Liverpool fans are already growing used to the sight of Andoni Iraola as their new head coach but when he takes charge of his first match on Saturday in a friendly against Sunderland in Nashville, he will be flanked by several unfamiliar faces.
From a fitness coach that has been with him since way back, two former defenders with nearly 800 Football League appearances between them and a former Napoli goalkeeping guru, this is the team behind the Basque, who has been charged with taking Liverpool back to the top.
The first place to start is with right-hand man and Liverpool fan Tommy Elphick, who follows Iraola from Bournemouth alongside Shaun Cooper and Pablo de la Torre.
Scrolling back through the archives revealed an article from the Brighton Argus in 2011 when a young Elphick, then playing for the Seagulls in the Championship, said his ultimate dream was a trip to Anfield. Fifteen years on, he is finally there. Elphick takes his lessons in leadership from another former Bournemouth boss, Eddie Howe, who he played under as captain of the Cherries.
The 38-year-old is rated so highly that Championship clubs Bristol City and Burnley both reportedly made moves this summer to take him on as head coach. Elphick was a boisterous voice back in the day in a playing career that also saw him play for Aston Villa and Huddersfield – and sometimes was unclear what certain managers were asking of him. But the clarity of Howe’s messaging inspired Elphick to go into coaching when he was forced to retire at just 33 following his 10th operation.
Elphick was working as Under 21s manager at Bournemouth when his big break came in 2022-23. Gary O’Neil was promoted to head coach and Elphick was invited to form part of his backroom staff. ‘We went in, took the handbrake off and went for it,’ he said in 2023.
Andoni Iraola with Shaun Cooper (centre) and Tommy Elphick (right) in the Bournemouth dugout
Iraola has brought three of his Bournemouth colleagues with him to Anfield, where he is expected to bring Liverpool back to the top
When O’Neil was sacked despite keeping the Cherries up, Elphick knew that most of the squad felt disillusioned and that the decision was harsh. This was when the now 38-year-old earned his corn and sources say he was crucial in getting everybody back on board.
The new man, Iraola, had wanted to bring over his Rayo Vallecano No 2 Inigo Perez but it was not allowed due to a work permit issue. Perez has since taken the top job at Rayo and led them to the Europa Conference League final last season, earning him a move to Villarreal this summer.
Iraola likes to manage from a distance so Elphick and Cooper had a responsibility to take training sessions and to get to know players on a deeper level to help psychologically. When Bournemouth won none of their first nine games to start Iraola’s tenure, the coaches remained calm.
On a matchday, Iraola likes to sit in between Elphick and Cooper so he can get a constant dialogue. When the head coach’s voice runs out, he nudges one of the pair to bring some energy on the touchline.
Cooper is a set-piece specialist. It is understood the former Bournemouth, Sutton United and Portsmouth defender, born on the Isle of Wight, will focus on offensive, creative set plays while Elphick will take charge of defensive routines.
Set-pieces are a problem area for Liverpool, who conceded 23 goals from them last season, behind only Leeds, Crystal Palace and… Bournemouth. In late December, set-piece guru Aaron Briggs paid for it with his job, while set-piece analyst Lewis Mahoney stepped up and has earned plaudits for his work.
‘Shaun is coming up with loads of different set-pieces, he has new ones for us to try each game,’ said Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Christie. Last term, they scored 20 goals from set-pieces, ranking sixth, but at the other end had a problem, conceding the most in the division.
‘I was very lucky with Tommy and Shaun when I arrived at Bournemouth,’ said Iraola when asked on this topic this week in Chicago. ‘They were very prepared, they were very helpful for me in terms of understanding the English culture, the mentality of the players, what they were used to, what they like in training, even the small details that maybe in Spain are different.
Elphick was forced to retire at just 33 due to injuries, after a playing career best known for his time playing under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth
Cooper (black trainers, centre right) will be tasked with being more hands-on than Iraola with the players
‘Also the experience Tommy has at Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Huddersfield, they can be in a closer position to the players, they can feel more identified. I am a little bit older. Some of the players maybe didn’t know I was a player!
‘So they are very good to me, they are very good coaches, we kind of understand the game similarly and they have different roles in the coaching staff, they help with set-pieces also. That’s the reason I continued with them.’
Another important member of the new backroom team is De la Torre, a fitness coach who has been with Iraola since their time at AEK Larnaca in Cyprus.
‘Pablo is a physical coach but has been with me almost all the years I have been coaching,’ explained Iraola. ‘So for me, he is much more than a physical coach, really. He is an assistant and we know each other very well.’
He has been described as a ‘fiery character’ by local reports and De la Torre will have a big role this season as Iraola, for the first time, must get used to the constant demands of European football and competing on four fronts. Injuries were also a big problem last term.
De la Torre told Diario AS in Spain last month: ‘Seeing that daily evolution, football‑wise and human‑wise, is one of the proudest achievements of my career.
‘The key is building a game model and team identity where players truly believe in the coach’s idea. Beyond results, I’m proud to have been part of a group that never stopped believing, competing, and improving.
‘Andoni is incredibly intelligent, leads by example, and has a rare emotional stability in such a visceral sport. From day one, you sense he’s different — his ability to read the game and its needs is almost unique.’
Liverpool conceded 23 goals from set-pieces last season, including Amine Adli’s last-minute winner for Bournemouth in January
Fitness coach Pablo de la Torre (left) has been with Iraola since their time at AEK Larnaca in Cyprus
Iraola will also have Luiz Fernando Iubel by his side. The Brazil-German dual citizen works across loans, Under 21s and Under 18s training groups and acts as a bit of a link man between all groups, which makes him important in pre-season especially for a joined-up pathway. Iubel was formerly assistant manager at Brazilian top-flight side Atletico Mineiro and joined midway through last season. He has supported Liverpool since being awestruck by their feats in the 2005 Champions League final.
His role is similar to that of Vitor Matos, one of Jurgen Klopp’s trusted backroom allies, who described it as ‘taking care of players that are between the first and second team’ and finding a pathway for them. Matos is now at Swansea.
Completing the backroom setup at Liverpool is new goalkeeper coach Alejandro Rosalen, who won two Serie A titles at Napoli. He replaces Xavi Valero, who lasted just one year in his second stint in the post.
Tom Webber joins as the first-team tactical analyst having replaced Roddy van der Ham. Webber went to the University of Birmingham and wrote a paper on the relative age effect in football – how people born after a certain cut-off, such as a school year or sports season starting, get physical and developmental advantages.
