Iraola reacts to Bournemouth's 1-0 victory

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Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola reacts to Bournemouth's 1-0 victory  30/08/2025  Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK

Transcript

00:01Andoni, a brilliant performance and an excellent result. You must be very pleased.

00:05Yes, very pleased with the performance especially. Obviously, the points are always important,

00:10but especially now at the beginning of the season, you have to trust the performances.

00:17I've liked almost everything today about the team. I think scoring early makes your game probably easier

00:24in the sense that it gives you some confidence and boost of energy,

00:27but I think we haven't considered even chances against a team that is very good,

00:33plays very well, especially happy for this.

00:36Yes, defensively it was an excellent showing, Bafo and Marcos particularly impressive at centre-back.

00:42Just how pleased are you with how quickly they seem to be gelling as a back-four

00:46and back-five with Petrovic as well?

00:48Yes, I think we had these new players, new signings with Bafo, with Petro, with Adrian also.

00:56That has been for me very good today against Kudos, that is always a big, big threat.

01:03And it's good, it's the second clean sheet in the league in a row with the same back-four and the same keeper.

01:10And the same way probably against Liverpool, you could see still there is work to do,

01:16there are things we have to do better. I think there is a big improvement, still work to do obviously,

01:23especially with the new players, also with the offensive new players.

01:28But while you are getting the results, it's always easier to correct things.

01:34And obviously today you restricted them to only five shots, but I think you had 19 of your own.

01:40As with the Wolves game, perhaps maybe you lacked a bit of killer instinct to really kill the game off?

01:45Yes.

01:46But sort of got the points, I guess that's something to work on.

01:49Definitely, definitely something that could have punished us at the end.

01:53Every chance we were missing, normally in this kind of stadiums, when you start missing chances,

02:00there is a moment you regret.

02:02And we were regretting at the end when we were finishing very tight with some players cramping.

02:08And I don't think we deserve to concede in that moment, but it can happen.

02:14We've had to close it together, a little bit like the other day against Wolves.

02:19We haven't killed the game earlier, but we haven't been punished, no.

02:24And how pleased are you with the reaction, I guess, from Tuesday night?

02:28I know it was quite a big change team, but to bounce back with such a strong performance

02:32after such a disappointing one must be pleased with you.

02:35Yes, I think it was important. It's true that we changed almost all the team.

02:40I think I made the mistake the other day to change too many players in the cup competition.

02:46The cup competition doesn't give you a second chance, so we cannot solve it.

02:51But it's true that I wanted a little bit of reaction of we are not happy.

02:58We are not happy the same way we won the other day in the league.

03:02I expected to start strong and I think it gives us a good platform to start the season and keep improving the team.

03:13And Adam Smith, the injury in the first half, can you give an update on him?

03:17The worst news of today's game. I think Adam knows his body very well.

03:22Straight away he went to the floor and he told us for harm's injury.

03:26So we will have to assess him, see if it's a Grade 1, Grade 2, whatever.

03:32But he will be out. He will be out some weeks.

03:35It's true that we have this international break and probably it's not the worst moment.

03:39But yes, it's a muscle injury, a hamstring injury and he will be out.

03:44And from four games so far this season, it's probably been three good performances, one bad one, six points on the board.

03:52How do you sort of assess your staff?

03:54Yes, I agree. I think the three Premier League games, I think we've really had very good performances, I would say.

04:00Even the first game that we lost in Anfield, I think I saw our team, I saw our strengths.

04:07Probably the bad note there of the Carabao Cup, but overall I think it's a good start of the season for us,

04:16knowing that we still have a lot of work to do.

04:19We have a lot of new players and we have work to do with them and with the others.

04:26Was that one of the most one-sided 1-0 wins you've ever seen? Because it just felt like it could have been 3-4-5.

04:35I think it's very pleased with the game. I think it has been one of, I don't know, one of our very best games.

04:40But I think if you analyse offensively, defensively how the game has gone, it's like a solid performance of a good team.

04:49But it's true that to be probably better, we should have scored because at the end you had a lot of chances just to score one.

04:58A lot of times you will regret it. It didn't happen today, but the other day against Wolves was the same.

05:04We were winning 1-0, we had the game to play against them, to kill it, to score the second one, to have a good ending.

05:11And today we had to grind at the end because everyone was cramping, Tyler Adams, I think even Adrian,

05:17Ivan Nilsson, we've had to take him out also because of cramps and you have this uncertainty at the end, yes.

05:23In the final days of the transfer, do you know how active in-going and out-going do you expect Bournemouth to be?

05:29I think there is going to be movement. The club is working towards signing, but you never know.

05:38The situation now changes every hour. I haven't touched now after the game, so I don't know where we are.

05:45But I will try to help the club. But for me the best thing is that we arrived to the 2nd of September.

05:55I hate these moments of uncertainty, of you are here but you don't know if you will be tomorrow.

06:00It's difficult to create collectiveness in this moment and I'm really looking forward to finish the market

06:07and this is who we are and build something together.

06:11Hi Andoni, just one on David Brooks. I thought he had a really good game today.

06:15There's been a bit of speculation about him potentially leaving in the last year of his contract.

06:20Is he a player that you want to keep at Bournemouth?

06:22No, we are going to keep David Brooks, yes, definitely. He has started every game, I think. He's playing very well.

06:28It's going to be a strong competition for everyone, like in every position, but he's an important player for us.

06:35And yes, we are going to keep him, yes.

06:38And in particular, are you looking to strengthen the defence or is it throughout the whole sport?

06:43I think in the last day of the market you have to be alert and aware of every opportunity to try to improve the team.

06:49It's true that probably we miss this central defender that we need after signing Bafo,

07:00because we lost Dean, we lost Savarni, so we need another central defender.

07:04But if not, we still have options and we will deal with the situation, but it's true that we are working on it, yes.

07:17Andoni, it was Brian Christie's 100th Premier League appearance for the Cherries today.

07:22Just how important is he and what a milestone that is?

07:25Yes, Ryan is a very good player, he's a good character for us,

07:30because he's a very good guy to have in the building.

07:33And probably after a lot of months without playing football, he needs this integration.

07:37I think he welcomed and needed the minutes in the Carabao Cup.

07:42You could feel he's still a little bit rusty on the ball and he's not as clean as usual.

07:48But I think today he has came in the second half in a good level,

07:54and I hope he can keep building the form and even without a precision,

07:59he can now with the games on international break with Scotland also keep adding minutes.

08:05Andoni, can I just ask you a little bit more about David Brooks?

08:07Because we all know what he's been through throughout his career and the challenges he's faced.

08:11But he was sensational today, he looks back to his best really.

08:16Can you talk a bit about his development and where he's at in his career?

08:19Yes, I've sometimes been, you know, I've treated him like someone like without any issue,

08:28and he had a big issue obviously before I arrived here.

08:31But I haven't been more soft with him because of this, and he has accepted the challenge.

08:36And sometimes he has played less, especially at the beginning with me,

08:39and he had to go also a period on loan to the Championship, to Southampton.

08:46But he has become, every month, he has become stronger and stronger,

08:51and now he has done a very good precision.

08:53I think in the precision games he was one of the best players.

08:57He's fighting for the starting spot, he's having good performances,

09:02and I'm very happy with him, and I think he mentally has also taken these challenges very well.

09:11Probably when you are so, because he's a very good player,

09:15and you are not playing the minutes you want.

09:18And sometimes you can, no, no, he has to keep grinding,

09:22and I'm happy that now he's in such a good level, yes.

09:26And just finally, you've lost three players to Liverpool, PSG and Real Madrid,

09:32and you've got back-to-back clean sheets.

09:34I mean, how do you make it look so easy?

09:36I think we have still a lot of work to do, a lot of work is not going to be...

09:40I think we've lost very important players, as you said, very, very important.

09:44Even Dango, even Kepa, players that have played, started almost every game,

09:50played most of the minutes, and we are in a process where we are in a rebuild for me.

09:55We are in a process of integrating the new signings, because we've signed also good players,

10:00and it's a challenge for me also, as a manager, no?

10:04It's true, we've lost very good players, but now we have to do it again,

10:07like create the atmosphere so the new players also can give us a good level,

10:15and I still think there is a lot of work to do with the new ones, with the other ones,

10:21to create a team, and I think it will take time.

10:24Last one at the back.

10:26Hi, Andoni. Congrats for the victory and three points.

10:29As you already said, you've lost really important players this summer again,

10:34like Dean, like Ilya, like Kepa, but you always manage to make and to have a really competitive team.

10:40I don't know what's the key to do that every season, even losing stars of the team.

10:47I think we, me, the team still have to prove this, to show this.

10:53For me, this decision is very important in the sense of,

10:56OK, we've lost big players that have performed so well with us, but we can do it again.

11:02And obviously it's going to be difficult. When you lose players of this level,

11:12it doesn't happen straight away that we are going to make mistakes.

11:15We are going to go through the same process that we went with Milos, with Sava,

11:20because when they started they made mistakes with me, and we paid the consequences

11:25and they kept improving, and there is a process that takes – I don't know how much it takes,

11:29but we have to go still through this process.

11:32But I agree that normally we are competitive.

11:35Sometimes we lose, sometimes we – but the team has character, no?

11:39And I would like to keep this character.

11:43I think we have still a lot of work to do in the sense of collectiveness,

11:48because now everything is like provisional, new players arriving, the other ones leaving,

11:53and we need more time together.

11:55Now it's a shame that we are going to lose a lot of players in the international break,

11:59but we need trainings, we need to know each other, we need this.

12:03And this I think it will take not one or two weeks.

12:06I think it will take more time, but if we get results in this process,

12:11but it's going to be easier.

12:23Now I try to take a look and meet you tonight.

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