Liverpool are already working on the backroom team Andoni Iraola wants at Anfield, with Shaun Cooper emerging as a particularly interesting name because of his links to Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards.
Things are moving quickly on the manager front, with a verbal agreement reached between Liverpool and Iraola to take over from Arne Slot. The Spaniard now looks the obvious choice to take the role at Anfield, and an official announcement should arrive in the coming hours or days.
Even before everything is confirmed, the coaching staff that will accompany him is already being discussed. That is where Cooper becomes particularly interesting, with the current Bournemouth assistant coach having a connection to the decision-makers at Liverpool.
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Barring any late drama, Iraola will be Liverpool’s next manager. He was always likely to take a major step after leaving Bournemouth, and it now looks like he will be taking one of the biggest jobs in world football.
It is a huge challenge, and the 43-year-old will want the right team around him from the start. Sky Sports’ Vinny O’Connor has reported that Iraola wants Pablo de la Torre, Tommy Elphick, Cooper and Tom Webber to join him at Anfield.
The real intrigue surrounds Cooper, who was at Portsmouth as a player at the same time as Hughes, while Edwards was also there as a performance analyst.
That connection does not make the move sentimental, but it does make it logical.
Liverpool’s main concern with Xabi Alonso was reportedly centred around the amount of power he could hold as a beloved club icon. From that perspective, Cooper looks like an attractive fit because Hughes and Edwards will want people they trust to respect the club’s hierarchy.
Iraola and his staff are experts at youth development
Iraola also arrives with proof that he can improve young talent. Bournemouth gave him plenty to work with, and his arrival at Liverpool could help unlock Milos Kerkez again after their time together on the south coast.
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It could also make players such as Rayan, Eli Junior Kroupi and Alex Scott even more interesting to Liverpool. Iraola knows what those box-office youngsters can become, and that could shape future recruitment conversations.
This is a time of real change at Anfield. These backroom decisions may look minor now, but they could be the difference between Liverpool getting back on track or drifting towards the kind of post-Ferguson decline Manchester United have been stuck in for the past decade.
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