Who will be the next Andoni Iraola?

The Bournemouth manager cut his teeth in management rising through the Spanish pyramid but who could be next to take the jump and take the Premier League by storm?

When Andoni Iraola was first appointed Head Coach of Bournemouth after the sacking of Gary O’Neil there was incredulity in England that a promising young manager could be replaced by someone like Iraola who was coming in from Rayo.

The feeling in Spain though was very different with the hiring of the Basque coach seen not only as a coup for the South Coast club but also showing the financial disparity between the Premier League and La Liga.

18 months on and there is no doubts or questions around why Richard Hughes the Sporting Director of The Cherries made that call with Bournemouth challenging for European places and regularly bloodying the noses of the supposed top six.

It’s not just Iraola either who is making waves with Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta in the Premier League and Marti Cifuentes and Ruben Selles in the Championship.

Who though could be the next bright young manager to make the move over to England and create a big impact such as Iraola?

Antonio Hidalgo

Hidalgo has miraculously taken Huesca a side in financial difficulty and with a tiny squad from relegation fodder to a side currently battling for a top two spot in Segunda.

His playing career saw him float between the top three tiers and he mainly spent time with Malaga and Sabadell. It is his coaching career though that has caught the eye, when he returned to former side Sabadell they were on the verge of dropping out of the third tier and with just five games to go in a precarious position. He not only kept them up but the following season he took Sabadell back to Segunda following a five year absence.

Financially things were tough at the Catalan side and with a squad made up of free transfers and loanees he did an admirable job of almost keeping them up. Sabadells strength was in attacking positions with Stoichkov and Gorka Guruzeta in their ranks and Hidalgo played variations of a front two with formations such as 3-5-2, 3-4-1-2 and 4-4-2 to try to unlock the pair.

The Catalan side took it to the final day before ultimately being relegated and brought the best out of mercurial talent Stoichkov. Despite being relegated the coach was kept on but a poor start to the following season saw Hidalgo fired.

He then spent time in charge of Sevilla B before Huesca came calling in October 23. Huesca had been promoted twice to La Liga in the decade before but in their third season since relegation from the top flight cost cutting was the order of the day. The team were struggling with a lack of goals and looking like they were heading down.

He shored the team up going to a back five initially and making them hard to beat, they started to grind out victories and Hidalgo soon started introducing a 4-2-3-1 to again show his tactical versatility. In his first season he tried out five different formations and often would adjust his side and formation to the strengths of their opponents.

Huesca survived but in the Summer the budget was slashed even further and I and many other Segunda observers tipped them for relegation despite the quality of Hidalgo. His marquee signing was Sergi Enrich who had been offloaded by regional rivals Real Zaragoza and the return from loan of Patrick Soko an inconsistent Cameroonian winger.

Huesca playing a 5-3-2 came flying out the blocks winning their first three matches against highly fancied Elche, Depor and Granada. This season he has tended to go for a 5-4-1 with Sergi Enrich as a target man and Soko linking up with the forward to devastating effect.

While back fives might come across as conservative Huesca have scored 37 goals and are known for their ability to bounce back from going behind in games. So far of the current top eight sides in Segunda only Mirandes have defeated them a match they got payback for in January.

Hidalgos contract runs out at the end of the season and despite his outspoken love for Huesca it feels inevitable he is destined for a move to La Liga or one of the top five leagues in time albeit Huesca fans will hope the jump to La Liga is made with them this season.

Iñigo Pérez

They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and with Iñigo Perez having been Iraolas assistant at Rayo he could well be the next big thing.

Perez was due to go with Iraola when he made the move to The Cherries but his work permit was rejected due to rules brought in by Brexit. While Iraola has coped well without his right hand man Perez has shone this season while being in the spotlight.

That left him without a role and when Iraolas replacement Francisco was fired last February Perez was brought in to keep Rayo up.

Rayo are one of the most dysfunctional clubs you can imagine with controversial owner Raul Presa pulling the strings. The club has no online sales platform so fans are forced every couple of weeks to queue up for tickets, the club is identified through it’s ultras as left wing but Presa has often invited leaders of the Spanish far-right party to watch games to the ultras disgust and Presa has often signed name players with little care for what the manager may think or what.

A prime example of this is the summer signing of James Rodriguez a marquee player who sells plenty of shirts but who had no real role to play under Perez. Perez relied on legendary playmaker Isi Palazon and James was soon allowed to leave.

Perez tends to play a 4-2-3-1 similar to Iraola and likes his side to play with chaos and a high press and to be on the front foot with the ball in the opponents half as much as possible.

With one of the lowest budgets in the league but a clear style of play Rayo are currently being spoken about as a candidate for European football which is some achievement given they were relegation candidates when Perez took over.

He has a steely confidence but also is cutting in his honesty, almost apologetic after some victories. When Rayo beat Real Valladolid in his post match press conference he was at pains to say there wasn’t much difference between the sides even though they were aiming for different goals. Given that Real Valladolid were sitting bottom and a 20 point gap between the two sides it showed the respect he gives opponents.

Perez has also refused to condone his own players who have time wasted and he has been honest when decisions from referees have gone in his sides favour. If Rayo do make it to Europe he will have arguably surpassed the achievements of his mentor Andoni Iraola during his time at Rayo.

For a deeper dive on Inigo Perez Robbie Dunne from The Analyst has done a great piece on the young Head Coach here.

Eder Sarabia

The Basque Head Coach has caught plenty of admiring glances this season given the job he has done turning Elche round. Sarabia first came to prominence as assistant coach to Quique Setien at Barca and despite that being a disastrous reign Sarabia suitably impressed Gerard Pique who hired him as FC Andorra Head Coach.

Under Sarabia Andorra became a high possession side who with a 4-2-3-1 formation stormed to their regional third tier title. Their first season in Segunda caught many by surprise, they continued to look to dominate the ball and their first game in the second tier saw them go and win in Oviedo with 65% possession.

That first season saw them finish seventh and it felt like they were on the path to La Liga. Typically though newly promoted sides find the second season harder with sides more aware of them and this proved to be the case. The club also gambled in the market with signings such as former Barca B captain Sergi Samper.

Andorra continued to dominate the ball but had no end product and started to struggle, they lost to Amorebieta and Eldense despite having 70% and 80% possession in those matches as sides knew to sit back and let them have the ball safe in the knowledge goals were a struggle.

Sarabia refused to adapt and he was sacked towards the end of March with Andorra in the bottom four and on their way to relegation.

Similar to how Vincent Kompany had admirers for the style of play despite overseeing relegation Sarabia was in the same boat and Pique continued to state how good he was. A number of Segunda clubs were linked to him but he eventually turned up at Elche.

Elche were a mess off the pitch with fan protests at the owner but looked to be heading in the right direction with former Mirandes Sporting Director Chema Aragon brougt in. Fans though were soon disgruntled with Sarabia being in charge given he had come off the back of a relegation and signings appeared to be at a complete standstill.

Aragon resigned citing differences with the owner and eventually Elche brought in a flurry of signings. They started the season badly though with three defeats out of their first four matches. Slowly though the form started to pick up and more impressively Elche appeared to be more tactically agile than the side Sarabia shaped at Andorra.

A perfect example of this was when they headed to La Rosaleda to take on Malaga, knowing Malaga are a defensive side Elche gave up possession let Malaga try to dictate the game and were ruthless on the counter attack. They also sat back against Castellon another side who like to dominate the ball and again came away with three points.

The unity at the club is in massive part down to Sarabia who has really connected with the squad and fanbase. He is active on social media often posting from Tennis matches or Cycling stages and is a charismatic engaging character.

Expect to hear his name linked to big jobs in the future but for the here and now do your best to watch his Elche side and enjoy the style.

Borja Jimenez

There were eyebrows raised when Borja Jimenez was announced as Head Coach of Leganes in June 2023 but nobody is doubting that decision following a brilliant spell in charge of the South Madrid side.

Jimenez had been known as someone who could get sides out of the third tier such as Mirandes and Cartagena but had never sustained a spell in the second tier. Jimenez had also taken Depor to the verge of returning to Segunda but was defeated in a heartbreaking play-off final at home to Albacete.

Leganes had been relegated in 2020 and were drifting in Segunda until Jimenez took charge. The squad who finished 14th the season before saw some experienced players leave and an overhaul made up of loanees, free transfers and some shrewd low cost buying they turned themselves into promotion contenders.

They really caught people’s attention after defeating heavily fancied Espanyol away and any doubts over whether he had what it took to be a manager in Segunda were gone that day.

Jimenez built his side on a solid defence, they conceded just 27 goals which is some achievement in a 42 game league. Leganes clinched the title on the final day in what was a deserved promotion. Under Borja Jimenez Lega play a 4-5-1 tending to use a target man and wingers are key to his style of play with the expectation they chip in with goals.

One of the coaches main strengths is his development of players Diego Conde moved to Villarreal following his impressive season in goal, Juan Cruz, Seydouba Cisse, Miguel de la Fuente and Diego Garcia have all come on leaps and bounds since working with him. Cruz has got 7 goals already this season and is one to keep an eye on.

In La Liga, Leganes have been a credit, they’ve yet to be in the bottom three all season and have defeated Barca away and Atleti at Butarque ending their 16 match winning run. They have a tough ask for the rest of the season to stay up considering they’re against established La Liga sides such as Valencia, Alaves and Las Palmas.

Having now proved himself in the third tier, Segunda and on the way to keeping Leganes up what is the limit for this talented young manager?

Ruben Albes

18 months ago Ruben Albes was one of the most sought after Head Coaches and one tipped for greatness but following some mis-steps he is not the hottest young thing. Albes made his name in Spain hen he took over Lugo a small side in Galicia who were fighting an uphill battle every season to stay in Segunda. With limited funds and a small squad he took them to 16th and losing just twelve games all season fewer than Girona who were promoted from the play-offs. Having kept them up he made the surprising move to recently promoted Albacete.

That move was a masterstroke as alongside some smart recruitment Queso Mecanico surprised plenty as they made the play-offs in their debut season. They finished that season as the highest scorers in the league with a swashbuckling style.

Albacete were tactically fluid playing a number of formations and without a real goalscoring striker they brought the best out of their wingers. With a low budget it was some achievement and arguably Albes should have left while his stock was high.

Underlying though they had also been one of the leakiest defences in the league and three of the main stars of the team departed in the following summer window following their failure to be promoted. Captain and talisman Manu Fuster was also unsettled and Albacete headed into the second season in Segunda no longer as the surprise package.

The 23/24 season quickly unraveled and under Albes they were the worst defensive side in the league often exposed and even played out a 5-4 loss against Racing Ferrol. With the side looking on a downward spiral and hurtling towards the drop zone Albes was fired.

He next turned up at Sporting Gijon and so far it’s been an unspectacular reign. While Sporting had reached the play-offs last season it was unexpected and this season they currently sit eight points off the top six. There have been some bright moments such as their derby victory over Real Oviedo but also low moments such as a 1-0 defeat to rock bottom Cartagena.

Albes reputation has suffered but at just 39 he still has plenty of time to turn his career round and become a top division manager.

Summary

All of these managers are talented and just like Iraola have been doing great jobs often on low budgets and with a clear style of play. If Rayo make Europe then Iñigo Perez will be the next one clubs chase after. People shouldn’t forget though it was at the second tier where Iraola cut his teeth but also he made the right decisions in terms of clubs each step of the way. Ruben Albes has shown in patches he is a very talented manager but hasn’t always made the right decision in terms of staying or going. Remember all five of these names as they will all be catching the attention of sides over the coming seasons.