In just a matter of hours, Bournemouth dispensed of Gary O’Neil’s services and turned to one of Spain’s hottest managerial prospects in Andoni Iraola.
The club have been accused of lacking direction in the past when between head coaches but this time, there would be no repeat. Indeed, ambitious owner Bill Foley displayed his ruthlessness when sacking O’Neil and quickly bagging his successor.
Iraola, who was carefully monitored by Bournemouth and previously a target, became available after leaving Rayo Vallecano at the end of the season, having guided them to success over his three-year spell despite a modest budget.
Bournemouth acted quickly to tie him down to a two-year deal, likely in the knowledge he would otherwise have been snapped up by another club. His appointment guarantees entertainment but also represents a step into the unknown.
He is, after all, their first overseas coach and takes charge of a squad that hurtled through peaks and troughs on their way to securing survival last campaign.
Bournemouth appointed Andoni Iraola after his departure from LaLiga side Rayo Vallecano
Gary O’Neil was sacked just hours before Iraola’s unveiling despite securing top-flight survival
Ambitious owner and chairman Bill Foley is desperate for the club to improve their play style
O’Neil deserves credit for leading Bournemouth away from the relegation zone. He had stepped into a set-up gripped by turmoil after Scott Parker’s damaging media comments, but Foley and Co were left wanting more: both in results and style.
Iraola may well be able to offer improvements on these two fronts and will do so with a high-risk, high-reward approach. Humbly, he insisted there were ‘no miracles’ in his stellar work at Vallecano, despite the team consistently punching above their weight.
Vallecano are one of LaLiga’s smallest clubs and their budget is dwarfed by the majority of their peers, but even this didn’t prevent Iraola from making a sizeable mark. Under him, they battled to qualify for Europe and narrowly missed out.
Both Barcelona and Real Madrid fell to three defeats apiece to the minnows, a staggering fact when considering how Vallecano were promoted to the top of the tree via the Segunda play-offs and as the sixth-best side back in 2021.
Vallecano barely splashed out on transfer fees during Iraola’s time in charge, either, with a host of loans and free agents helping to fuel their fairytale story instead.
His achievements did not go unnoticed, with Leeds approaching him earlier this year. Vallecano, however, refused to entertain the prospect of their coach leaving.
Iraola performed heroics on a modest budget at Vallecano and attracted plenty of attention
This time, they had no say in the matter.
Bournemouth made no secret of their desire to turn to a refreshingly high-octane and swaggering style in the past when they moved for Marcelo Bielsa, only for their pursuit to fall short. In the end, the rookie O’Neil was handed the permanent job.
The pivot did not exactly scream of joined-up thinking but after snapping up Iraola, their dream of transforming their approach for the better has been realised. Intriguingly, there is also a connection between Bielsa and their newest manager.
Iraola played under ‘El Loco’ for two years at Athletic Bilbao and counts his former coach as one of the biggest influences on his own preferred playstyle.
‘I was very lucky to play for him for two seasons as a player,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘I think he has another vision of football. They were two very good seasons for us, and, for me, it was a different knowledge.
The 40-year-old played under Marcelo Bielsa in Spain and has taken influences from his style
Bournemouth finished 15th last season but took the surprise decision to part ways with O’Neil
‘I use a lot of exercises from Marcelo that I learned from him. I use a lot of things, especially with the ball. Offensively, his teams are very dynamic.
‘He is willing to make all the runs to the space, he is ready to accept this kind of disorder, offensively.’
Disorder is a hallmark of Iraola’s patterns but any attacking strides are supported by an organisation behind the ball. As a result, his sides are often expertly balanced.
Many of his ideas are akin to Bielsa’s. Vallecano were bold and courageous in how they manipulated the ball, and their attacks were traditionally lightning fast.
This was also a staple at Segunda side Mirandes, whom he led to the 2019-20 Copa del Rey semi-finals, having beaten Sevilla and Villarreal along the way.
His philosophy revolves around finding order within the chaos. Dynamism and brave decision-making are required to lead Iraola’s players down the pitch and once they are in and around the penalty area, they use overloads and sharp combinations.
At their best, Vallecano leaned heavily on width and verticality, with Iraola preferring his side to glide through the gears and avoid unnecessary short passes. Athleticism and total commitment are crucial to his projects and will reap swift rewards.
Vallecano narrowly missed out on European football last season and dethroned several giants
Iraola’s sides are renowned for their high-risk, high-reward style as well as their sheer energy
In fact, across the top five European leagues in 2022-23, only Bayern Munich (73) forced more high turnovers that produced a shot than Iraola’s Vallecano (68). That saw them beat the likes of Brighton, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in this area.
But Iraola’s sides are certainly far from being simple run-and-gun specialists, with Carlo Ancelotti even talking up their ‘beautiful football’ last season.
When addressing his system, Iraola has often highlighted the importance of risk-taking and using speed to progress forward instead of meaningless passes.
‘It is not something we are trying to find because I think are much better without the ball,’ he explained. ‘We are recovering and regaining possession very high and that is why we have so much time on the ball, but it is not something we like.
‘I think we have to take risks when we regain. I don’t like this “security pass”, as they say, to play with the ‘keeper, to start building from the back.
‘You have to do it sometimes, but it is not what identifies us. We are dangerous in fast attacks, when we recover possession as high as we can.’
Under their new manager, Bournemouth will return to the drawing board. Only time will tell whether this dramatic step will produce the art they so desperately crave.