There are not thought to be any issues with Andoni Iraola bringing his favoured backroom team to Liverpool despite a delay in the formalities.
That’s according to journalist David Lynch, who has claimed that an announcement on the new Liverpool coaching staff is likely to come as pre-season gets closer.
Having previously mooted the possibility that Thiago Alcantara could return to Anfield as part of Iraola’s team, Lynch also said that this still should not be entirely ruled out.
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No issues regarding Iraola’s Liverpool coaching staff
Confirmation of Iraola’s new-look team had been expected to arrive in the days following his appointment at the start of June. However, three weeks on from the Spaniard putting pen to paper, fans are yet to know who will join him in the dugout next season.
Some names have been reliably put forward, though, with Tommy Elphick, Shaun Cooper and Tom Webber all reportedly likely to arrive from Bournemouth.
The Cherries’ former fitness coach, and Iraola’s man at Rayo Vallecano, Pablo De la Torre, is also said to be a probable addition.
With Elphick, Cooper and Webber’s exits from Bournemouth all needing to be negotiated, a delay in any public progress may have signalled some problems behind the scenes. But as Lynch told Liverpool supporter podcast Born ‘N Red, things still appear to be on track.
“It’s gone quiet on this, but I expect all those to get done no problems,” said the reporter.
“It’ll be the case, I expect, because they haven’t announced it now, that they’ll wait until the start pre-season or a bit closer to that to start to introduce all these backroom staff. I haven’t heard anything that makes me think there are any issues or problems there.”
Thiago could still re-join Liverpool
While it is good news that Iraola will reunite his team which delivered so handsomely at Bournemouth, the names of his staff are largely unknown to Liverpool fans, who had been dreaming of seeing a former player take charge this summer in Xabi Alonso.
After Liverpool chose to ignore Alonso, fans would still to see one of their old heroes back at Anfield in the dugout, and the possibility of Thiago returning to tackle some unfinished business is undoubtedly exciting.
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And according to Lynch it is still possible that a former Liverpool player could join Iraola’s team, with Thiago a candidate.
“There’s still maybe the potential for a former player to be added to the staff, we’ll see how that kind of pans out,” he said.
“I know that’s something that’s been talked about behind the scenes, but in terms of him [Iraola] bringing his staff, I don’t think they’ve encountered any problems in that. So, I’d expect that all the staff he was going to bring should come in.”
Asked about rumours that Thiago was present at the AXA Training Centre earlier in June, Lynch admitted that he had heard those whisperings, but could not confirm whether they were true or false.
“I heard all that about him potentially being at the AXA and whatnot,” he said. “It was something they were looking at, I know that much, whether that was Thiago or another former player, I think there was a desire to have a former Liverpool representative, someone who’s a bit linked to the club, on the staff, but I don’t know how far along they are with that.”
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