history. The club was fighting regular relegation battles before Iraola took over, and despite the measly budget, he delivered promotion, a fundamental tactical identity, coupled with eye-catching results and resilient performances against elite teams. The Spaniard is set to take charge of Liverpool after the sudden departure of Arne Slot.

Iraola's Playstyle Identity and Influences

Andoni Iraola tactics, like those of other modern-era managers, have been built over time through an intuitive understanding of football and recognition of progressive patterns that could help the team maintain a floor level of performance, which, under the right circumstances and represented by accurate player profiles, develops into a celebration of the beautiful game.

The player who once captained a prolific Atletic Bilabo side has come a long way since then, both in terms of career and mindset, carefully amalgamating the learnings of his role models, coaches, and even teammates to develop a highly efficient tactical approach. Two managers who have been quintessential in his development have been Marco Bielsa and Ernesto Valverde, which reflect in the pillars of his footballing identity. The five pillars he built there have not meaningfully changed since:

1. Proactive pressing - formulated through a premediated structured approach rather than frantic chasing
2. Width as threat and structure - full-backs and inverted wingers bear the heavy burden of opening up the field
3. Vertical and transitional football - recovering possession and subsequently attacking within three touches
4. Working as a unit - Collective discipline over individual moments of brilliance
5. Game state-dependent block depth - high press when the decided trigger fires, else resort to a compact mid-block

The manager, however, is not one to stick to dogmas and has shown this in his adaptability to game states, never abandoning his philosophy but still having the awareness to make some tactical tweaks rather than maintaining the egotistical siege of common sense. This is backed by his decisions during three major game states:

• Out of possession- Although the fundamentals of his approach remain trigger-dependent pressing, with resorting to mid-blocks during stagnant plays to leave the opposition in an attacking dilemma, however, based on the technical quality of the opponent, the environment, and the scoreline, he switches to high presses, which fluctuate from zonal to man-marking instructions mid-press, leaving the opposition guessing.
• In possession- The emphasis for Iraola remains to capitalise on quick turnover and counterattacks as the optimum attacking outlet. However, instances have shown his team builds up under high pressure, relying on quick attacking rotations through fluid combinations, leaving the opposition press chasing shadows.
• In-game changes: Iraola's go-to formation is a 4-2-3-1, which shifts seamlessly during possession into a 3-2-5, aiding his wide build-up and counter-pressing by the arrival of inverted wingers in half-spaces and full-backs bombarding forward.

The two sensationalised sides of this coin that resulted in the serene amalgamation of a unique identity in Iraola are discussed below: