New manager achieved much at Bournemouth with style reminiscent of Jürgen Klopp’s counterpress

There comes a point in most discussions when all the detail and complications fall away and the issue can be crystalised into a single straightforward question. For Liverpool that became: do they have more chance of challenging for the league title next season under Arne Slot or Andoni Iraola? Put like that, the answer was clear and so Slot was replaced.

That answer may seem counterintuitive. Slot won the Premier League last year and Iraola has never so much as managed a club in Europe. There will be those who see the decision, and the widespread consensus that it was the right thing to do, as evidence of football’s impatience. Perhaps it is. Perhaps Slot next season at Anfield, in less testing circumstances, could have regained the confidence of the dressing room and reinvigorated the side. But in management that is very rare.

Two wingers and a right-back are priorities but the Basque’s flair for getting the best out of squad players will be crucial

Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards have acted with decisiveness and a clear sense of what Liverpool’s difficult situation demanded in switching head coaches within six days, although the appointment of Andoni Iraola removes just one layer of uncertainty from Anfield. Several others remain, including their roles in leading Liverpool’s recovery alongside Arne Slot’s successor.

With supporters turning against Slot’s football and more players liking Mohamed Salah’s critical social media post than wishing the Dutchman well following his sacking, Liverpool could not allow disillusionment to fester and needed to move fast. Sporting director Hughes and Edwards, chief executive of football for the club’s owner Fenway Sports Group, have delivered.

• Spaniard replaces Arne Slot and signs two-year deal

• Iraola worked with Richard Hughes at Bournemouth

Andoni Iraola has been appointed the new head coach of Liverpool on a two-year contract. The 43-year-old’s arrival was confirmed just six days after the sacking of Arne Slot.

Liverpool moved quickly to replace Slot with the former Bournemouth head coach after identifying him as the ideal candidate for their preferred playing style and with Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace all vying for the Basque’s services. Other coaches were considered, including Stuttgart’s Sebastian Hoeness and Pierre Sage of Lens, but Iraola was always Liverpool’s favoured option and the only one spoken to about the vacancy.