Liverpool have a three-week international break. Most of the first-team squad are away with their countries, the players who stayed behind have had some time off and there isn’t a competitive match for the men’s team until October.
So what does Iraola do?
He goes to Anfield with his family to watch Liverpool Women take on Everton in the Merseyside derby.
For me, that says quite a lot about the man.
Iraola could quite easily have disappeared for a couple of weeks. He had every right to take a proper holiday after the hectic start to the season.
Instead, he has spent the break around the club, working with the players who stayed behind and getting involved with different parts of Liverpool.
And now he’s sitting in the Main Stand watching the women’s team.
I love it.
Liverpool Women went on to beat Everton 2-0 in the first Women’s Merseyside derby to be won by Liverpool at Anfield, with Beata Olsson and Cornelia Kapocs getting the goals. Iraola was there with his wife and children, alongside sporting director Julian Ward.
And Gareth Taylor noticed it.
Before the game, the Liverpool Women boss described Iraola’s decision to attend as a “really impressive gesture”, pointing out that bringing his family along showed the level of support.
That matters.
Because Liverpool Football Club isn’t just the men’s first team.
It’s the academy. It’s the women’s team. It’s the staff. It’s the supporters. It’s the people working behind the scenes.
It’s everything.
And I think Iraola gets that.
This is what caught my attention
I remember the comparisons being made with the previous regime during international breaks.
There was a perception among supporters that Arne Slot would often use these breaks to get away, with Ibiza becoming part of the conversation around his time away from Liverpool.
I’m not going to pretend I know what Slot did every single day of every international break, because I don’t.
But I do know what I’m seeing from Iraola.
He’s making an effort to be around Liverpool.
During this break, he has been working with the players who weren’t away on international duty, using the time to work on tactics and prepare for what is going to be a demanding run of fixtures.
And now he’s gone to watch the women’s team.
That is the sort of thing supporters notice.
Not because watching a football match suddenly makes somebody a great manager.
It doesn’t.
But because it tells you something about how he sees the club.
Iraola is getting involved
We’ve already seen him give opportunities to younger players.
Trey Nyoni has been involved. James McConnell has been around the first team. Lewis Koumas has been given opportunities.
There has been a much more obvious connection between the senior side and the younger players, and Iraola has also been using the international break to work with the players who remained at the AXA Training Centre.
Now he’s supporting Liverpool Women.
It’s not complicated.
He’s getting involved.
And maybe that’s why so many supporters are warming to him so quickly.
We don’t expect the manager to be at every academy game or every women’s fixture. That’s unrealistic.
But when he chooses to go, it gets noticed.
Especially when he’s taking his family with him.
I think there is something quite nice about that.
He understands the connection
Iraola is still relatively new to Liverpool.
He’s learning the players. He’s learning the league. He’s learning the expectations that come with managing this football club.
But he seems to understand one thing already.
Liverpool is bigger than the first team.
That sounds obvious, but sometimes football clubs can become very compartmentalised.
The men’s team over here.
The academy somewhere else.
The women’s team somewhere else.
Iraola seems keen to knock down some of those walls.
And that’s something I really like.
I’m not saying this suddenly makes Liverpool guaranteed to win trophies. Of course it doesn’t.
I’m also not saying everything Iraola does is automatically brilliant.
He’s still got plenty to prove on the pitch.
But these little things matter.
For me, they tell you something about his character.
And after watching him turn up at Anfield to support Liverpool Women, I can’t help thinking:
Iraola gets it.
He understands that being Liverpool manager isn’t just about turning up at Anfield on a Saturday afternoon.
It’s about becoming part of the football club.
And if he keeps doing things like this, I suspect he’ll become very popular with Liverpool supporters.
Because sometimes it’s the little things that tell you the most.
Andoni Iraola, what a guy.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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