Andoni Iraola has outlined the roles his backroom staff will play in improving Liverpool’s set-piece record next season, while admitting he was “very lucky” to inherit a talented coaching team at Bournemouth.
Iraola has brought several members of his Bournemouth staff with him to Liverpool after replacing Arne Slot last month.
Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper have joined as first-team coaches, while long-time colleague Pablo de la Torre has arrived as assistant coach. Alejandro Rosalen has taken over as first-team goalkeeping coach after five years at Napoli.
Iraola, who previously worked with De la Torre at AEK Larnaca and Rayo Vallecano, believes having trusted staff around him will be invaluable during his first season at Anfield.
“For me, it was important they came with me,” said Andoni Iraola, who will take charge of his first Liverpool game on Saturday in a pre-season friendly against Sunderland in Nashville.
“Pablo is a physical coach but has been with me almost all the years I have been coaching. So, for me, he is much more than a physical coach really. He is an assistant and we know each other very well.
“I was very lucky with Tommy and Shaun when I arrived at Bournemouth. Because I was unlucky to have the issue with my assistant coach Iñigo Pérez [who was denied a work permit when attempting to follow Iraola from Rayo Vallecano to Bournemouth].
“After, it worked out very well for him because now he is coaching Villarreal. Maybe we play him in the Champions League.
“But when I had Tommy and Shaun there, we did not feel the need to bring in another assistant. 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.
“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.”
One of Iraola and his backroom staff’s priorities will be to address Liverpool’s struggles at set pieces.
The Reds conceded 23 goals from dead-ball situations in what proved to be Slot’s final season as head coach, with only Bournemouth (26), Crystal Palace (25) and Leeds (24) conceding more. This came a year after Slot guided Liverpool to the title in his first season in charge.
“They are very good coaches,” added Iraola. “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.
“Tommy does defensive set plays, Shaun does more offensive, more creative ones. But also we are working very well here with the set-piece analyst [Lewis Mahoney], who was very good in the second half of last season. He is already with the club, so they are working on some stuff.”
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