Iraola vs. Klopp vs. Slot: How Bournemouth's Boss Stacks Up Against Liverpool's Legends After 15 Games

Andoni Iraola has now reached the 15-game mark as Liverpool manager, and while he finds himself in the middle of his first losing run at the club, his early numbers are broadly comparable to those of his predecessors at the same stage of their respective tenures.

The Spanish tactician marked his 15th match in charge of Liverpool in disappointing fashion, suffering a 3–2 defeat away to Fenerbahçe in the Champions League.

The loss in Istanbul meant Iraola had now dropped back-to-back games for the first time since taking the reins at Anfield. It came on the heels of a 1–0 home defeat to Arsenal the previous weekend, a match in which Liverpool failed to register a single shot on target — something that hadn't happened at Anfield in more than two decades.

Those two losses within four days already exceed the total number of defeats Iraola's predecessor Arne Slot suffered across his first 15 games. Nevertheless, Iraola would far prefer to emulate the legacy Jürgen Klopp built at Anfield, and interestingly, the Spaniard's early record closely mirrors Klopp's — and is even marginally better.

Iraola, Slot, Klopp: First 15 Liverpool Matches

Holding Iraola to the benchmark Slot set during his first 15 games was always going to be an unrealistic expectation. The Dutchman became the first manager in the club's history to win 11 of his opening 12 fixtures, and had racked up 13 victories with only one loss by the time his 15th game arrived.

Under Slot in 2024–25, Liverpool were England's dominant force from the very first whistle of the campaign. Without needing to overhaul the squad's identity or playing style, the Dutchman enjoyed a remarkable start, netting an impressive 35 goals while conceding just 10 across the opening 15 matches of the season.

Slot inherited a well-oiled machine from Klopp, and that flying start ultimately paved the way to the 2024–25 Premier League title in his debut season. It was only towards the latter stages of that campaign — and more so in the following one — that cracks began to appear in Slot's tenure.

Iraola stepped in for Slot this summer, taking charge of a squad that looks very different from the one that claimed the title two years prior. Given the condition of the team when he arrived, nobody expected Iraola to replicate Slot's blistering start to life at Liverpool.

In fact, Iraola's circumstances bear a much closer resemblance — though still a slightly more favourable one — to what Klopp faced when he replaced Brendan Rodgers 12 games into the 2015–16 season.

Iraola's tally of eight wins, four draws and three defeats through 15 games is almost a mirror image of Klopp's opening record at Liverpool — just swap one win for an extra draw. Additionally, the 29 goals Iraola's side have scored represent six more than Klopp's Liverpool managed at the same point, though the German's team had also conceded six fewer.

It's worth noting that two of Liverpool's three losses under Iraola have come against Arsenal and Manchester City — sides widely regarded as stronger than the Reds even before the season got underway. Even so, it is the manner in which those defeats unfolded — both at home — that has left Liverpool fans uneasy.

But just as it was during Klopp's early days, Iraola will need time to embed and refine his philosophy at Anfield, particularly given the significant squad turnover the club has undergone over the past two seasons.

Context is everything. Slot inherited a Liverpool side that practically ran on autopilot. Iraola has a solid foundation and substantial financial backing. Klopp, by contrast, essentially had to rebuild on the fly from day one.

Andoni Iraola: 'There Will Be Ups and Downs'

The atmosphere around Liverpool noticeably darkened in the wake of the two consecutive defeats, something Iraola himself openly acknowledged.

However, the former Bournemouth boss also pointed to the overly optimistic mood that had built up before the Arsenal match, when the Reds had strung together four straight wins and also advanced in the Carabao Cup at Chelsea's expense. For Iraola, keeping perspective is essential.

"It's not easy in the moment because we react the same way," Iraola told reporters on Friday. "When we lose a game, everyone is angry. But we have to have some perspective, and we know that in the process, [there] will be ups and downs and we have to get through this moment.

"We would love to have good performances, wins, good results, but normally it doesn't happen. There are moments when you are in a good run like we were before Arsenal, now you lose two games and there are always doubts. But I understand, as a supporter I would do the same, it's normal.

"But ... we work every day, and we know what we are doing. We are not as bad as we look today, we are not as good as we looked one week ago, and we have to have some perspective," Iraola said, before adding: "We are still doing good things."

Liverpool's next fixture is a trip to a struggling Crystal Palace on Sunday, the last game before the November international break. Iraola will be hoping to do what both Slot and Klopp managed before him: win his 16th match as Liverpool manager.