From Spain: Explanation and insistence why Bournemouth can’t give up on Iraola now

Bournemouth may want to stick with manager Andoni Iraola despite a ‘terrifying start’ to the season as he proved at former club Rayo Vallecano that he can turn things around.

That’s according to El Correo, who cover the Spanish coach today and the growing pressure on him after a poor start to the season.

Bournemouth are currently 19^th in the table after failing to win any of their first nine games of the season, losing six and drawing three to date.

They’re yet to show any serious signs of life under the Spanish coach, who arrived in the summer to replace Gary O’Neil and was supposed to bring an exiting brand of attacking football to push the Cherries up the table.

Instead, Iraola is yet to really get his style of football to work, and Bournemouth have looked like easy pickings for several teams, hence their position in the table.

The pressure is growing on Iraola as a result and El Correo admit that after the loss to Wolves at the weekend, he has ‘one foot in the abyss’.

This weekend’s clash with Burnley is likely to be his last chance to impress, although the newspaper does argue that Bournemouth’s board have shown incredible faith in their coach to date.

Their €127m spend in the summer and the fact they haven’t fired him yet demonstrates their faith and the suggestion is they should stick with that for now.

That’s because Iraola already showed at Rayo that his ‘ideas need time to settle’ and he was actually close to the sack at the Spanish club in his first season there before eventually turning things around and securing promotion before establishing them in La Liga.

Of course, doing so in the Premier League is a different matter entirely and the urgency is growing each week, with the clash against Burnley this weekend undoubtedly a ‘true final’.

On the other hand, Mundo Deportivo cover Iraola’s old club today and how they’ve moved on quickly under new manager Francisco Rodríguez.

They explain that Iraola’s departure ‘was a setback’ after three ‘unforgettable seasons’ – further proof Bournemouth should perhaps stick rather than twist – but Rodríguez has quickly helped them forget.

He’s currently led Rayo to 16 points in the first ten rounds of games, matching Iraola’s best tally after that many games from the 2021/22 season.