Andoni Iraola has lifted the lid on his whirlwind move to Anfield, revealing how a former Rafa Benitez starlet and Xabi Alonso helped convince him to become Liverpool’s new head coach.
Andoni Iraola has admitted he soaked up crucial inside knowledge about Liverpool from former Reds academy graduate Mikel San Jose.
The Basque manager has completely immersed himself in the club during a whirlwind week a fortnight ago. In a matter of days, he went from deep talks with Crystal Palace to standing tall as the Reds new head coach.
How it all began
As part of his media duties for LFCTV, Iraola stepped out onto the pristine Anfield turf. Looking up at the towering stands, he instantly recalled the endless chatter from his former Spain teammates about the unique experience of playing for Liverpool.
Spanish roots and national team realities
It speaks volumes about Iraola’s quality as a footballer that he broke into the Spain national team during the most dominant period in the country’s history. He earned seven caps between 2008 and 2011 a golden era when La Roja lifted a European Championship and a World Cup.
During those international camps, Anfield stalwarts like Pepe Reina, Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, and Fernando Torres dominated the squad. But as Iraola looked up at the Main Stand, he pointed to a different former teammate as his primary source of Liverpool lore.
“That stand for me is crazy, the new one, the amount of people.”
Iraola suggested that it was former Athletic Bilbao teammate San Jose, alongside Alonso, who taught him the most about the weight of the Liverpool shirt.
“Liverpool has always had a lot of Spanish players. So in our years there was always a lot of talk about the club. I had a couple of friends playing, obviously Xabi [Alonso], Mikel San Jose, that was my teammate, he was here in the academy for a lot of years. You can remember a lot of magic moments and now it’s a privilege to be able to hopefully experience them.”
The forgotten Basque red
For a younger generation of supporters, the name Mikel San Jose might not ring many bells. However, as Iraola rightly pointed out, Liverpool boasted a massive Spanish contingent under Rafa Benitez during the mid-to-late 2000s.
The Champions League-winning manager regularly plucked the finest young talent from his homeland to bolster the Melwood youth ranks.
San Jose arrived on Merseyside as a raw 18-year-old in 2007, joining from Athletic Bilbao. While he never made a competitive senior appearance for Liverpool, the centre-back forged an exceptional career back home.
He racked up 397 appearances for Athletic, anchoring the defence alongside Iraola for six of his 11 seasons in the Basque country.
Much like Liverpool’s new boss, San Jose also earned seven caps for Spain. He finally hung up his boots in 2022 at age 33 following a brief stint in the Championship with Birmingham City.
His three years at Liverpool yielded little senior recognition, but the experience clearly left a lasting impression on San Jose. He will almost certainly act as a vital sounding board for Iraola in the coming weeks.
This is a fascinating insight into how Andoni Iraola views the magnitude of the job he has just inherited. Anfield has a global reputation, but hearing it validated through the Basque connection of Xabi Alonso and Mikel San Jose highlights just how deeply respected Liverpool remains across European football circles.
San Jose never quite made the grade under Rafa Benitez, but his deep appreciation for the club’s culture clearly rubbed off on Iraola during their shared years at San Mames. Iraola needs to hit the ground running after his dramatic swerve away from Crystal Palace.
Having iconic figures like Alonso and trusted friends like San Jose in his ear regarding the expectations of the Anfield crowd can only benefit him as he navigates this massive step up.
