Jamie Carragher makes bold Liverpool prediction for Andoni Iraola's first season - 'Those days are gone'

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Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes new manager Andoni Iraola must challenge for the Premier League title in his first season at Anfield, while also paying tribute to sacked boss Arne Slot10:52, 20 Jun 2026Updated 10:56, 20 Jun 2026Jamie Carragher has predicted how Liverpool will fare in Andoni Iraola's first season in charge(Image: Sky Sports)Jamie Carragher believes Andoni Iraola must challenge for the Premier League title this coming season at Liverpool.The Reds legend says he is enthused by the style of football the former Bournemouth manager will bring to Anfield, while paying tribute to Arne Slot, who was dismissed three weeks ago. Slot guided Liverpool to a fifth-place finish, securing Champions League qualification on the final day of the campaign, but 20 defeats across all competitions resulted in the Dutchman being relieved of his duties following an end-of-season review on May 30.Iraola, who steered Bournemouth to sixth place, was swiftly appointed as Slot's replacement, signing a two-year contract after departing the Vitality Stadium at the end of the season.

Carragher, who lifted the 2005 Champions League during his 737-match career at Anfield, is optimistic about the new head coach's prospects of success."Listen, he's done an amazing job since he's come into the Premier League to Bournemouth and I don't think anyone doesn't watch them and isn't excited when they watch them," Carragher told Sky Sports at Royal Ascot this week, reports the Liverpool Echo."Or if I've got a game for Sky and it's Bournemouth, I think: 'OK, I'll look forward to that.' It's that all-action style, probably a little bit what we saw from England (against Croatia on Wednesday), really aggressive, getting the ball forward really early."It's maybe a bit of a throwback to Jurgen Klopp's days at Liverpool and a slightly different style than Arne Slot.Andoni Iraola takes over from Arne Slot at Liverpool this summer(Image: (Photo by Nikki Dyer - LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))"But as I say, I always want to say this with any Liverpool manager and yes, Arne Slot got a lot of criticism last season and I can't argue and I don't think he can too much with the change because it was so poor last season.""But we shouldn't forget: he won Liverpool the Premier League last season and I'll never forget that, so a big thank you to him. And hopefully that's the goal [next season]."Can they challenge?

Those days are gone from when I played when managers came in and it was like a four or five-year project to try and win the league or come close to winning the league.Get Liverpool's new 2026/27 home kitThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. You know, Jurgen Klopp's team finished third, you've got to go for the league and he won the league, and it's the same with Iraola."Liverpool finished fifth last season, nowhere near good enough."So, I'm not expecting Liverpool to win the league next season, but we are Liverpool, we're going to spend big in the summer, we've got a lot of great players and yeah, we're gonna challenge."Iraola will embark on his Liverpool tenure in the Premier League with an away fixture against Newcastle United on Sunday, August 23.