Carragher, Johnson and fellow Liverpool legends cast doubt on Iraola appointment

Jamie Carragher, Glen Johnson, and a third Liverpool legend have each expressed reservations about Andoni Iraola’s appointment as manager, putting pressure on Fenway Sports Group and sporting director Richard Hughes just as the 43-year-old Basque coach prepares to take charge at Anfield.

Carragher was the most pointed in his criticism, arguing that Xabi Alonso — now confirmed as Chelsea’s new head coach — would have been the superior appointment. Speaking on The Overlap ahead of Iraola’s confirmation, the former defender said: “I would have changed him [Slot] for Xabi Alonso. As soon as he went to Chelsea, I was thinking that I would keep Slot.”

Carragher cited Alonso’s playing pedigree, his coaching mentors, and his transformative work at Bayer Leverkusen as reasons why the Spaniard would have been better suited to Anfield. He also raised tactical doubts about Iraola’s suitability for the current squad. “I am not sure Liverpool has the players to play Iraola’s high-pressing game,” he said, adding that if Liverpool chose Iraola over Alonso purely on stylistic grounds — such as Alonso’s preference for a back three — “fair enough,” but the decision remained “very worrying” if the reasoning was less clear.

Glen Johnson, who played under several Liverpool managers, drew a cautionary parallel with Brendan Rodgers’ tenure. “There are similarities in the two situations. But I hope it’s not the same process,” Johnson said. He acknowledged that Iraola would not simply be copying a blueprint for success, but stressed that managing a club of Liverpool’s scale is a fundamentally different challenge to anything the former Bournemouth coach has faced. “No disrespect to Bournemouth, but he is now managing at one of the biggest clubs in world football with some of the best players in the world,” Johnson added.

Iraola arrives having earned widespread praise for his work on the south coast, where he consistently outperformed Bournemouth’s resources and attracted interest from several elite clubs. His direct, high-energy style is seen as closer in spirit to Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool than the possession-based approach of the recently sacked Arne Slot.

Nonetheless, the public scepticism from figures so closely associated with the club will add scrutiny to what was already a significant decision. FSG and Hughes will be aware that winning over the fanbase — and the club’s most prominent former players — will require Iraola to hit the ground running.