Liverpool's Gamble on Iraola: Carragher's Concerns
Liverpool did not just sack a manager. They detonated a plan.
Arne Slot, the man who arrived as the bold successor to Jürgen Klopp and delivered a Premier League title at the first time of asking, is out after two seasons. A fifth-place finish in year two was enough for Fenway Sports Group to pull the trigger. The decision itself is ruthless. The timing is what has left Anfield simmering.
Because the moment to act, many feel, was months ago.
The Alonso Question That Won’t Go Away
Xabi Alonso was there. Available. Waiting for his next step after leaving Real Madrid in January.
Liverpool looked. They talked. They hesitated.
Alonso, steeped in Liverpool’s history and adored on the Kop, ended up agreeing to join Chelsea last month. Liverpool, at that point, were still backing Slot. Publicly and privately. No change, no panic, no pivot.
Weeks later, Slot is gone. Alonso is at Stamford Bridge. And Liverpool are staring at Andoni Iraola as the likely next man in, with the club’s strategy under a harsh spotlight.
Jamie Carragher, speaking on The Overlap, did not bother to hide his frustration. For him, the misstep is obvious.
He would have made the change when Alonso was on the table.
“I would have changed him (Slot) for Xabi Alonso. As soon as he went to Chelsea, I was thinking that I would keep Slot,” Carragher said, laying bare the contradiction at the heart of Liverpool’s planning.
For Carragher, Alonso was not just a romantic choice. He was the standout candidate on footballing grounds. A coach who squeezed the best out of Florian Wirtz. A manager who transformed Bayer Leverkusen. A figure forged under some of the game’s greatest coaches and tested at Real Madrid, however bruising that spell proved.
“With Alonso, you have an incredible playing CV, the managers he has been coached by. What he did at Leverkusen. He has managed Real Madrid. I know it didn't go well, but he is used to that pressure and scrutiny," Carragher pointed out.
The question hangs in the air: if Liverpool were prepared to swing the axe on Slot now, why not do it when Alonso was within reach?
Iraola Under the Microscope Before He Arrives
Now the conversation has moved to Iraola. Not in celebration, but in concern.
Carragher’s doubts go beyond the missed Alonso opportunity. They cut into how Iraola’s football would collide with the squad left behind at Anfield.
Iraola’s identity is clear. Relentless pressing. High tempo. Huge physical demands. At Bournemouth he built teams that ran and harried, sides that lived on the edge of their energy levels.
Liverpool’s current group, though, was assembled for a different set of ideas. Klopp’s pressing was intense but controlled. Slot’s approach layered more possession and structure on top. A sudden shift to Iraola’s version of chaos and aggression would not just be a tweak. It would be a reset.
“If Liverpool chose Iraola over Alonso, it is very worrying for Liverpool," Carragher said. The line cut deep. This is not about one coach being good and another bad. It is about fit, timing, and vision.
“If it is because Alonso wants to play a back three, or his style of play, fair enough. But I am not sure Liverpool has the players to play Iraola's high-pressing game.”
That is the crux. Liverpool are not starting with a blank slate. They are trying to graft a new identity onto a squad built for something else.
A Summer of Upheaval at Anfield
And this is only one piece of a turbulent summer.
Mohamed Salah has gone. The most reliable source of goals and decisive moments of the Klopp era is no longer there. The new coach, whoever walks through the door, must find a world-class winger to replace him in a market that punishes desperation.
Behind the scenes, the clear-out is just as brutal. Slot’s departure takes assistants Sipke Hulshoff, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ruben Peeters with him. Years of experience and relationships vanish from the training ground in an instant. A new backroom staff must be built, trusted, and integrated while the squad itself is reshaped.
It is a rebuild on every front: tactical, emotional, structural.
Iraola has shown at Bournemouth that he can hold his nerve when key players are sold, reshaping his team without losing identity. He survived and progressed through churn and change on the south coast.
Anfield is something else entirely.
The scrutiny is sharper. The expectations are heavier. Every tactical tweak becomes a talking point. Every dip in form becomes a crisis. At Bournemouth, Iraola rebuilt in the shadows. At Liverpool, he would be doing it under floodlights, with the world watching and a fanbase already questioning the club’s choices.
Liverpool have chosen volatility. They have turned away from the safe option, passed on a club legend in Alonso, and appear ready to bet on Iraola’s ferocious style and sharp ideas.
If they are right, Anfield will roar to a new rhythm. If they are wrong, this summer’s decisions will not just be second-guessed. They will define an era.
