Jamie Carragher has voiced some concerns over Andoni Iraola’s track record of injuries and a ‘drop off’ in form during the second half of a season.
The 43-year-old is reportedly closing in on being appointed as the new head coach of Liverpool following his departure from Bournemouth and the sacking of Arne Slot at Anfield.
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The Spaniard is set to arrive on Merseyside with a buoyant reputation after his excellent work with the Cherries, who achieved a first-ever European qualification on his watch as they finished sixth in the most recent Premier League campaign, just one place behind the Reds.
Carragher raises concerns over Iraola
However, speaking about Iraola’s prospective appointment on The Overlap Fan Debate, Carragher raised concerns as to whether the head coach’s notoriously intense style of play could result in an abundance of injury problems at Liverpool.
The Sky Sports pundit said: “That’s the feeling, do they get injuries? If you look at most of his seasons, they tend to drop off in the second half of the season.
“I think last season was the first time they [an Iraola side] have had a great second half of the season – normally they’re up there at the start of the season. These are the things you have to take into account. Does the intensity have to drop off a little bit so you’re not actually getting the full Iraola?
“You’re getting too many injuries, you’ve got too many games, then he has to be more of a footballing manager. You’re also on the ball more at Liverpool than you are at Bournemouth.”
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Carragher’s points aren’t unfounded, but no need to unduly worry
Let’s look closer at the numbers around the Cherries’ injury record under Iraola during the 2025/26 Premier League season.
As per Transfermarkt, there were seven players at Bournemouth who missed at least eight matches consecutively due to injury, with six enduring multiple absences. Those statistics would seem to support Carragher’s argument.
However, when looking at the Premier League overall, the south coast club ranked 13th in terms of total games missed as of the start of May, whereas Liverpool were fifth (also via Transfermarkt). It doesn’t account for the final month of the campaign, but is a more than sizeable sample size to draw a fair conclusion.
What about Carragher’s point in terms of Iraola’s teams enduring a decline in form over the second half of a season? The table below shows his last five league campaigns and how many points were earned before and after the midway mark.
| Season (team) | Points in first 19 games | Points in last 19 games |
| 2021/22 (Rayo Vallecano) | 30 | 12 |
| 2022/23 (Rayo Vallecano) | 29 | 20 |
| 2023/24 (Bournemouth) | 25 | 23 |
| 2024/25 (Bournemouth) | 30 | 26 |
| 2025/26 (Bournemouth) | 23 | 34 |
Historically his sides have tended to pick up the majority of their points for a campaign before the 19-game mark, but that trend was shattered during an excellent 2025/26 in which Bournemouth didn’t lose a league match after 3 January.
Also, Iraola has steadily accrued more points in the second half of a season over the past five years, which suggests that he’s learning valuable lessons year on year.
We’re confident that, while Iraola would have greater commitments and higher expectations to contend with at Liverpool, he’ll manage the workload accordingly so that the Reds aren’t burnt out by the end of winter.
Why didn’t he voice the same concerns on arne slot when we are in a slump since last year?
Having a moan? Seeing the negative aspects?
Are we talking about the same Jamie Carragher here?
I would say it’s to be expected, we had a similar problem when klopp was manager. You can’t have it both ways, we all recognise that under slot the training wasn’t hard enough, there was no pressing, no tackles, not winning duels and we were being out run in nearly every game.
The best teams have work ethic and they put a shift in.
The Solution is to have a very good squad with younger players who can cope with the demands of high intensity football.
I would add one more point, at Bournemouth they were the best at counter attacking but one of the worst at ball retention. That must improve at Liverpool, the game is much harder without the ball, running around like headless chickens.
All the very best teams ive ever seen kept the ball.
Nothing wrong with counter attacking, but if you want to challenge the likes of PSG you must be able to retain possession. Under klopp there was lots of pressing and closing down, but it’s difficult to keep that up for 90 minutes. Keeping the ball, controls the game, game management. End to end chaotic football wont win the premier league, especially with the current Arsenal team.
Iraola will need to adapt at Liverpool.
I think carragher is right in what he’s saying, if you push Athletes to the limit and beyond then there’s more risks of injuries. It’s the price to pay for high intensity football. Klopp was criticised for the way we played and the injuries we had.
Asking players to constantly close down spaces naturally causes wear and tear to muscles and tendons and hamstring failure. Ferocious training methods are high risk especially during congested fixture periods.
Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa who Iraola has copied his phylosiphy when he played under him, had severe injuries, once had ten senior players missing through injury.
I fully expect injuries with the way Iraola will play and what does in training. Klopp proved you can be successful by pushing players to the limit.
What is vital is that Iraola gets the squad to pull it off.
You can’t play his style of football three times a week with the current Liverpool squad.
We need more players. Over to FSG.