Iraola’s Liverpool to meet six new managers in first six Premier League games
Liverpool, managed by Andoni Iraola, will face six opponents coached by newly appointed managers in their first six Premier League matches this season as the top flight returns this weekend. BBC Sport asked Opta and it was unable to find an example of this sequence happening before, amid a summer in which a record nine clubs replaced their managers.
Iraola took charge at Anfield in June after leaving Bournemouth and says preparing for multiple new coaches adds work for his staff and analysts. "We are facing a lot of new managers so there is an extra part of the job to do," he said, adding the need to study how incoming managers set up and the situations they might use against Liverpool. He also noted the role of staff he brought with him: "I have come with one analyst [from Bournemouth, Tom Webber] that has helped me with the integration."
Liverpool's first-team analysis group is led by Jansen Moreno and includes Tom Webber as first-team tactical analyst, Joel Bonner as first-team post-match analyst and Lewis Mahoney as first-team set-piece analyst. Set-piece coaching duties will be handled by Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, Iraola's first-team coaches, who will work alongside Mahoney.
Among Liverpool's opening six opponents, Oliver Glasner (Nottingham Forest), Gary O'Neil (Ipswich) and Enzo Maresca (Manchester City) previously faced Liverpool while managing other Premier League clubs; the other opponents are Newcastle under Matthias Jaissle, Fulham under Alvaro Arbeloa and Bournemouth under Marco Rose. All six incoming managers had pre-season matches at their new clubs, giving analysts recent footage to examine.
Analysts prepare for fresh tactical profiles by studying recent video and broader managerial patterns but may have to provide rapid updates as teamsheets are exchanged on matchday. Ian Graham, Liverpool's former director of research, writes in his book How To Win the Premier League that since 2016 there has been an agreement for all Premier League teams to share tracking data to aid performance analysis and tactical preparation. The Hudl Wyscout platform is cited as a commonly used source of extensive video footage.
A current international manager described the analytical process: "The first thing I want to do is get the basic principles so I look at their formation and how that changes when they are winning or losing. Then you go deeper into how they play in different game states, who they pass to, where they look to progress the balls and how they take risks - and how all of these things change. "In international football [like in pre-season], it's a bit difficult but you're try to see the patterns." Another source added: "Pre-season footage is looked at, as it is the most recent insight available but it is rare for too much stock to be put into it. Instead, there is more focus on the manager's football at his previous club or clubs and a reasoned look at how they might setup." The Liverpool staff also monitor press conferences and interviews for clues about opponents' intentions.
Iraola has emphasised fitness and intensity during pre-season and Liverpool have held fewer meetings than under the previous coach, Arne Slot, though that could change with a busier fixture schedule. Matthias Jaissle will be the first of the new managers Liverpool face at St James' Park on Sunday; Jaissle has won his first game in charge at Liefring, Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Ahli, and his Al-Ahli side were unbeaten at home in the Saudi Pro League last season, "winning their last 13 games in a row." Iraola arrives with an unbeaten run intact from his final 18 games with Bournemouth and has not lost any of his six top-flight meetings with Newcastle (W3 D3).
Liverpool travel to St James' Park on Sunday to meet Newcastle and, as the Premier League returns this weekend, all nine newly appointed managers will take charge of their clubs in the opening round of fixtures.