‘VERY EXCITING APPOINTMENT!’ Andoni Iraola to replace Arne Slot at Liverpool? | ESPN FC

The big news this morning, meanwhile, in the Premier League, Arnold Slot sacked at Liverpool.Liverpool FC can confirm Arnold Slot is to depart his role as head coach with immediate effect and that the process to appoint a successor is underway.He leaves with a Premier League title to his name and our deepest gratitude and appreciation.Jurgen and Robbo are still with us.Iriola, by the way, is the favourite to take over.We'll talk about that possibility a little bit later on, but let's just discuss this decision first, Craig.

And this is a decision that we've expected to come.amongst us over the last couple of weeks, but maybe this comes as a surprise that Liverpool have actually done it.

Yeah, well, once we were, as you know, when we were back in London for the Cup final, the word from some of the journalists, including Mark Ogden, our colleague, was that they'd looked at Xabi Alonso and Slot and they felt Slot was the better option.So at that point, we were saying, OK, Liverpool are going to give him the summer and they're going to go again, and he's going to get an opportunity.to start next season.That's certainly what it felt, and that was only two weeks ago.Particularly when Alonso takes the Chelsea job, it was pretty clear that Liverpool weren't convinced about him.Now, obviously, Arreola has made it clear that he was leaving Bournemouth, so that was out there.

But it did seem that Slott was going to survive.Not that we felt, most of us, and certainly I didn't, I didn't think he'd done enough to survive, and I think that it looked like it needed a change in terms of the impetus and a little bit of freshness about it.But once the Alonso thing unfolded and what we were hearing, to see that this morning, I was surprised.But clearly they've looked at it and went, you know what, Areola, decision has to be made.We're going to do it.So in some sense, he's maybe a little unlucky that he won the league should he have got another year.

There'll be some in that camp.But I think Areola getting in there, if that's the case.That could be a very exciting appointment.

It was so amazing, actually, to see in real time how the bucket of equity that he had built just began to explode.empty, empty.And every game and every week that went by, a guy that sits usually in this seat, Stephen Nichol, who was defending Arnett Slot.Okay, Arne Slott.Here we go, Arne Slott.All right, Arne Slott, I believe.

Okay, I'm not believing anymore.And that's as the equity is going down and down and further down and how he's handling certain decisions and how he's handling the team.And then Mohammed Saleh puts out on social media what he puts out.There is no support really from the players.Other players like the tweet that or the message that Mohammed Saleh put out on social media as well.And he just creates this environment in which a bucket full of equity, empty.

totally empty by the end of the season and unsustainable.Therefore, it's not a surprise that he's gone.It's just, it feels like once he survived the end of the season, it felt like, okay, maybe he is surviving.Not so much.He gone.

Tough school, this management, Jürgen.

Yeah, it's a tough one.I mean, obviously he had a fantastic first season winning the title and this year it didn't go his way.Obviously, there's a lot of stuff that we do not know.We do not know who made the decisions on certain transfers, to fill basically this bucket with equity, as Alejandro says.Who is responsible for that?Is that Arne Slot who wanted to double the positions with national team players, top players, that you have to at the end of the day then put two or three of them, I'm talking about the forwards, first and foremost on the bench.

Mohamed Salah you cannot put on a bench.Florian Wirtz, when you buy him for 150 million, you cannot put him on the bench.You have a Gagpo, you have five or six of these top -class forwards and suddenly you have a problem in your dressing room.these players, they want to play.They want to play every single game.And so the question is, was that on a slot?

Who wanted them so badly?Who wanted to double the positions?Or was that people within the club that made those calls?But eventually, for a manager, and that's our role as a manager, you pay the price if the results are not coming in.And this year, unfortunately, the results didn't come in and I'm still surprised a little bit because I thought, okay, there's not much out there in the market now for them to look out for.I thought they give him another year and then maybe things calm down.

The year won then after Mohamed Salah, basically.But, well, they pulled the plug and I'm a bit surprised of that.

But Jurgen, if we're applauding Luis Enrique for making big decisions, like Benshin Dembele or Carver Skelia this season, why is it a different kettle of fish on a slot when he makes a big decision and drops his main player?

Well, because the hierarchy within the team is From the outside, you cannot judge that.You can only feel the hierarchy between the guys in the dressing room.These are 25, 28, sometimes 30 players.You have to be very clear who are your leaders and who are your soldiers.Every team is different.Luis Enrique was able then to to redefine the hierarchy of Paris Saint -Germain with letting go Mbappé and obviously before that Neymar and Messi as well.

But we don't feel the chemistry of the players and the spirit of that team.But I said it in the beginning of the season when they brought in, you know, they had basically six top -class strikers at Liverpool and three of them have to be on the bench.If you play with three strikers, which a lot of people don't even do that, you know, a lot of them play with two or even one strike only, but that costsproblems from the beginning.Florian Wirtz took his time to adjust to the club, to adjust to a new lifestyle in Merseyside and understanding how difficult it is sometimes to go abroad and be the same player as you were before that in your hometown.But I think that Professional football doesn't give you the time.

They ask for results, they ask for goals from strikers.It was difficult from the outside, as we always discussed it throughout the season, to judge the players and to understand the hierarchy of that group of players.The relationship between manager and players is vital, is very, very important.And when a player like Mohamed Salah then speaks out with the media, that doesn't help you at all.

Where did it go wrong, do you think, Robbo, for him?

Well, for me, I think it went wrong in the summer.Not with the signings.Isaac, I don't think, was a good signing because that took a long time and he wasn't fit when he came.And I've said it many, many times when I've seen it happen to Arsenal with Aubameyang.When a player is getting older and he's been a great player, Mo Salah and Van Dijk have been great players.Their contracts were up and they had to pay them either a fortune to keep them or to say, right, their time's up.

They're not going to be able to be those players anymore.They signed them and gave them massive contracts on massive money and they're a year older and they didn't perform.And then the managers got a problem.He probably didn't want Mo Salah in the side because he wasn't playing well enough.But he's, as Jürgen just said, you can't drop Mo Salah.So he's now In a difficult situation, do I drop him?

Do I not drop him?I want to drop him but I can't.And eventually he does and it causes problems.Van Dijk wasn't playing very well and he was blaming everybody else for all the mistakes and throwing his arms up in the air and saying the other players weren't working hard enough.He was one of the major problems.The two players they carried on and signed and gave them massive contracts was the biggest fault they made in the summer along with Isak.

I bet you now though on that sort of point that Robbo makes is that he's been sacked anyway and he probably wishes he'd made some of those big decisions that upset players and maybe upset supporters because you know if you're going to, every manager's going to get sacked at some point you might as well You might as well go having made the big decisions that you thought were right.There's no doubt those players did not help him.Canatti, Van Dijk, the experienced players, McAllister, Gravenberg, they did not...Mo Salah, they did not play well this season.But I think a gauge of where this is, is there's a sympathetic thank you from the Liverpool fans.There's no fighting, there's no moaning about it, certainly from the bulk of them.

There's a, well...Thanks for the title.Don't let the door hit you on the way out.But it's time to move on.And I kind of think that's where they've been for quite a few months.If you've watched games coming in from Anfield, it's been five or ten minutes of the crowd getting up in excitement.

and then other sides gaining possession in Liverpool, dilly -dallying, being very pedestrian and a crowd getting frustrated.And I think that's where they are.They wanted a change in the management side and they're going to get it, but how much of a change they're going to get back on the pitch, that remains to be seen.

OK, Jürgen, Iriola is linked, he's the favourite to make that move, obviously leaving Bournemouth.Heavily favourite now to take over at Liverpool.Stupid question.Oh, here we go.Again.As a manager, what are the big differences from managing a side like Bournemouth to a juggernaut like Liverpool?

One of the big differences, there are obviously a couple of big differences, but one is how big of a support do you have from the board or from your CEO or whoever is above you?things go wrong in your first couple of months?You maybe have three losses in a row.How secure are you in your position?What is your leverage with the players?When you're coming in and the players see after two months that if you lose two games it's already kind of in doubt, then it's not going to be the same atmosphere in the dressing room.

The CEO says clearly, no matter what happens, this is our manager for the next two years, three years, four years.Do whatever you want to do, players, but don't fool around with it.Then it's a different message.So you depend on your relationship with your boss.And that gives you the right leverage with the players.And this is what Luis Enrique has.

They backed him from day one on.He said, I want to make some unpopular decisions.I want to send some big names away.I want to build a team that is there for each other.And there will be some questions.There will be a lot of doubters.

There will be some media comments.But you have to back me in this process.Otherwise, maybe I'm not the right manager for you.And so the The people that own Paris Saint -Germain, they stick with that approach and gave him all the backing.So, whoever now comes into Liverpool needs this type of support, needs this backing.It needs to be made very clear to the team that he's set in his position, no matter how the games go in the first couple of months, in the new Premier League season, and then I think it can work out.

He's ready though, isn't he?I think he's ready.You know, you look at Bournemouth finish six, when he took over, who was the guy who was manager?He was managing rules for a while, Gary, I can't remember.O 'Neil, was it?Gary O 'Neil.

Doing a good job, but he's just keeping Bournemouthabove that line.And they made this change, Bournemouth and the ownership, because they wanted to be something a bit better than just staying afloat.So they bring the guy in who'd managed at Raya Vicano and done very well in Spain, a great reputation but a little bit young.So it was a bit of a risk, but it was a risk worth taking because not only did they stave off relegation, each season they finished better and better.They could have been in the Champions League next year, had results gone their way in the final day.

Zabana, they saw him, he played for PSG, he came on for PSG in the final today.Hoisin went to Real Madrid, Kerkes went to Liverpool, Semenu went to Manchester City, and there have been others.And yet, with their recruitment and his management and his experience now, And his knowledge, they finished sixth in the Premier League, let alone Bournemouth.And not only that, the manner in which they've played, with a very small budget.So it is a big step, because you're not talking to the Bournemouth players now, you're talking to big cheesies.You're talking to players that might stick two fingers up at you.

It might happen, and that's a different scenario.But I do think he's ready.I think he's a very progressive young manager, another one of the Spanish that are doing absolutely fantastically well.And I think he's ready for Liverpool.And I don't see anybody else out there at the moment why you would say, don't give it to Areola.There's nobody I can see that's going to step into this job that's got bigger and better shoes than him at the moment.

Whether he'll be a success, I don't know.I don't know, but I think he's absolutely deserving of it and it looks like he's going to get it.

You know who wasn't surprised that Arnold Sloat was let go?Andoni Iraola.Because we just discussed that Andoni Iraola turned down the possibility or removed his name from consideration for Milan.He said, nah, that's not the project for me.You know why?Because Iraola knew.

He knew that there was something else coming.Something else down the line and that is Liverpool.Now, as it pertains to the differences between Bournemouth and Liverpool, everything matters in Liverpool.Every press conference, everything that you say matters.Every performance, every result, everything of every day, of every minute, of every second matters at a place like Liverpool.Because shows like ours, we will talk about Liverpool every single day if that's the case, if that's what it requires.

And that, I think, is something that Iraola has to be able to address.That every single thing that he says is going to be analysed and every single performance from every single player is also going to be analysed.It doesn't go under the table as it may for Bournemouth.And as a result, that perhaps may have been negative for Bournemouth, he just kind of let it go.That doesn't happen at Liverpool.Just ask Ernest Lloyd.

Robert, you get the last word on this.

Well, I think Liverpool will be a better team.I think you get the best out of those players that they signed last year.They'd be better off.I mean, Mo Salah's been a wonderful player, not last year.They'd be better off without him, without Robertson, who again was a wonderful player.But they were dissenting characters.

There won't be so much dissent in the dressing room.I think he'll have a good start.And once he has that good start, you'll see those players, like Florian Wurz, play at his very best.Liverpool will be a better team next year, no doubt about it.

Jürgen, thank you very much.We'll let you go.Jools will be delighted, won't he, on the next edition of the Gab and Jools show, celebrating another win.For PSG, you can check out his celebrations.His wife works for Arsenal, doesn't she?Anyway.

What kind of celebration is that?Well, that's sleeping on the couch.OK, all right.