New Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola insists he is ready to fight as a Premier League “underdog” as he became the latest Gipuzkoa-born boss to manage in England.
Iraola was appointed as Gary O’Neil’s successor at the Vitality Stadium last month, following in the footsteps of Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery and Julen Lopetegui; his managerial counterparts who all hail from the same small province in northern Spain.
The 41-year-old played in the same youth team as Arteta and also has a relationship with former Bournemouth manager – and current Newcastle boss – Eddie Howe, who previously travelled to Madrid to study Iraola.
Iraola spent three years in charge at Rayo Vallecano, leading the club into LaLiga before keeping them in the top-flight for the next two seasons before departing for Bournemouth.
“When you start the season with the sense of being the underdogs, we have to gain a little bit of respect from the league,” he said.
“It is pretty similar (to Spain) because of the stadium being not so big or the club not having maybe the history – but we have to use this to our advantage and I am used to this in Spain with Rayo and Mirandes.
“For me this was a great opportunity, it is the Premier League and right now for sure it is best league in the world.
“We knew the club, now I have seen new faces, known new people, I am sure it is the right choice for me and I hope I can be at the level.
“I’m really grateful and the welcome has been very, very nice. We know Eddie, he was in Madrid visiting us and we know (former Bournemouth manager and Howe’s assistant) Jason Tindall and we had talked previously about Bournemouth.
“Obviously everyone here talks about Eddie, that is a sign he did a lot of very, very good things here in Bournemouth, I am happy he has been very successful now in Newcastle but every coach has his own ideas.”
While he goes well back with Arsenal boss Arteta, Iraola has not felt the need to rekindle his relationship with his former team-mate.
“Mikel I know him, we played together when we were nine or 19 years old, we kind of lost the relationship.
“We know that when we meet we will hug and talk about a lot of things. We haven’t maintained the relationship – I could call him right now but…”
Emery, too, has not had a phone call but Iraola holds the Aston Villa coach in high regard and said: “I think I’m not, I’m not on his level because he has shown a lot of things before, he has been really successful almost everywhere.
“He is very good as a coach. We have spoken sometimes but I haven’t talked with him (since getting the Bournemouth job).”
Iraola is very much head coach in every way, insisting he “shouldn’t be signing the players” and is instead keen to get to know his squad and challenge them to play in the style he wants to implement.
“I don’t like the game to be too controlled,” he added.
“We try to attack as soon as we can, we open the game and have a good volume of chances and crosses.
“Sometimes you will suffer at the back but you have to be ready, we have good defenders, also.”
Van Nistelrooy wishes Man Utd success under Amorim
Ruud van Nistelrooy says Manchester United deserve to be successful under new head coach Ruben Amorim, having left the club after the Portuguese's arrival this week.
Amorim officially left Sporting CP for United on Monday, with Van Nistelrooy having overseen four matches as interim coach after Erik ten Hag was sacked last month.
United won three and drew one of those matches, beating Leicester City twice and overcoming PAOK in the Europa League while drawing 1-1 with Chelsea in the Premier League.
At 39 years old, new boss Amorim will become the youngest man to lead United since a 33-year-old Wilf McGuinness took charge of them on Boxing Day 1970 against Derby County.
Van Nistelrooy, who had initially hoped to stay on in a backroom role under Amorim but departed earlier this week, is backing the Red Devils to be successful.
In a farewell post on Instagram, the former striker wrote: "To everyone at Manchester United football club, in particular the backroom staff, the players and the fans.
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your incredible efforts and support. It has been a privilege and honour to represent the club as a player, coach and manager, and I will always cherish the memories we have shared together.
"M.U.F.C will always have a special place in my heart, and I hope there are many more glory days at Old Trafford very soon - not only because I want the club to do well, but because you all deserve it!"
Amorim's first assignment as United boss will be a Premier League trip to Ipswich Town next week, before Bodo/Glimt visit Old Trafford in the Europa League on November 28.
Between his March 2020 appointment and his departure this month, Sporting won 77% of their Primeira Liga matches, the best win ratio in Europe's top 10 leagues in that span.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
McTominay has no regrets over Man Utd exit
Scott McTominay says he has no regrets about leaving Manchester United to join Napoli after a lightning-quick start to life in Italy.
He has scored three goals in 10 appearances for the Italian club in all competitions, netting twice in Serie A to help them sit top of the table after 12 games.
Only Romelu Lukaku has scored more league goals for Napoli than him this season, while McTominay has also had the second-most big chances (four) among his team-mates, scoring two of them.
Before his transfer deadline day move, McTominay had spent 22 years at United, joining their academy aged five before making his debut in May 2017.
The Scotland international made 255 appearances for the senior team, scoring 29 goals, including 10 during his most prolific season in 2023-24, and providing eight assists.
While McTominay admitted leaving his boyhood club was not an easy choice, he is pleased with the outcome of the choice.
"Obviously, it's a big decision, there's no denying that. It was a huge decision for me and my family and my friends," he told The Times.
"At times like that in your life, you just have to say, 'Do I want to do it? Absolutely,' and go for it. There's no looking back. I've never had any regrets in my life, or my career and I continue that way to this day.
"I want my career to be successful, and I'm going to go out of my way to try and push myself to be the best football player and best person that I can possibly be."
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