Everton are in a good place right now with David Moyes, but the impending free agent status of Andoni Iraola has had a few people talking.
The Spaniard is leaving Bournemouth this summer, and speculation has been rife about which club he’ll manage next.
His stock is very high at the moment.
Iraola has Bournemouth on a 16-game unbeaten run in the Premier League which is a truly remarkable feat, and will almost certainly leave the Cherries with European football of some kind.
The Bournemouth manager has announced he’s leaving… 🤔
Everton look like they’ll just miss out, which will be a shame. However, it will still have been a good season.
There’s been no suggestion that Everton would seek to change manager, despite an increasing level of criticism of Moyes.
But there have been whispers that Iraola would speak to Everton if the club came calling and with that in mind, he is worth talking about.
And the Spaniard would be a game-changer for one reason in particular if he was appointed.
Andoni Iraola would fix Everton’s full-back issue
For a long time now, Everton haven’t been good enough in the full-back areas.
Vitalii Mykolenko has been underwhelming in the final third, contributing four goals and four assists in 156 appearances for Everton.
And on the other side, Everton haven’t even had a proper right-back most of the time.
Jake O’Brien has had plenty of good games there, but he is not a natural for the position. Like Mykolenko, there is next to no attacking threat, from a player who is naturally a centre-back and therefore going to be better defensively.
A staple of Iraola teams is that full-backs play with attacking intent, and stretch the opposition and create spaces in the opposition backline.
They are often tireless in their running, and actually act more as wing-backs more than traditional full-backs.
It is very common to see Iraola full-backs providing overlaps for their wingers, who make inside runs to create the space.
It is also worth mentioning that Iraola has an extremely good understanding of the full-back positions in particular anyway, because he was a right-back during his playing days – and a very good one at that.
He made over 500 appearances for Athletic Club, with over 400 of those coming in La Liga. He scored 33 goals and made 34 assists for the Spanish club in total.
There is a sense with Everton that upgrading the full-back positions will help the team to reach a higher level. And there is perhaps no better man to be overseeing an upgrade in that particular area than Iraola.
If Everton finish the season poorly now, and that is already happening, there will be talk about whether Moyes is the right man to take Everton on.
Undoubtedly Moyes is a great stabiliser, and obviously we saw him guide West Ham United to European glory previously. There is no denying the brilliant job he’s done at Everton in his second spell.
But Iraola is blossoming into a special coach. Bournemouth should have no business competing for Champions League football and the Spaniard actually might deliver that for them.
Not only would he fix Everton’s glaring full-back issue, but he would likely turn the Toffees into a more free-flowing, attacking-minded side and many fans have longed for that after Sean Dyche and now Moyes.
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