Experience the thrill of the game

By Eduard Banulescu

Andoni Iraola and the team he manages, Bournemouth FC, have had an incredible season. While other teams of their stature struggle with poor results and relegation fears, the Cherries are slowly inching closer to European qualification for next season. Is it all down to Iraola’s tactics?

Today I’m looking at the Spanish manager’s methods and trying to answer early on whether such a form is sustainable.

Iraola’s career before managing Bournemouth

As has seemingly become fashion in recent years, Andoni Iraola is one of the young managers employed in the Premier League. In fact, Iraola only retired from professional football in 2016.

Born in the Basque Country, Iraola played as a right-back for local clubs, most notably Athletic Bilbao, from 2003 to 2015. He retired after a final season with New York City FC in the MLS.

During this time, Bilbao was runner-up in the Copa del Rey three times and Iraola was called up to the Spanish national team seven times.

His managerial career began in 2018 when he took charge of AEK Larnaca in Cyprus. Next, a short stint in the Spanish lower divisions prompted Rayo Vallecano to take a risk and sign Iraola. The club was promoted to La Liga and the manager spent three relatively successful years at the helm of the team.

Iraola had been planning to take over the Premier League for some time. He did not hesitate to sign for AFC Bournemouth in 2023, despite the club being considered one of the teams most likely to be relegated to the Championship at the start of the season.

Tactical philosophy

Andoni Iraola came to the Premier League, the world’s toughest football competition, because he had become an expert at helping smaller teams excel. Bournemouth’s results in the 2024/25 season proved that he has not lost that touch.

How exactly does he achieve this? Iraola’s tactical philosophy involves a few predictable decisions and a lot of intricate tweaking to the team’s strategies.

Bournemouth, or previously Rayo Vallecano, are prepared to work harder than their opponents. Skilled trigger pulls allow the team to win the ball back and launch counterattacksusually by fast wide players.

Additionally, more attacking players will make themselves available to defend or double a role. And the team makes the most of set pieces and rarely loses a game once they are in the lead.

Formations and adaptability

In terms of the formation used, Iraola almost always starts with a conservative 4-2-3-1 approach. When attacking, it can easily become a 4-3-3.

It is no coincidence that the 4-2-3-1 is the most commonly used formation in modern football. This allows Bournemouth to keep up with most opponents man for man.

The formation allows the team to attack with width and get the best out of the full-backs and wingers who exploit the larger areas. But it also allows the team to tighten up in defense by having one of the defensive midfielders drop deep to support the centre-backs. When necessary, the team is not afraid to play long balls forward or attempt through passes.

However, it is important to note that Iraola’s tactics are not one-dimensional. This is probably why most opposing teams have not yet been able to fully understand the Cherries’ style and use it against them.

Bournemouth in defense

AFC Bournemouth is a team that has made a leap from the EPL to the Championship in recent years. The team’s tactics were always sensible, if unexciting. Eddie Howe’s 4-4-2 defensive style was one of the most talked about tactics in 2020.

Part of Iraola’s unexpected success is due to Bournemouth aggressively pressing and outrunning their opponents in the 2024/25 season. But that is perhaps an oversimplification. Most smaller EPL teams tried something similar and failed.

Yes, there is some risk. Like Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds, Bournemouth relies on man-to-man pressing. If that works, there will be scoring opportunities for the Cherries. If this is not the case, the opponents will counterattack.

But Iraola has shown that she is adaptable. The team will switch to a low pressing and operate in a 4-4-2 against opponents who can maneuver in tight spaces. This formation aims to keep the team’s three lines compact and organized, moving together to push out the middle of the pitch.

Since Bournemouth like to overcrowd the central areas and force the opposition to make risky, long passes, it is the central defenders Illia Zabarnyi or Marcos Senesi who win the ball back and start a counterattack. Senesi, for example, averages three successful tackles per 90 minutes.

However, One of the things the Spanish coach did was to bring younger players into the starting lineup. This allows the team to push forward for longer. The Cherries recently had the lowest average age of all Premier League teams.

This youth and willingness to outdo the opposition is best demonstrated in the way the attacking players apply pressure. Attacking midfielders Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier, as well as starting striker Evanilson, are all 25 years old and at the peak of their game.

Bournemouth’s attackers aggressively pressure the centre-backs and full-backs as the opposition attempt to build from the back. Tavernier is particularly effective. These tackles in the attacking third often lead to scoring opportunities for Bournemouth.

Bournemouth in attack

Iraola has designed a complex system of build-up patterns for Bournemouth. To say that this is just a team that presses aggressively and counterattacks would be doing the coach a disservice. However, it all starts with bringing an excellent level of energy to each performance.

Iraola told Sky Sports that the team’s identity was linked to a great work performance. “Most of the games we win are the games that are more open, where there are more chances, where we can exploit one-on-ones on the outside and find bigger spaces, because attacking small spaces is probably not our thing Strength.”

When building from behind. The structure of the Cherries resembles a 4-1-2-3. When necessary, one of the defensive midfielders tends to drop down to receive the pass. However, players are instructed to make quick passes forward at every opportunity.

Once this has worked and the ball has been advanced upwards, the other central midfielder will usually move forward to support the central attacking midfielder and striker. This means Ryan Christie is available for Kluivert or Evanilson to play cutback opposite him.

The way Kluivert and Christie (or Lewis Cook or Tyler Adams) advance behind the attacker in an almost free role gives the defenders a lot of freedom. They have to decide quickly who to mark and whether they want to maintain their defensive shape.

A lot is also asked of the full-backs. Milos Kerkez has been particularly effective this season. In quick build-up play, the full-back can push forward to help the winger, or he can become a decoy who makes a reverse run. This leads to goals through cuts and a system that Xavi Alonso also uses excellently at Bayer Leverkusen.

When that all finally fails, Bournemouth do things the old-fashioned way and try to pass between the lines or across the lines to Evanilson. The Brazilian has the strength and skill on the ball to see through these attacks.

What’s next for Iraola and AFC? Bournemouth?

Andoni Iraola is on course to give AFC Bournemouth the best Premier League result in the club’s history. That would be an incredible achievement for a team that many predicted would struggle to avoid relegation.

Of course, this success would help the Cherries financially. The team could even aim for European football participation. And last but not least, Iraola’s popularity will be massively increased.

Still, at the time of writing, there is still almost half of the season left to play. Although Bournemouth’s players have put in exciting performances, it remains to be seen whether they have the stamina and ingenuity to keep it up.

However, Iraola’s tactics could make him a star manager in the coming years. His name is likely to be mentioned the next time a big-name Premier League or La Liga team is looking for a new coach.