Bournemouth under the irola: why are the Cherries so good this season?

The Basque native spoke about the influence of former coach Marcelo Bielsa on his attacking approach in an interview with Sky Sports in 2023.

“I use a lot of the exercises from Marcelo that I learned from him (at Athletic Bilbao),” he said.

“I use a lot of things, especially with the ball. He’s willing to make all the runs in space, he’s willing to accept that kind of disruption offensively.”

The main solution here is chaos. While managers like Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Arne Slott are all about minimizing risk and avoiding chaotic game situations, Irola’s Bournemouth embrace them and are better for it.

The former Rayo Vallecano boss has deployed a system that aims to implement both zonal marking and man-to-man pressing. These days analysts call it ‘hybrid pressing’ and although Bournemouth are not alone in using such an approach, they are certainly far more effective than most teams at executing it.

Aiming to win the ball back as high up the pitch as possible, Bournemouth’s hybrid press is typically most visible during opposition goal-kicks.