Andoni Iraola Press Conference: Bournemouth

Liverpool will face Andoni Iraola’s former side Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium this Sunday as they look to return to winning ways in the Premier League. The Reds sit eighth in the league, having won once and drawn three, and will look to take some momentum into the international break with a win.

Iraola started the press conference in good spirits, weighing in on the ‘volley’ vs ‘half volley’ debate, which resurfaced after Dominik Szoboszlai’s screamer against Tottenham on Wednesday, and concluded that a new word was needed to describe it.

The Liverpool manager stressed the need to be ‘ruthless’ against his former side, who he believes have maintained the identity he imprinted on the club under new manager Marco Rose. Speaking about returning to Bournemouth, where he spent three years, he said:

“On the personal side, I’m really looking forward to meeting them, to hug them, it’s players that I love, staff that I have been working with, that I appreciate so much. I was pushing for them yesterday when they were playing their first European game, and I wish them all the best. But there is another part, and that is the most important one right now: we need to go there and beat them and be as ruthless as possible. And leave all the talk for after the game.”

Bournemouth are yet to win in the league but come into the fixture fresh off a historic 2-1 victory against Real Sociedad in the Europa League.

About their style of play this season, Iraola said:

“I don’t think they’ve changed too much, definitely not in terms of names. You see mostly the same starting XI, very few changes. Basically, they lost Marcos Senesi and they’ve signed [Antonio] Silva that is a very similar kind of player. The main ideas, the philosophy… I was lucky also to talk to Marco Rose before leaving. He hasn’t changed too much, they continue to be very dangerous and a very good team. It’s going to be a tricky one because they obviously know very well what we try to do, on the ball and without the ball. But I also have this advantage – I know their strengths, their weaknesses.

The Liverpool boss spoke about Bradley Barcola’s start to the season and his team’s healthy situation on the wings:

“With Bradley, the more he plays the better he becomes. He came without pre-season minutes but in a good shape. Like all signings, he'll need time to adjust. But he is used to playing high-level games. I think it is the spot we want in every position - specific players fighting for two positions. Two start, two come from the bench. Most of the games, it's a good fight and it's good for me that it's not easy to choose. We need the competition. It's a luxury to have these kinds of options."

When asked about Ronald Aruajo’s impressive start to life at Anfield, he praised his fitness and spirit but said he could benefit from improving his English language skills.

“I am very happy for him. First time I talked to him, sometimes you talk and you can feel straight away, everything was positive. He needed this change and he has come with humility, a big club, experienced player, ready to play positions. Physically he has played more mins than we expected and he is showing robustness, in a good place.  I like his spirit, now I am pushing him to learn the language, we can use his experience if he can communicate more. It will take some time."