Andoni Iraola's first Liverpool press conference showed where he is the opposite to Arne Slot

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The ECHO's Liverpool correspondent Paul Gorst reports from the AXA Training Centre after Andoni Iraola's first press conference as head coachIf there was a debate around how the mild-mannered and unassuming Andoni Iraola would handle the pressure that accompanies the biggest job of his career, he wasted no time easing concerns on Monday morning."It's a great question for the first one!" Iraola began when asked about what his message is Liverpool's worldwide support at his first press conference as the new head coach."I would like to give them a team that they can feel proud of."That, amid all the chaos and confusion of last season, is something that has been lost on the Anfield terraces.And while there may be 101 reasons why that pride eroded during the chastening campaign of 25/26, there is little doubt it needs to be restored.However you appropriate the blame for that is a moot point now as a fresh era begins under Iraola."I think football, and especially Liverpool, for me is about connecting, connecting with the people, connecting with our supporters."It was an impressive first reply from a head coach who many believe is stepping way up from his comfort zone having left Bournemouth in the close season.If that maybe true in a sense of Liverpool being one of the institutions of British football, his Cherries side did only finish one place below the Reds last time out, highlighting the excellent job he performed on the south coast with a fraction of the resources.Iraola did not arrive with any bombastic claims or seek to deliver the type of soundbites that might eventually end up on a coffee mug at the AXA Training Centre, but his hard-working nature is seeking to instill a more aggressive, front-footed style into this Liverpool team, who, for large parts of last season, looked undercooked and even disinterested.Iraola referenced the first game of last season when his Bournemouth side were beaten 4-2 on a warm August evening to kick off the new campaign as defending champions.An emotional night in L4 saw the match attended by Diogo Jota's widow, Rute, in the first competitive game since the No.20's passing the month prior and the outpouring from the stands when Federico Chiesa volleyed home late on to make it 3-2 was one of the moments of an otherwise ordinary term."I've been in the other side at Anfield," he said of that night 11 months ago. "I've experienced, I always say, the goal that Chiesa scored in the first game of the past season, where you can feel this stadium – and I would love to have this every game we play."And it has to come from us from inside the pitch and we have to be a team that works hard, [is] intense, aggressive, vertical so everyone can be identified, everyone can feel comfortable supporting this team."That is one of Iraola's first tasks: restoring Anfield's aura.

No longer will Liverpool be outrun as routinely as they were last season and the Basque's insistence that he prefers to face low blocks might have sounded like music to the ears of supporters who had grown weary of explanations that started to sound like excuses on that front.Iraola said: "I always say, I prefer to face low blocks in terms of: 'OK, we will be in control of the game, probably we will concede less chances, we will spend a lot of time in the opposition half and those are the scenarios that we have to find.'"Obviously I understand that this is Liverpool. We have to change a little bit even tactically, even on the pitch."But if they sign me, it's because they want a lot of things that I was doing before in other clubs.

So, I wouldn't like to change in the pitch the DNA of what has been my teams and also outside."How I am going to answer your questions? I will try to be as natural as possible and I hope it doesn't change me a lot."Iraola may not be looking to change too much but it's clear this Liverpool needs to.