The Hammers visit Vitality Stadium tomorrow afternoon (3pm) as the first competitive opponents Iraola will face as Cherries boss. It is not the first time Iraola has crossed paths with the Scot, having played against Moyes on one occasion whilst playing for Athletic Club in La Liga. Moyes managed Athletic’s fierce rivals Real Sociedad for a year, all three Basque derbies ending in ties.Speaking about the man in the opposing dugout this weekend,
Andoni Iraola stated: “David (Moyes) is a very, very good coach. He has been really successful. Past season, they won a European championship. He also coached in Spain, so I knew him before. But overall they are a really solid team. They have quite a lot of options. They can go more direct, they have very good wingers, they are really good in set pieces. I think we have to be really focused not to make mistakes because they are the kind of team that if you make one mistake, they score the first goal and then it’s very difficult to play against their result.”
Praise was reciprocated by Moyes in his own pre-match press conference.
David Moyes shared: “Bournemouth have always done well and they have a new approach this season under Andoni Iraola. I think it’s always a hard game at Bournemouth, but we had a good win there last year and we hope we can get another one tomorrow. I made the transition to Spain and it’s not easy going to manage in La Liga, just as it won’t be easy for him coming to the Premier League, but he must have done something for Bournemouth to appoint him and I’m sure he has the characteristics to adapt. Andoni is from the Basque Country, where there are really good people, and I’m sure he is one of them.”
