Andoni Iraola dressing room fears dismissed as Liverpool urged to solve transfer 'problem'
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Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson speaks exclusively to the ECHO about Andoni Iraola's appointment as Liverpool head coach and the summer transfer windowAndoni Iraola's lack of European experience as a manager will not harm his standing in the Liverpool dressing room and the club needs to focus on improving the players the new head coach will inherit as much as bringing new signings in.That's the opinion of former Liverpool and England right-back Glen Johnson, who has been speaking exclusively to the ECHO after Iraola was appointed as the club's boss on Thursday (June 4).The 43-year-old takes over from Arne Slot, who lost his job last Saturday (May 30) to kickstart a whirlwind week at Anfield, and is reward for the excellent work he has done at Bournemouth and Rayo Vallecano over the last six years.But there is no disputing that taking over the 20-times champions of England represents a huge step up for Iraola, who next season will be managing in the Champions League for the first time in his career after Slot was able to steer the Reds to a top-five finish in the Premier League.Despite that, Johnson believes it was the right time to part company with the title-winning Dutchman and after a difficult campaign for a myriad of reasons, he believes the Spaniard can act as a "breath of fresh air".He said: "Something needed to happen - they have too good a squad to have mediocre years, and I think the trajectory under Slot wasn’t as positive as it will be under the new manager."All season, the squad struggled to find consistency. I think the club thought they needed a new manager to get back on track."Iraola is a top manager, and if he can rally the players to buy into his technical style of football then I think they will challenge in all competitions next season."I don’t know him personally, but I think he needs to get into that dressing room after the World Cup and put all the unrest to bed.
He needs to get rid of any elephants in the room, get the squad on the same page and focused on winning trophies."We have seen what he has produced on a low budget at Bournemouth, and I think he’ll just get better and better at Liverpool as he settles in."Players are always open to change, and I think the Liverpool players won’t be worried about his European experience, they’ll give him a chance, and hopefully it all clicks as early as possible next season."Iraola will have an idea on how he wants the team to play next season, but initially he has to go in and be a breath of fresh air for the squad. They have an unbelievable squad, and I think too many players fell out of form at the same time last season for them to see success."I don’t think they need to enter the market and buy the next hot players who perform well at the World Cup this summer.
The players they have need to start enjoying their football again under the new manager, and they will all bounce back to form."Liverpool do business slightly different to other teams. But one position that could be strengthened is right-back, where Johnson played with distinction across a 17-year career in the Premier League.Liverpool brought in Jeremie Frimpong last summer to compete with Conor Bradley after Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid.But Bradley is recovering from the serious injury he sustained against Arsenal at the Emirates in January while Frimpong, who has been troubled by fitness issues of his own, has yet to nail down the role.And Johnson, speaking to the ECHO via LiveFootballTickets, said: "Liverpool’s struggles at right back haven’t been solved one bit."I don’t think Jeremie Frimpong is an out-and-out right back, and I think the club knew that when they bought him, as he was a wing back for Bayer Leverkusen.