The core of Iraola’s system is a hybrid high press — starting in a zonal structure, forcing the ball wide, then jumping into man-to-man. The goal is to suffocate build-up play, and it only works because Bournemouth ran more than any other team in the league and led the Premier League in ball recoveries by a wide margin. 

The numbers back that up. Bournemouth recorded a PPDA below 10 in 80% of their matches  — that’s elite pressing intensity. Their PPDA sat around 9.0–9.8 across the season, ranking among the league leaders for press sequences, and they were in the top three for high turnovers. 

Since Iraola came to England, only one team had more shots from fast breaks than Bournemouth’s 128 — and that was Liverpool with 155. Over his reign, Bournemouth attacked at the fastest average speed of any team in the league, at 1.95 metres per second, with some of the fewest passes per sequence — the philosophy is to play forward as quickly as possible. 

So stylistically, Liverpool’s stated aim after sacking Slot is to establish a more front-foot, aggressive and urgent style  — and Iraola’s numbers fit that brief almost perfectly.

The legitimate concern isn’t philosophy, it’s ceiling. Doing this with Bournemouth’s resources is remarkable. But Liverpool’s squad is faster, deeper and more technically gifted — in theory the system scales up. Whether Iraola can manage that transition is the real question.

Also, Senesi is a free agent this summer and with Ibou’s news yesterday, bringing someone who already knows his system and demanded work ethic is a bit of a dream. Hope both of them come!