New manager believes bringing over his coaching staff from Bournemouth will help Reds turn things around
Andoni Iraola has said one of his main aims as Liverpool coach will be to fix the team’s current problems at set-pieces.
Only Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Leeds conceded more goals from set plays than Liverpool’s 23 in the Premier League last season.
Iraola believes bringing over his coaching staff from Bournemouth is a key move towards rectifying that. The Liverpool head coach has reunited with several members of the staff who worked under him at the south-coast club following his appointment as Arne Slot’s successor.
Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper have joined as first-team coaches, while Pablo de la Torre has arrived as assistant coach and Alejandro Rosalen has been appointed first-team goalkeeping coach after leaving Napoli.
Iraola said bringing familiar faces to Anfield was an important part of preparing for his first season in charge.
“For me, it was important they came with me,” Iraola said. “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.”
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The pair first worked together at AEK Larnaca before continuing their partnership at Rayo Vallecano. Iraola also spoke about the influence Elphick and Cooper had after he arrived at Bournemouth, where his original assistant, Inigo Perez, was unable to join because of work permit issues.
“I was very lucky with Tommy and Shaun when I arrived at Bournemouth,” Iraola said. “Because I was unlucky to have the issue with my assistant coach Inigo Perez. 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.”
Iraola believes their experience in English football also allows them to build closer relationships with players.
“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 the new coaching group’s immediate priorities will be Liverpool’s set-piece record. Iraola said responsibilities have already been divided among his staff, with Elphick focusing on defensive situations and Cooper leading work on attacking routines.
“They are very good coaches,” he said. “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.”
