Liverpool’s next Premier League match is at AFC Bournemouth, where sporting director Richard Hughes will face his previous team.
So it became a two-horse contest. Arne Slot insisted that Nottingham Forest were in the Premier League title chase. Certainly, following Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at the City Ground, the Dutchman’s theory appeared true. The Reds dominated the second quarter, but Forest demonstrated why they had given themselves an outside chance. Their defense was strong, and their counterattacking abilities were lethal.
However, after last weekend’s results, Liverpool’s head coach might well have shifted his stance slightly. The Reds cruised to a 4-1 victory over Ipswich Town, while Arsenal had to battle to a 1-0 triumph at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The gap between the Reds and second spot remains six points. However, Forest could not keep apace. For all of Nuno Espirito Santo’s achievements this season, they suffered a sobering loss at the hands of AFC Bournemouth.
Forest were defeated in a duel of this season’s surprise packages, despite being joint-second into the Vitality Stadium match. Bournemouth won 5-0, with Dango Ouattara scoring three goals and Justin Kluivert and Antonio Semenyo both scoring once. It leaves Forest nine points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
While they might have given too much ground in the title race, Santo will still be a contender for Premier League Manager of the Season if he manages to guide Forest into the Champions League. However, there will be plenty who believe that Andoni Iraola may be deserving of the gong. The Spaniard has transformed Bournemouth into Champions League contenders in their own right. They’re currently just a point outside the places to qualify for Europe’s elite club competition – and four behind Forest.
Iraola has deservedly received numerous accolades. Certainly, his appointment as Bournemouth manager following the 2022-23 season was a daring move fraught with controversy. Gary O’Neil steered the Cherries to safety in their first season back in the Premier League, finishing 15th. However, owner Bill Foley and Richard Hughes, Bournemouth’s technical director, determined that change was necessary and wielded the axe.
When Iraola was appointed, he went largely unnoticed and, on the surface, did not appear to be a big upgrade. The Spaniard had been in charge of Rayo Vallecano for the previous three years, and while he earned promotion to La Liga, the club ended 11th the previous season.
And when Iraola failed to secure a victory in his opening nine Premier League games, plenty questioned why O’Neil was disposed of. After O’Neil’s Wolves secured a 2-1 win over Bournemouth, it seemed that Hughes and Bournemouth’s decision may have backfired emphatically. After the game, the Premier League’s all-time top scorer Alan Shearer said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “He [O’Neil] would have loved to stand there with his middle finger like that up to the directors’ box. He will never admit it, but secretly inside he will be absolutely thinking, f*** you.
“That is exactly how he is thinking. They are currently in 12th place with 11 points, staring down at Bournemouth, the team that dismissed him. We all thought it was a ridiculous and harsh decision, and if Bournemouth doesn’t get results quickly, I believe they will face Burnley at home next week, and if they don’t get a result, you would be concerned for them.”
Despite the pressure, the Cherries remained with Iraola. Hughes and Foley plainly expected things to turn around quickly, and this proved to be true. Iraola’s methods paid off, and Bournemouth finished 12th with 48 points, their highest total in the Premier League.
Hughes was lured to Liverpool in the summer to take over as sporting director after Jorg Schmadtke’s departure. Hughes has attracted criticism from certain supporters since his arrival at Anfield since the long-running contract disputes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold have still to be resolved.
Hughes was lured to Liverpool in the summer to take over as sporting director after Jorg Schmadtke’s departure. Hughes has attracted criticism from certain supporters since his arrival at Anfield since the long-running contract disputes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold have still to be resolved.
However, he cannot be faulted for playing an important role in the decision-making process to select Slot as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement as Liverpool manager. That decision has left the Reds on course to win their 20th league title and top the Champions League standings.
And Hughes’ prior call to the south coast has contributed to Liverpool’s current Premier League lead. That’s because Bournemouth has now grabbed three major scalps. They defeated Arsenal 2-0 in October before a well-deserved 2-1 success against Manchester City two weeks later. Forest has now been identified as Iraola’s most recent and fatal victim.
But Hughes will be praying that his decision does not come back to haunt him when the Reds go to Bournemouth on Saturday. Slot and his followers will be concerned about the difficulty of the game his men will confront. Liverpool can take comfort in the fact that they have won four games in a row since Iraola joined the Premier League.
