This week’s Europa League tie between Manchester United and Athletic Club is an opportunity for Andoni Iraola to cast his mind back to their last meeting, when he captained his former side to a famous quarter-final victory under Marcelo Bielsa in 2012.
“We were very, very good,” he tells Sky Sports with a smile. Typically, he is understating it. “It was a United team that came from winning the Premier League and losing the Champions League final against Barca,” he adds. “They were at their top level with top players…”
And yet they were dismantled over the course of two legs as Athletic Club, with their policy of only using Basque players, showed their remarkable capacity to punch above their weight. Thirteen years on, it is a quality which has come to define Iraola’s current side too.
Iraola, the head coach, guided Bournemouth to a club-record points total in his first season in charge and has already beaten it with four games of his second left to play. Achieving European qualification for the first time in the club’s history remains a possibility.
Saturday 3rd May 5:00pm
Kick off 5:30pm
For now, though, he will see how his old side fare over the two legs of their latest assignment on that stage. Iraola spent most of his playing career at Athletic Club. He still describes himself as a supporter. “I have great, great memories of the Manchester United tie and I hope this tie goes the same way for them,” he grins.
His time at Athletic Club provides valuable learnings as well as cherished memories. “My understanding of football comes from there,” he says. “The way they used to play, even with different managers, was quite clear and it is how I am most comfortable.
“Obviously, you have to adapt from team to team. What we are doing in Bournemouth is not the same as what we were doing in Spain. But the main idea comes from there.”
Athletic Club, like Iraola’s Bournemouth, are typified by a direct approach and an emphasis on physicality. “They always say Athletic Club is the most English of the LaLiga teams,” he says. “I think there is a connection there that fits very well with Bournemouth.”
Bournemouth are direct in possession and intense and aggressive off the ball
That connection continues to bear fruit.
Bournemouth conceded a painful late equaliser to Manchester United after Evanilson’s wrongly awarded red card on Sunday, but they face Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City next having taken points off all three this season, thanks in large part to the fearless, attack-minded approach implemented by their head coach.
“The fixture schedule is not so important for us. Our approach against all the teams is very similar,” he says.
“It’s true that we would probably like to have easier games because we are playing away to Arsenal and Manchester City in games where we need to take the points. But I think we can still be competitive. We can make them play in a way that is not as easy for them. But we need to give our best and be at our best level.”
The challenge of finding ways to bridge the gap to the elite is familiar to Iraola, thanks again to the time spent at his boyhood club. “Most of the players come from the academy at Athletic Club,” he explains.
Andoni Iraola and Bournemouth assistant coach Tommy Elphick
“You have to grow quickly and learn to face the big clubs, even without the experience. With everyone’s help, you have to make it work, even against the top teams.
“I try to take those learnings to my teams. Respect the top teams, because they are better than you, but don’t respect them too much.
“Okay, you can have respect, but no fear. It’s like, ‘We know you are better, but let’s try to make it level, let’s try to give our best and see if we can make up the difference’.”
Iraola ‘happy’ at evolving Bournemouth
Iraola is speaking on a terrace at Bournemouth’s new training centre. It is a stunning facility and its opening was followed by news that the club have also bought back the Vitality Stadium, with plans to expand it. These are exciting times, on and off the pitch.
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Bournemouth players have a first look at their new, state-of-the-art training facility (Credit: AFC Bournemouth)
“I think we are lucky to be here in this moment for the club,” says Iraola. “I think the club is taking steps forward, but also knowing the challenges of the competition.
“Every club in the Premier League is very powerful and probably bigger than us. We have to try to reduce this gap. With the new training ground and the improvements to the stadium, I think we are getting closer to the other teams. I always tell the players, the club are giving us everything, so now it’s our moment to perform.”
The state-of-the-art surroundings are a reminder of how far Iraola has come. “I am not used to this level of facilities,” he smiles as he recalls his coaching beginnings with AEK Larnaca in Cyprus and Mirandes and Rayo Vallecano in Spain’s second tier.
These days, the 42-year-old is one of the most talked-about managers in the game, a reported target for Spurs and even Real Madrid. Not that he is allowing the noise to affect him. The mention of it is treated with characteristic modesty.
Antoine Semenyo has gone from strength to strength under Iraola
“For me, it’s a big challenge to compete here in the Premier League,” he says. “Most, if not all of the coaches that I am playing against have achieved more things than me.
“I have not been coaching for a lot of years. I’m really happy with how my career has gone because I have been taking steps forward, but still, in most of the teams I’ve been at, I’ve been fighting to avoid relegation a lot of times and just trying to finish in a good position.
“For me, it’s good that, together with the team here, we had a very good season last season. This season, we have improved on that and continued with this evolution of the club.”
I am very happy working here. The communication is really close and I feel we have a good connection
Will Iraola be there to oversee it beyond this summer? He has a year left on his contract and Bournemouth are said to be relaxed over his future. He does not sound like somebody in a hurry to move on.
“I am very happy,” he says. “I have always said it. I am very happy working here with everyone in the club. I am still finishing my second season, so we are talking about probably my fourth season here.
“I have a good relationship with everyone here. If everything goes well, we will have time to talk about these things. The communication with the club is really close and I feel we have a good connection.”
No panic over Huijsen, Kerkez
Iraola is not the only one attracting interest, of course.
It is a testament to his coaching ability that players previously overlooked by bigger clubs, such as Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo, now have long queues of suitors.
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Sky Sports chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol says clubs are ‘queuing up’ to sign Dean Huijsen
Iraola gives off no hint of panic around possible departures.
“I don’t think it’s any different from previous years, especially when the team has done a good job,” he says. “It happened to us last season. We didn’t know what was going to happen with some players. We lost Lloyd Kelly and after that Dom Solanke.
“We don’t really know what is going to happen in the summer, we are still focused on other things, but right now all the players are ours and, if nothing happens, they will continue to be ours next season also. So I don’t think it’s going to be different from other summers.
“We will focus on trying to improve the team, and add new players if we can, and if some player leaves because someone comes with what the club considers to be a good offer, we have to be ready for those situations, but not with fear.
“It is something that all the clubs, especially the ones who are not at the highest level like the top, top teams, have to get used to.”
The key, Iraola says, is to bring in the right replacements where necessary. Bournemouth’s transfer dealings this summer will be spearheaded by sporting directors Simon Francis and Tiago Pinto. Iraola has faith the club will deliver and highlights the strength of the foundations already in place.
“I think recruitment is key but I’m not too involved in it. I try to help them if I can, especially in the summer when the window is open.
“We also have to use the advantage of knowing each other better.
“When you are in the second or third year in a team, you can progress a lot because you already know the basics, you have experience with the same players in the good moments and the bad moments, and I think we have to take that advantage to get into more detail and become more solid as a team.”
Marcus Tavenier celebrates after scoring against Spurs earlier this season
Any new arrivals have to fit into that collective ethos but what does Iraola look for in potential signings? “Like all the managers, I want good players. Obviously, they speak English, they come with a lovely mentality, they are coachable… You can ask for everything from every player but everyone has different aspects.
“The most important things are that they are good players and also that they want to come here, they want to show their level here with us and they understand what we are trying to do here.
“I think that is something that the recruitment team is very, very clear about and they are doing very well.”
It helps, of course, that Bournemouth have now established themselves in the Premier League. But they also have a growing number of success stories to hold up to potential targets. Under Iraola, the club has become a destination where young, high-potential players such as Huijsen and Kerkez can flourish.
Milos Kerkez celebrates with Justin Kluivert during Bournemouth’s win at Newcastle
“I think it is an advantage compared to where we were two seasons ago, when we were just recently promoted and probably there were more doubts,” says Iraola.
“Now, I think the players know us, they know how we want to play, what we want to do. And if they want to come here, for us, perfect.
“For sure, sometimes we cannot compete, especially against other Premier League clubs. But I think now the player that comes to Bournemouth has a clear path of what we are going to ask him to do, and the expectations he will have. I think it’s a great place to come.”
A great place to come and, supporters will hope, a great place to stay too. Iraola, the coach shaped at Athletic Club and thriving in the Premier League, has put Bournemouth on an exciting path.
