Pressing, unlocking Solanke and a 45-yard goal: How Andoni Iraola turned it around at Bournemouth

For Andoni Iraola, football is a game of risk and reward. But this season, only five of the other 19 teams in the division — Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City — hold a higher line, while no club has scored more than Bournemouth’s seven goals after winning the ball back in their attacking third. “We didn’t know when to press or when to drop,” Solanke said, “but now it is second nature as the manager has gone through it many times.” A good example of Bournemouth’s early season uncertainty came in late September’s 4-0 home defeat against Arsenal, who were able to keep the ball confidently in deeper areas to invite pressure and subsequently slice through their opponents with relative ease. In such a way, long balls coming from his centre-backs are a win-win under Iraola; accurate ones can be a great way to escape pressure and hit on the break, while overhit efforts force the opposition to restart from a deep position, allowing Bournemouth to press forward and take advantage of their opponent’s disorganised state. “At Rayo, we know that if we want to win, we need to receive the ball in dangerous positions,” Palazon said, “because, in the long run, more good things are going to happen from these situations than bad.” Bournemouth meet their match this weekend, at home against a Liverpool side who lead the way in most high-pressing metrics — from high turnovers to passes per defensive action — in the Premier League this season.