Iraola transforms Bournemouth: from penultimate to ‘giant killers’ and invincible… with 12 healthy players

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6792526b18a7e by Ditible

Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth had a hard time getting off the ground last season. The defeat against Wolverhampton (1-2) by Gary O’Neil – his predecessor in office – even caused speculation in England about his possible dismissal: after nine games they were penultimate with only three points.

They closed the course twelfth, with a record of points (48) in Premier and now they are experiencing their sweetest point. The defeat of Newcastle by Eddie Howe (1-4) – the coach who led Bournemouth from the Third Division to the elite – is one of the ‘first works’ of ‘Iraolaball’. And not just because of Justin Kluivert’s hat-trick.

‘The Cherries’ showed up at St. James’ Park with only 12 healthy first team players, two of them goalkeepers: Kepa and Travers. Jebbison, Winterburn, Rees-Dottin, Akinmboni, Adu-Adkei… completed the call. What’s more, the injuries of Evanilson, Senesi, Tavernier, Alex Scott, Sinisterra, Adam Ünal, Julián Araujo… forced the former Rayo and Mirandés coach to initially line up Ouattara (false 9) and Cook (right back) outside position.

Even so, they overwhelmed a Newcastle team that had won nine in a row. “I am very proud of my players. I had doubts about how we were going to reach the last minutes because we put preserving our identity before playing at a slower pace, but we finished well. We are in good physical condition and we played a very, very good game. very good from start to finish. We deserved to win,” Iraola stressed.

I am very proud of my players. We played a very good game from start to finish. We deserved to win widely

Andoni Iraola

The former Athletic player has turned Bournemouth into the ‘giant killer’ of the Premier – they have defeated Arsenal (2-0), City (2-1), Tottenham (1-0), United (0-3) – and is on his way to breaking his own points record… and making his boss’s dream come true. “Our real goal is to play – for the first time in its history – in Europe,” reveals Bill Folley.

Bournemouth’s 11-game unbeaten streak

Wolverhampton 2-4 BournemouthBournemouth 1-0 TottenhamIpswich Town 1-2 BournemouthBournemouth 1-1 West HamManchester United 0-3 BournemouthBournemouth 0-0 Crystal PalaceFulham 2-2 BournemouthBournemouth 1-0 EvertonBournemouth 5-1 West Bromwich Albion (FA Cup)Chelsea 2- 2 BournemouthNewcastle 1-4 Bournemouth

They are on their way to achieving it. Bournemouth, seventh with 37 points, has gone 11 games without losing. The ranking, however, does not do his game justice. They should be higher. The study carried out by ‘Opta’ analyzing the performance of all the Premier teams places Iraola’s team third with 40 points. They would only have Arsenal (44) and Liverpool (50) ahead of them.

Estimation of current points vs. expected in the 2024-25 Premier League.

Estimation of current points vs. expected in the Premier League 2024-25.Opta The Analyst

And if something distinguishes Bournemouth, it is the identity that Iraola has tried to implement since his arrival: man-to-man marking all over the field, forward pressing, vertical football… have become registered trademarks.

“He doesn’t like defending, he hates it. If you don’t run, you don’t play”

The data doesn’t lie. Despite being the sixth team with the lowest volume of possession (45.85%) in the Premier, it is the fourth that shoots the most, both in total (359) and on goal (127). The fact that we are the team that plays the most long passes (1,257) and the sixth that completes the most successfully (531) speaks volumes about what Iraola is looking for and the importance of recovering quickly and looking for second plays.

At the level of intensity, there is no doubt. ‘His’ Bournemouth is the ‘king’: it is the team that recovers the most balls in the Premier (1,255), the second that makes the most interceptions (213), the fourth that makes the most clearances (543) and the fifth that makes the most tackles ‘ (entries) ago, both at a total level (424) and successfully (257).

In this sense, there is a paradigmatic statistic (see Driblab graph). Bournemouth is the sixteenth team in the Major Leagues that allows the least passes to the opponent per defensive action (PPAD): Iraola’s team only allows 11.7 passes on average for each opponent’s attack.

Passes allowed by defensive action in the five major leagues.

Passes allowed by defensive action in the five major leagues. Driblab

“He doesn’t like defending, he hates it. If you don’t run, you don’t play. With other coaches, when you face a big man, it’s more like: ‘Stay in the middle block. For Iraola it’s his last resort. Even before the goalkeeper rival is going to kick from the goal and you hear him shout: ‘Press up! Don’t stop, run’. It’s our way of playing and it’s uncomfortable for anyone,” reveals Antoine Semenyo. ‘Iraolaball’ is here to stay.

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