Liverpool hire ex-Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola as new manager

Liverpool has found their new coach by tapping into the Premier League.The club has hired former Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola after firing Arne Slot last week, it announced Thursday.Iraola guided Bournemouth to sixth place in the Premier League, earning the club a spot in the Europa League.

Next season will mark the first time in the club’s history that it has participated in any European competition.  But Iraola said he’s excited for his new post.“You don’t need a lot of things to get attracted by Liverpool.Liverpool is Liverpool,” Iraola said on the club’s website.

“But obviously the atmosphere, the supporters, the club, the players, the chance for me to coach top-level players, the chance to fight for titles.I think it cannot be more attractive than this.

It’s difficult to find it.So, really excited to start.”Iraola rose quickly to manage a club of this stature.

He started in Cyprus with AEK Larnaca, then managed just two Spanish clubs, Mirandes and Rayo Vallecano. Liverpool and Bournemouth entered this season with very different expectations.Liverpool was coming off a year in which they were Premier League champions, and they were ready to challenge for back-to-back titles.They signed expensive talents like Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike. But even with all of that star power, the season did not go as planned.

Injuries and bad results on the pitch made competing for the title impossible.By that time, Liverpool’s management was undecided about whether to bring Slot back.

But Bournemouth’s unprecedented success might have forced their hands. Bournemouth was into this season after finishing near the middle of the pack in ninth place last year.The team was taking the right steps to become a Premier League contender.

But last summer quickly changed those aspirations.Bournemouth off their entire back line, including one defender, to Liverpool.When that fire sale happened, many wrote off Bournemouth’s chances of ...