- Consider yourself a World Cup expert? Challenge yourself with our exclusive quiz for free by signing up to our World Cup newsletter. Get it HERE
- See more Daily Mail on Google – save us as a Preferred Source
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has expressed his concerns over the club’s impending appointment of Andoni Iraola.
The Reds sacked Arne Slot on Saturday, a year after the Dutchman lifted the Premier League title, following a difficult campaign where they lost 20 matches in all competitions.
He was dismissed after a review into Liverpool’s season that was led by Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, chief executive of football at the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, although his exit is understood to have come as a surprise to much of the squad.
Iraola, who led Bournemouth to sixth place and European qualification for the first time in their history, is expected to replace Slot at Anfield, yet Carragher has highlighted a few potential issues he has with the Spaniard’s arrival.
‘(When Slot came in) people weren’t quite sure who he was or knew too much about him,’ he said on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet. ‘But you’d add that he won the league with Feyenoord and had played European football.
‘With Iraola, we watch his Bournemouth team every week. No one can say you don’t love watching Bournemouth play. If they’re on the TV, you’re watching them and you think, “oh, we’re going to see a good game”.
Jamie Carragher has expressed his concerns with Andoni Iraola’s appointment at Liverpool
Iraola is expected to replace Arne Slot after the Dutchman was sacked last Saturday
‘The point is with how he plays. I made this point at the end of last season on Monday Night Football. We were looking at Chelsea’s managerial options and Iraola was there.
‘And I actually said – and I can’t go back on it – that I think Iraola would be making a mistake leaving Bournemouth, because the next thing he needs to prove is that he can manage that brilliant, high-intensity football on a European stage.
‘He needs to prove he can manage a European season in the way that he manages his players physically.’
Carragher continued: ‘When you’re in Europe, you’ve got to rotate, you’ve got to manage the players physically.
‘I thought that would be the next step for him, just to prove he can still produce the goods in a European season, and then he’d be ready for his next move.
‘It almost feels like it’s a year… not too early. But Jurgen Klopp was manager of Mainz and had to go and prove at Borussia Dortmund that his style of football can work in Europe. That still needed to be proven by Iraola.’
Carragher was then pressed on whether he thinks Liverpool’s players will be able to deal with Iraola’s demands.
Carragher mentioned how former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had to prove he could manage in European football when he left Mainz for Borussia Dortmund in his native Germany
That point is particularly pertinent given many of their squad struggled with injuries and fitness issues throughout 2025-26.
Carragher added: ‘That’s the feeling, do they get injuries? If you look at most of his seasons in management, they tend to drop off in the second half of the season.
‘I think last season was the first time they’ve (an Iraola side) had a great second half of the season. These are the things you have to take into account.
‘Does the intensity have to drop off so you’re not getting the full Iraola?
‘You’re getting too many injuries, you’ve got too many games, then he’s got to be more of a footballing manager. You’re also on the ball more at Liverpool than you are at Bournemouth.’
