- Newcastle United linked with Andoni Iraola swoop
- AFC Bournemouth head coach to leave Vitality Stadium
- Athletic Bilbao must be considered by Magpies fans
With the news that Andoni Iraola will be leaving AFC Bournemouth come the end of the Premier League season, speculation surrounding his future has reached fever pitch.
Newcastle United have emerged as a possible destination for the 43-year-old, in line with the uncertainty around Eddie Howe’s future and the need to escape the stagnating rut currently plaguing them.
While discourse is rife around the possibility of him coming to Tyneside and what that would look like, it must be said that there are just as many, if not more, reasons to suggest Iraola will be going elsewhere this summer.
Manchester United & Liverpool interest
The first of the problems is perhaps the most damning. Of course, following his performances at Bournemouth, Iraola is gaining a mass of attention.
A plethora of reports have already suggested Manchester United have the Spaniard high on their list to take over from Michael Carrick’s interim role come the end of the season.
There is also thought to be interest from Liverpool, although no decision has been made to axe Arne Slot just yet, so that speculation is mainly pre-emptive. The BBC believes Iraola’s departure could speed up the managerial ‘merry-go-round’.
Iraola is also said to have many potential suitors outside of the Premier League. Elite clubs on the continent are monitoring the situation, with the Cherries’ boss having turned heads during his tenure on the South Coast.
Given the competition Newcastle would face to secure Iraola’s services, any potential deal may see the Magpies need to overcome European competition.
Newcastle would likely be outmuscled in stature, resources, and the wages they could offer Iraola given the financial constraints they must navigate.
Of course, there is also the negative of likely not having European football next season, which Iraola would likely favour when looking for another club. That, combined with the knock-on financial restraints, could send the Magpies to the back of the queue.
The Bilbao problem
In tandem with the other mentioned interest, Athletic Bilbao are also facing a manager hunt this summer, with Ernesto Valverde confirmed to leave.
If you are unfamiliar, that may seem rather disconnected from Newcastle’s bid to convince Iraola, but it actually may be the nail in the coffin – depending on Iraola’s preference, of course.
During the Spaniard’s playing career, he took the field for only two clubs. One of which was New York City towards the back end of his career.
The other was his boyhood club of Athletic Bilbao, for whom he made 510 appearances across a 14-year stint. Iraola is Basque by birth and became a legend there throughout his illustrious career and will certainly return there as a manager at some point during his career.
Whether that is going to be right now is yet to be seen, and some reports suggest that he may prefer a move within the Premier League at this stage, but ruling out him moving back to his beloved Bilbao when everything aligns as well as it does this summer would be silly.
Howe & Iraola share tactical shortcomings
Eddie Howe’s mantra at Newcastle has largely been ‘intensity is our identity’. Whilst it has been fruitful in previous seasons, it has also led to more problems in managing minutes and preventing injury than perhaps should have been the case.
Iraola’s system is largely the same in that sense, with Bournemouth subject to massive peaks and troughs in their form, the worst of which usually happens to occur in busy periods of the season.
What this would suggest is, should Iraola be tasked with adding European football to a schedule, which would be the aim at Newcastle, he may face the same issues which have been labelled by many as a ‘lack of depth’ under Howe.
Similarly, Howe and Iraola have garnered comparisons in terms of their one-dimensional playing style. The Spaniard’s high-pressure system largely requires teams to try and play from the back, meaning they can struggle with teams who look to play longer.
Looking at Howe’s shortcomings in recent weeks, the game against Sunderland saw long balls into Brian Brobbey be the undoing of Newcastle’s pressing system. Against Barcelona, in the second half of the second leg, the hosts played longer and isolated the Magpies’ backline in transitional situations. Iraola doesn’t seem to be the fix to that.
‘A new adventure with a different European club’
The news that Iraola is leaving Bournemouth was accompanied by the line ‘a new adventure with a different European club‘. Now, this could be reading too much into its meaning, but the wording would suggest he could be set for a move away from English football.
At this stage everything is speculation. While there are seemingly credible reports that he will remain in England, a potential hometown calling for Iraola cannot be overlooked.
Even if the Bilbao job doesn’t tickle Iraola’s fancy at this stage, there will no doubt be a large number of big clubs exploring the possibility of getting the Spaniard on board.
In other news, Jose Mourinho has already told Newcastle United stance on Premier League return.
