How Andoni Iraola Turned Around Bournemouth's Form

 June 19th 2023, was a day to remember for Cherries fans, a day that sent shock waves even through other fan bases. Gary O’Neil after a remarkable 22/23 season that saw Bournemouth stay in the league despite all the odds was axed and replaced with current manager Andoni Iraola. Such was the disdain for the apparent sacking of a man many believed deserved his spot, perhaps if not for the availability of Iraola whose contract has recently run out after 3 seasons at Rayo Vallecano, he’d have kept his job, Bournemouth though had a long term strategy in mind in bringing in a young manager who had a history of extracting high value from his sides, Leeds tried to bring in Iraola earlier on in the season but it wasn’t meant to be.

To understand Bournemouth’s recent upturn in form one must understand how Iraola sets up his teams. Rayo were a high-octane counter-pressing and quick transitions juggernaut,  boasting the second-highest turnovers and 3rd highest PPDA (9.5), but they were also a team that played with variation, an opportunistic side, oftentimes reacting to the opposition in the way they set up, yet they’d never compromise on this tenacity.

Now slowly but surely Bournemouth are starting to resemble an Iraola side, they’re not only pressing more, as reflected in their data, but they’ve become more dangerous out wide, be it through crosses directly into the box or cutbacks. Here is a perfect example with Rayo in the 2022/23 season at home to Real Madrid.