Former Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez believes newly appointed Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has an edge over Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso because of his established Premier League experience.
While Benitez praised Alonso’s tactical intelligence and success at Bayer Leverkusen, he noted that Iraola’s prior three-year stint at Bournemouth makes his transition to a massive club like Liverpool much smoother.
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In a chat with Sky Sports, the veteran coach is confident both Iraola and Alonso will excel in the coming months, but he believes the former has a key advantage over his Basque compatriot.
“Iraola has done really well at Bournemouth. I followed him during his time at Rayo Vallecano and was impressed. Now he has a different challenge at Liverpool,” he told Sky Sports.
“Liverpool is a massive club. But I think he has an advantage as he knows the league. It’s not easy to arrive new to the Premier League from other countries.
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“Xabi is a very clever coach. He did very well with Leverkusen; that was fantastic. We know from experience that it’s quite complicated to manage Real Madrid. He has knowledge of the Premier League as a player, but this is his first time managing here.
“That will be a challenge, but he has the skills to do well.”
