By Steve Northover
Liverpool's new manager has been handed a massive boost as his two assistants at Bournemouth, Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper have reached an agreement to end their contracts at the South Coast club and join Andoni Iraola on Merseyside.
Both coaches have been cornerstones of Iraola's success at Bournemouth.
“I was lucky with Tommy and Shaun. I have been working with them very well. I think we now know each other much better... everyone is looking at different things, and I think we are working well. We will continue the same. I am very happy working with both.”
Andoni Iraola on his assistants during his time at Bournemouth.
In a relationship similar to Jürgen Klopp and his long-term assistants, Pep Lijnders, Željko Buvač, and Peter Krawietz, both Elphick and Cooper bring different coaching styles and tactical approaches to enhance Iraola's overall plan.
It was Elphick who instilled a defensive rigidity that allowed Bournemouth to climb the Premier League table and narrowly miss out on the Champions League last season. His honest, direct approach when talking to players had made him a player-favourite at the Vitality Stadium.
Elphick's reputation has increased markedly over recent years, the former Bournemouth Centre Back (and lifelong Liverpool fan) played a total of 142 times for the Cherries and had made no secret of his intention to become a manager in his own right in recent seasons, coming close to reaching Scott Parker at Burnley before choosing to remain a coach and join Liverpool.
As for Shaun Cooper, his skill set is within game analysis and tactical preparation - often being the man to lead training sessions, and making his name as developing Bournemouth's pressing style that made them so formidable under Iraola.
Meanwhile, Cooper's reputation for developing young players will also be important to Liverpool - as the club appears set to use younger players more readily under Iraola than what happened under Arne Slot.
Indeed, fringe players such as Harvey Elliot - still only 23 - may look at working with Cooper as a way to bring him back into the Reds first team on the upcoming season.
So, like Jürgen Klopp, Andoni Iraola looks to see himself and his coaching staff as something of a ‘set’, and whilst we wait for updates about certain players arriving at Liverpool, at least on peice of the puzzle is set to be in place before preseason really starts.
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