Photo: AFC Bournemouth / CC BY 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Andoni Iraola has explained why he brought four members of his former backroom staff from AFC Bournemouth to Liverpool following his appointment as head coach.
Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper have joined as first-team coaches, Pablo de la Torre as assistant coach, and Tom Webber as first-team tactical analyst.
"For me, it was important they came with me," Iraola said. "Pablo is a physical coach but has been with me almost all the years I have been coaching. So for me, he is much more than a physical coach really. He is an assistant and we know each other very well."
Iraola credited Elphick and Cooper with helping him adapt to English football culture after an early setback at Bournemouth. "I was very lucky with Tommy and Shaun when I arrived at Bournemouth, because I was unlucky to have the issue with my [former] assistant coach Inigo Perez," he said. "After it, it worked out very well for him because now he is coaching Villarreal – maybe we play him in the Champions League."
The Liverpool head coach highlighted the pair's knowledge of the English game as a key asset. "They were very prepared, they were very helpful for me in terms of understanding the English culture, the mentality of the players, what they were used to, what they like in training, even the small details that maybe in Spain are different."
Iraola also pointed to Elphick's experience across several Premier League and Championship clubs — Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton and Huddersfield — as adding value within the squad environment. "They can be in a closer position to the players, if you want, they can feel more identified," he said. "They are very good coaches. We kind of understand the game similarly and they have different roles in the coaching staff. They help with set-pieces also. That's the reason I continued with them."