By some somersault of the natural order a Bournemouth manager who lost players to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Manchester City is on the verge of taking his team into Europe – possibly even the Champions League.
What sorcery is this? Across 12 months, Andoni Iraola had to wave goodbye to Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo respectively. Two games from now it will be Iraola’s turn to depart a club with a ground capacity of 11,307 but a remarkable talent for regeneration.
Arriving by the sun-buttered Thames, Bournemouth had not lost a league game since 3 January. Their 15-game unbeaten run was extended to 16 with a tenacious 1-0 win over Fulham.
They motored back to the coast in sixth position. Two more wins would guarantee them a first season in Europe. If Aston Villa were to win the Europa League final then their league place in the Champions League would pass to England’s sixth-placed side. What a legacy that would be for Iraola as he relocates himself further up management’s ladder.
True to their motif of sell-then-recover-quickly, Bournemouth’s goal was scored by the 19-year-old Brazilian Rayan, who arrived as a wide attacker for £25m in January as Semenyo was leaving for £64m. Only Liverpool, three times in the 1990s, have scored more goals through teenagers in a Premier League season.
At various points this spring Iraola has been labelled the ideal next manager for Chelsea, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Newcastle (should Eddie Howe be sacked), Liverpool and Manchester City, if Pep Guardiola steps down. And that’s not even counting clubs abroad.
Not all those jobs will be available this summer but Iraola’s prominence in every round of speculation reflects his status as Premier League coaching’s hottest prospect. Reputational zenith is a peak recalled wistfully no doubt by Graham Potter, Thomas Frank and others. An updated version of Sir Alex Ferguson’s advice to young managers to “pick your chairman” is choose the owner’s psychodramas and club politics very carefully.
Strictly the question that hangs over all fast-rising coaches applies to Iraola too. There’s a difference between governing super-rich household names and convincing players from the next level down that you know how to guide them to a better life.
In three years at Bournemouth Iraola has achieved that spectacularly. April’s announcement that he would leave at the end of this campaign only redoubled the efforts of his players. Usually you see a slackening of enthusiasm.
Iraola though won’t be around to see the next tranche of departures from a team who have been even better this season without last summer’s exports. Junior Kroupi, 19, and the centre-back Marcos Senesi are the two most coveted players Iraola will part company with on 24 May when Marco Rose takes over. Alex Scott is another rising star.
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Bournemouth, in the summer of 2023, were Iraola’s fourth job. From a start in Cyprus he progressed to Rayo Vallecano, where he earned promotion to La Liga. His teams beat Barcelona three times and Real Madrid once. It was at Vallecano where he conceived the high-energy, fast-attacking playing style he has deployed to such effect in English football.
Iraola has everything going for him: even his Basque background. Three of the six managers in Uefa’s European finals are from that part of northern Spain. Kinship with Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Unai Emery (Aston Villa) and Inigo Perez (Rayo Vallecano) may seem incidental to Iraola’s candidacy for the top jobs but it will feature in recruitment, for reasons to do with connections and current tactical fashions.
On the pitch is where he scores highest. With their high press and rapid transitions, Bournemouth disorientate opponents with bursts of frenetic activity. The rest of the Premier League has had three years to suss them out but Iraola’s style has remained resistant to negation, in part because his players are also technically well drilled, and seem happy to cover the miles.
Rare blemishes here were the suspension of Alex Jimenez on the eve of the game while the club investigated his social media posts – and the dangerous challenge that caused Ryan Christie to be sent off (Fulham matched them, with an equally deserved red card for Joachim Andersen).
Chasing the game, Fulham sent on Kevin, Josh King and Oscar Bobb but Bournemouth were not going to relinquish control of sixth place.
Two games away from his departure, Bournemouth fans sang Iraola’s name as if he were staying forever. They’re too grateful to him to feel jilted and admire him for his personality.
In a recent BBC TV interview he recalled learning the game as a child on the beach at San Sebastien, playing with and against Arteta and Xabi Alonso, being inspired by the management of Ernesto Valverde and Marcelo Bielsa, and lessons in possession play from Patrick Vieira at New York City. On the touchline he can be irascible but off the field comes over as a mellow family man who likes reading, cycling and long walks. Too well-rounded, you might think, for the manic game show of top-six management.
When he travels on family holidays, he said he likes to set out “with no fixed plan” and book places as he goes along. Wherever he checks in next in football management, the club that signs him should count its blessings.
Photography by Imago/Avalon