Bournemouth legend Steve Fletcher has revealed that Andoni Iraola's coaching staff were blown away by the size of Liverpool during the club's tour of America, and has backed the head coach to bring success and entertainment to Anfield.
Iraola officially began his Liverpool reign on Sunday when his side twice fought back to snatch a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United at St James' Park. The result underlined the task facing the Basque boss after his summer arrival from Bournemouth, where he led the Cherries to 12th, ninth and sixth-placed finishes.
Coaches amazed by 'global phenomenon'
Iraola brought Tommy Elphick, Shaun Cooper, Pablo de la Torre and Tom Webber with him to Liverpool. Fletcher, who spent 15 years at Bournemouth and is their all-time appearance maker, said it was on the US tour that it really hit home about the "global phenomenon" they now work for.
Fletcher, who works for Bournemouth as an ambassador, told Flashscore: "Liverpool is a global phenomenon, and they're going to expect big things. The only difference he will experience from being the manager at Bournemouth is that the expectation level at Liverpool Football Club is beyond belief.
"My two friends who are the coaches – Tommy Elphick and Sean Cooper – I speak to them on a regular basis. They've gone up with Andoni to Liverpool, and they just said the magnitude of this football club is beyond belief after touring America for two weeks."
Fletcher backs Iraola to succeed
Fletcher is confident Iraola will get the Reds challenging for trophies again after a disappointing season under Arne Slot, who paid for his job 12 months after winning the Premier League.
"He can leave this football club as a legend or one of the most legendary managers we've ever had," said Fletcher. "Good luck to him; we wish him all the best at Liverpool, because he's a good human being.
"He won't change his style of play; I know what he's like. He'll play a certain way; he likes fast, attractive, aggressive football, and he'll press from the front. You could call it a little bit kamikaze football at times, but he likes a bit of the chaos in the middle of the park, and he trusts his players to be 1v1 in certain situations. He'll definitely entertain the crowds.
"Can he succeed? 100% he can. The players have got to buy into what he wants to do, and he needs to get off to a good start. If you get results, players believe in you, and when they believe in you, they play at their best.
"It doesn't matter if you're Andoni or you're a manager in League Two, you get off to a good start as a new manager, players buy into your philosophy, your way of playing, your ethos, and anything can happen from there."
Expectation levels 'beyond belief'
Fletcher added: "They said: 'The levels of support out there – you get off the coach, and 400 people are waiting at the hotel'. It's just on another scale…the expectation level will be very different to what it was at Bournemouth.
"Losing our manager Andoni was a blow for the football club. He waited right until the end of the season because he loved the club so much; he hadn't made his mind up, but I think the Liverpool thing came quite quickly. I don't think it was something that was planned much in advance. I think the opportunity came along, and how could you turn it down, you know? It's one of the biggest clubs in the world."
Liverpool will look to pick up their first win of the new season on Saturday when they host Nottingham Forest (12.30pm kick-off). They then travel to newly promoted Ipswich Town on Friday, September 4 before a hectic run of matches before the international break, including contests in the Champions League and Carabao Cup.
