Liverpool’s Andoni Iraola debuts at Anfield against Monaco in pre-season friendly

Andoni Iraola is standing in the Anfield dugout for the first time as Liverpool’s head coach, leading the Reds against AS Monaco in a pre-season friendly as preparations for the 2026-27 campaign get underway.

It’s a scene that almost nobody predicted six weeks ago. Liverpool won the Premier League title under Arne Slot in the 2025-26 season, and then promptly sacked him on May 30, 2026. The club moved quickly, appointing Iraola on a two-year contract in June.

From Bournemouth to Anfield

Iraola’s path to one of football’s most iconic jobs ran through the south coast of England. He spent three years at AFC Bournemouth, transforming a club that had been a perennial relegation battler into a genuine European contender.

His final season at the Vitality Stadium produced a sixth-place Premier League finish, the best in Bournemouth’s history. That result secured the Cherries’ first-ever European qualification.

There’s a small irony in today’s fixture. Iraola has visited Anfield before as an opposing manager, standing in the away dugout while trying to find ways to neutralize Liverpool’s attack. Now he gets to deploy that attack himself.

The Slot departure still looms large

The elephant in the room remains the circumstances of Iraola’s appointment. Arne Slot delivered a Premier League title, the kind of achievement that typically buys a manager years of goodwill at most clubs. Liverpool decided it wasn’t enough, or at least that the relationship had run its course, dismissing him just days after the season ended.

The two-year contract is also notable. It’s a relatively short commitment by Premier League standards, suggesting either cautious optimism from the club or a mutual desire to prove the partnership works before extending.

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