Antoine Semenyo has told Liverpool players to get ready for a tough challenge from Andoni Iraola.
Former Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo has shared what tough demands Andoni Iraola might put on players if he takes over as Liverpool’s head coach after Arne Slot.
Even though Slot won the Premier League in 2025, Liverpool let him go on May 30 after the team finished fifth this season. Slot leaves with a solid record of 66 wins, 18 draws, and 29 losses from 113 games.
Slot is already being linked with a return to coaching at AC Milan, but Bournemouth’s outgoing boss Iraola is the favorite to step in at Liverpool.
Iraola, who has managed AEK Larnaca, Mirandés, and Rayo Vallecano before, has also caught the eye of Bayer Leverkusen, Crystal Palace, and AC Milan recently.
He led Bournemouth to their best-ever sixth place in the Premier League last season, earning them a spot in the Europa League.
Iraola became Bournemouth’s manager in June 2023 after Gary O’Neil left. In three seasons, he improved the team from 12th to 9th, then 6th, making him Bournemouth’s most successful manager so far.
Semeyno, now at Manchester City, was a key player under Iraola before moving to the Etihad in January. On a podcast earlier this year, he talked about the demanding training schedule he experienced with Iraola.
Speaking on All Out Football, Semenyo said, “We didn’t really get any days off. It’s tough going from having Wednesdays and Sundays off to having no breaks at all. After playing on Saturday, we would train on Sunday. The starters would train hard for the first 30 to 40 minutes, which really wore out your legs.
“Even now, in April 2026, it’s the same. Some guys still complain about having no days off in the group chat. But it works — we’d set up against big teams like Man City and Arsenal, playing man-to-man. At first, you worry about getting exposed, but once you get used to it, it really pays off. That’s how Bournemouth managed to win against Arsenal last weekend — that’s the same style I saw during my three years there.”