Andoni Iraola coaches blown away by what they've found at Liverpool - 'Just on another scale'

Bournemouth legend Steve Fletcher is convinced Andoni Iraola and the coaching staff he knows well will make the step up at Liverpool

Liverpool's new coaching staff have been blown away by the size of the club while head coach Andoni Iraola has been backed to bring success - and entertainment - to Anfield.

Iraola officially kicked off his Reds rein on Sunday when his side twice fought back to snatch a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United at an emotional St James' Park.

But the match underlined the task facing the Basque boss after his summer arrival from Bournemouth, who he led to 12th, ninth and sixth-placed finishes in his time in charge.

Iraola brought Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper - as well as Pablo de la Torre and Tom Webber - with him and Cherries legend Steve Fletcher has revealed that it was on Liverpool's tour of America that it really hit home about the " global phenomenon" they now work for.

And Fletcher, who spent 15 years at Bournemouth and is their all-time appearance maker, is confident Iraola will get the Reds challenging for trophies again after a disappointing season under Arne Slot, who 12 months after winning the Premier League, paid the price with his job.

"He can leave this football club as a legend or one of the most legendary managers we've ever had," said Fletcher. "Good luck to him; we wish him all the best at Liverpool, because he’s a good human being.

"He won't change his style of play; I know what he's like. He'll play a certain way; he likes fast, attractive, aggressive football, and he'll press from the front.

"You could call it a little bit kamikaze football at times, but he likes a bit of the chaos in the middle of the park, and he trusts his players to be 1v1 in certain situations. He'll definitely entertain the crowds.

"Can he succeed? 100% he can. The players have got to buy into what he wants to do, and he needs to get off to a good start. If you get results, players believe in you, and when they believe in you, they play at their best.

"It doesn't matter if you're Andoni or you're a manager in League Two, you get off to a good start as a new manager, players buy into your philosophy, your way of playing, your ethos, and anything can happen from there.

"He will be expected to compete, that's for sure. They're Liverpool; they're used to winning trophies, they're used to competing year in, year out."

The Reds will look to pick up their first win of the new season at the weekend when they play host to Nottingham Forest on Saturday (12.30pm kick-off).

They then head to newly promoted Ipswich Town on Friday, September 4 before a hectic run of matches before the international break kicks in including contests in the Champions League and Carabao Cup.

And Fletcher, who works for Bournemouth as an ambassador, added to Flashscore: "Liverpool is a global phenomenon, and they're going to expect big things. The only difference he will experience from being the manager at Bournemouth is that the expectation level at Liverpool Football Club is beyond belief.

"My two friends who are the coaches – Tommy Elphick and Sean Cooper – I speak to them on a regular basis. They've gone up with Andoni to Liverpool, and they just said the magnitude of this football club is beyond belief after touring America for two weeks.

"They said: ‘The levels of support out there – you get off the coach, and 400 people are waiting at the hotel’. It's just on another scale…the expectation level will be very different to what it was at Bournemouth.

"Losing our manager Andoni was a blow for the football club. He waited right until the end of the season because he loved the club so much; he hadn't made his mind up, but I think the Liverpool thing came quite quickly.

"I don't think it was something that was planned much in advance. I think the opportunity came along, and how could you turn it down, you know? It's one of the biggest clubs in the world."

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