BOURNEMOUTH, England : Andoni Iraola remains focussed solely on maintaining Bournemouth’s unlikely push for a top-four finish in the Premier League as reports swirl suggesting the Spaniard is now on the radar of European champions Real Madrid.
Iraola’s Bournemouth will move above Manchester City into fourth place if they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at home on Saturday, fuelling hopes that the south coast club could be playing in Europe next season.
Fifth-placed Bournemouth’s only defeat in their last 13 league games came against leaders Liverpool and that form has seen former Rayo Vallecano coach Iraola’s stock rise rapidly.
Speaking after training on Friday he played down the possibility of him succeeding Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid if the Italian decides to leave at the end of the season.
“I don’t pay attention to these things,” Iraola said. “I’ve been in this business a lot of years already as a player and as a coach, and I know how these things work and what has importance and what doesn’t have importance.
“For me nothing changes. The important thing this week is tomorrow against Wolves. That is going to be demanding and it will be a good chance for us to keep adding points.”
Iraola replaced Gary O’Neil after the 2022-23 season and after a tricky start to life on the south coast in which he was winless after nine league games, they finished 12th and their trajectory continues to be upwards.
With 43 points from 25 games, Iraola said the first target of the season has already been accomplished, that is making sure Bournemouth are not going to get relegated.
As to how high Bournemouth can aim now, Iraola said that question should be asked when they have five games left to play.
“We are doing well. It’s true. This season we are playing well, quite consistently. But we will see where we finish at the end. They don’t give you anything in March, it’s at the end of the season when you can achieve or you can see how we’ve done,” he said.
“Now is not the moment for me to analyse or evaluate. It’s good to be around the big teams, but we need many more points.”
While Bournemouth will be favourites to beat 17th-placed Wolves, Iraola says the Midlands club’s position is skewed by a tough recent run of fixtures and that they are dangerous.
“I think it’s a difficult game,” he said. “I think they are playing very well. They’ve had a very difficult schedule.
“If you analyse the last eight games, they basically played all the teams that are at the top of the table and they’ve always been competitive.”
