One member of Andoni Iraola’s new backroom team at Liverpool has been described as a ‘fiery character’ who could be liable to ‘pick up a few bookings’ over the course of next season.
As expected, the Reds’ new head coach has recently been joined by four members of staff who worked with him at Bournemouth, with coaches Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, analyst Tom Webber and fitness coach Pablo de la Torre all following him from the Vitality Stadium to Anfield.
The latter gave a compelling insight on Arne Slot’s successor in an interview with Spanish media, hailing his ‘almost unique’ reading of the game, and LFC fans have now been given an informed insight on some of the new faces in L4.
Alexander Smith, senior sports reporter for the Bournemouth Daily Echo, spoke to The Athletic about the four men who’ve joined Iraola’s backroom team at Liverpool, and his comments on De la Torre were particularly noteworthy.
The journalist explained: “Pablo is a fiery character and isn’t afraid to express his feelings. Expect him to pick up a few bookings for his protests on the bench. He’s massively trusted by Iraola and so important in terms of ensuring the squad can cope with the physical demands of playing his brand of football.
“It’s intense, the way he wants his team to press and stay on the front foot. Being able to sustain that for 90 minutes isn’t easy. At Liverpool, there’s going to be the added workload of Champions League football. Pablo will have a big part to play, especially over the course of pre-season.”
Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
While we have full trust in Iraola to appoint the backroom staff that he sees fit, Smith’s insight on De la Torre includes a couple of minor alarm bells.
One is the fitness coach’s apparent propensity to accumulate yellow cards for his boisterousness on the touchline, and it seems that he might be liable to getting caught up in scenes similar to those which saw Slot and Sipke Hulshoff shown red cards at the end of the tempestuous Goodison Park derby of February 2025.
The intensity that De la Torre is likely to instil at Liverpool may also be an issue throughout a season in which the Reds will be involved in four competitions, potentially playing upwards of 60 matches depending on how far they progress in knockout tournaments.
What worked for Iraola at Bournemouth – who up to now haven’t had to juggle domestic and European commitments – isn’t guaranteed to translate seamlessly at Anfield, and there’s a balance to be struck between finding the right intensity and not burning out players too early.
It should be noted, though, that those methods came as a culture shock to the Cherries squad at first before they ultimately adapted to terrific effect, and one Reds player in Milos Kerkez will already be familiar with the training regime of LFC’s new coaching staff.
Just as it was for the south coast club three years ago, the next few weeks and months will be an adaptation period for the Liverpool players, who hopefully will respond to Iraola’s methods as brilliantly as Bournemouth’s did.
Welcome to our Live Comments section, where new comments will appear automatically
“‘fiery character’ who could be liable to ‘pick up a few bookings’ over the course of next season”
How many bookings did the “fiery character” pick up last season ?
Or will things dramatically change at Liverpool ?
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
