Liverpool sent 'exciting' Andoni Iraola message as two-year deal close to completion

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Danny Murphy believes Andoni Iraola is the right fit for Liverpool but does share some of his former team-mate Jamie Carragher's concernsAndoni Iraola is on the verge of being named as Liverpool's new head coach. The 43-year-old has reached a verbal agreement to become Arne Slot's successor and is ready to put pen to paper on a two-year contract.If, as expected, Iraola's appointment is confirmed by the end of the week, it will conclude a whirlwind seven days at Liverpool that began with the sacking of Slot.While the Dutchman will forever be remembered as the man who led the Reds to their first Premier League title in front of supporters, his second season on Merseyside proved far more problematic.And while his classy open letter to the ECHO after his dismissal reminded fans of his achievements, it would be fair to say a number of them had lost faith before the end of the campaign.But ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes new man Iraola, who led Bournemouth to a club-record sixth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, will enthuse the Anfield faithful.He said: "I'm quite excited because after watching Bournemouth play, there's no reason to think he's not going to try and play the same way - in terms of being courageous and on the front foot and trying to press teams with high energy and play attacking football."When a fanbase becomes disillusioned with a manager and his style of play - and then start turning on him - you're delaying the inevitable.

I do believe Liverpool are better placed now and that's not all down to Slot."Bringing in Iraola was the best option because the fans go into a new campaign with hope and excitement, rather than fear."You do not want to start the season where the players are feeling the anxiety from the outset, and this was the best way for Liverpool to do it."Murphy's former Reds team-mate Jamie Carragher had suggested he would have preferred for Xabi Alonso to replace Slot given his experience at big clubs.Speaking on The Overlap, Carragher said: "I would have changed him (Slot) for Xabi Alonso. When I was thinking about Alonso, it was also because he got the best out of Florian Wirtz.“If you were going to change it, why was it not for Alonso?

I know it didn't go well, but he is used to that pressure and scrutiny."If Liverpool chose Iraola over Alonso, it is very worrying for Liverpool."If it is because Alonso wants to play a back three, or his style of play, fair enough. But I am not sure Liverpool has the players to play Iraola's high-pressing game."And while Murphy is excited by the arrival of Iraola, who used to play in the same youth side as Alonso in San Sebastian, does share some of Carragher's concerns."I do have a couple of reservations because he's never managed a club of this size before and he will be a little bit surprised at how intrusive it will be on his life, when you manage Liverpool," said Murphy to the BBC."Even as a player, that changes overnight because it's one of the biggest clubs in the world and everything you do will be scrutinised and talked about, locally and globally."The only other reservation is whether he will be able to play high-intensity football every few days because that will require a certain level of fitness - which we saw with Jurgen Klopp's teams with the flying full-backs, the midfield dynamism and the work-rate of the attackers."It's difficult to see how to create that with what he's got at the moment so the summer transfer window is huge for Liverpool in that respect.