Andoni Iraola is set to be announced as Liverpool's new manager this week, generating great anticipation in the city regarding his arrival. Liverpool decided to sack Arne Slot on Saturday and quickly sought to secure his replacement, reaching a verbal agreement with the Spaniard on Tuesday. Iraola moves to Anfield after an impressive season in which he led Bournemouth to sixth place in the Premier League, securing European football for the first time in the club's history. However, there are some reservations about his lack of experience at bigger clubs and in European competitions. Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes the Reds will be in a much better position next season compared to the Slot era. "I'm really excited because after seeing the way Bournemouth played, there's no reason to think they won't try to apply the same style - being bold, pressing teams with high intensity and playing attacking football," Murphy said. "When a fan base becomes disillusioned with a manager and his style of play - and starts to turn against him - you are delaying the inevitable. I believe Liverpool are now in a better position and that is not just Slot's fault. Iraola's arrival was the best option as fans enter a new season with hope and enthusiasm rather than fear. You don't want to start the season with players feeling the anxiety from the start, and this was the best way for Liverpool to do that."
Managers often struggle to make the leap into the Premier League, as Thomas Frank recently demonstrated when moving from Brentford to Tottenham. But can Iraola - who joined Bournemouth from Rayo Vallecano - succeed where others have failed? "I have some reservations because he has never managed a club of this size before and he will be a little surprised at how intrusive his life will be managing Liverpool," added Murphy, who is a pundit for BBC Sport. "Even as a player this changes overnight as he is one of the biggest clubs in the world and everything he does will be scrutinized and commented on, locally and globally. The only other reservation is whether he will be able to play high-intensity football every few days as this will require a certain level of fitness - as we have seen in Jurgen Klopp's teams, with the pacey full-backs, the dynamics of the midfield and the willingness of the forwards to work. It's difficult to see how he can achieve that with what he has at the moment, why the summer transfer window will be crucial for Liverpool in this regard. The current squad lacks legs and dynamism and is not packed with great players out of possession.
Is Murphy right? Will Iraola's appointment bring hope and excitement rather than the fear of a disappointing campaign? Slot's team won a record-equalling 20th league title in his first season, but finished fifth (25 points behind champions Arsenal) in his second. Peter Bolster, from the Spion Kop podcast, told BBC Radio Merseyside: "I'm really excited and I'm a little surprised at how excited I am. For large parts of last season I wasn't excited to see Liverpool. I wasn't excited to go to Anfield and I definitely wasn't excited for pre-season or the start of next season. And whatever happens from this point on, I'm excited. Iraola could be the perfect replacement. We could be in that situation in two years saying it didn't work, but I'm excited about the project and that's what all the fans want." Following Slot's departure, Liverpool were keen to make an appointment as quickly as possible and wanted a manager who fit their preferred style of play, which is based on aggressive, attacking football, more in line with the way they played under former manager Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool fan Ian Walker commented: "I have mixed feelings. That horrible way of playing under Slot last season had to be reversed as quickly as possible, but the role proved to be too much for some, both in terms of ensuring consistent results and dealing with the expectations and pressures of the media and fans. I can still see Roy Hodgson despairing on the bench when things weren't going well. Even Jurgen Klopp - loved by fans, players and club alike - had to stop after a huge success and an exciting style of play.
The Redmen TV's Ste Plunkett told BBC Radio Merseyside: "Within the pool of talent there was and the coaches available, it seems like an obvious choice in terms of what he does with his team and what we really want a Liverpool manager to do with our team. The build-up of the squad last summer - and potentially with the additions we'll make this year - we have to find a manager who fits the squad and I really don't think we had that last season. I would have liked to have seen Iraola have some experience in Europe, but he's never cared much about reputation or who he's facing. That doesn't seem to bother him, so I think the fact that he's fresh into all this, he'll come in revitalized and there won't be a hangover from previous campaigns where things went wrong.