#PLStories- Andoni Iraola on first win as AFC Bournemouth boss in league cup #AFCB
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Andoni Iraola
Cherries had to come from behind to triumph 3-2 in south Wales, Ryan Christie netting a stoppage-time winner after earlier strikes from David Brooks and Hamed Traore.
Matt Grimes had put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot in the eighth minute, a lead they held until half-time.
It marks a first victory for the Spaniard since joining the club over the summer, after three Premier League games so far without a win. Asked if the feeling was relief at eventually getting over the line against Championship opposition in Swansea,
Andoni Iraola said: “I think it was a game with two very different parts, two very different halves. I think we started very bad. Probably the worst way to start, conceding a penalty and we were very slow to move the ball in the first half. We only had to improve in the second half. I think the rhythm was different in the second half. We moved the ball much quicker, the rhythm was much higher. And then we were in control of the game. I think we should have probably won the game earlier, but in the end this is the cup and sometimes you have to suffer.”
Iraola’s frustration with the first-half display was evident by his triple substitution at the break.
Andoni Iraola said: “It was about not only the names and the subs, it was about the attitude, the willingness to attack the spaces, to be more direct, not receive the ball only facing our goal. To be more aware of the situations, open the game and the pitch a little bit more. I think especially with Milos (Kerkez) and Jaidon (Anthony), we were opening the left wing very well and then we could find Junior (Traore) and Philip (Billing) inside and from there we were much better.”
Although Iraola made seven changes to the starting line-up which had faced Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, it was a strong selection full of players who have featured in the league this season, aside from debutant Andrei Radu in goal. Discussing the importance he places in staying in the cup competitions,
Andoni Iraola said: “In the end it is not that you make changes or play a weaker team in the cup and they give you an extra (free) weekend. No, they are not giving you anything. At the end, it is also a way of very good training for us and in the next round also we will try to win the game, because at the end you never know when a good run can happen. You have to try it every single year.”
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