Pressing structure, staggered build-up lines and full role setup — Iraola's Liverpool rebuild in Football Manager 2026
Following Liverpool’s dismal 25/26 season, culminating in the sacking of Arne Slot, the club decided to appoint Andoni Iraola after the Basque manager left his former employers, Bournemouth, upon the expiry of his contract at the club.
Iraola’s Bournemouth side, in 25/26, on the other hand, had a fantastic campaign, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League after finishing 6th in the Premier League. Across his time with the Cherries, Iraola grew a reputation for being one of the most tactically astute managers in Europe, as his high-octane, high-pressing approach caused waves in England’s top-flight.
Now, after being appointed as Liverpool boss, Iraola’s greatest challenge is ahead of him: Can he guide the Reds to rediscovery of their identity?
Iraola’s Intelligent Pressing Strategy
As aforementioned, Iraola made a name for himself in England as one of the league’s finest tacticians – it’s when his sides don’t have the ball where the Basque manager’s greatest strengths manifest themselves.
At Bournemouth, when the opposition had the ball in the deep build-up phase, his side would press the opposition high within a highly structured, yet flexible ‘zonal -> man-marking’ approach. Initially, his side would press in a zonal 4-4-2 diamond shape, with an example of this showcased in the image below:
From here, against – let’s say – a 4-3-3 build-up shape, each Bournemouth player would have any number of marking responsibilities, with the most frequent of these showcased using the yellow lines in the image below:
Predominantly, both full-backs and the right-sided centre-back would mark the opposition’s wingers and striker respectively – this gave the left-sided centre-back scope to jump forward to situationally mark the opposition’s right-sided central midfielder, who is initially unmarked.
Initially, both of Bournemouth’s wingers would tuck inside to close the passing lanes to the opposition’s central midfielders – however, as the ball would arrive to the opposition’s full-back on their side, they would jump to aggressively close them down.
To supplement this, Bournemouth’s deepest midfielder had the scope to jump to mark the opposition’s left-sided central midfielder, whilst Bournemouth’s more advanced midfielder had a trio zonal -> man-marking responsibility, where he’d primarily mark the opposition’s deepest midfielder but was also ready to jump to situationally mark either of the opposition’s central midfielders.
Initially, both of Bournemouth’s front two – in this set-up – would hold narrow positions, closing the passing lane into the opposition’s deepest midfielder, before readily bursting to close down the opposition’s centre-backs.
As you can sense, this was a very meticulous defensive strategy. At Liverpool, expect more of the same from Iraola’s new outfit. If you enjoy this style of aggressive, structured pressure, you may also want to revisit our Klopp 4-3-3 gegenpress recreation for FM26, which attacks the same problem from a different angle.
How Iraola Creates Depth in his Attacks
As I’ll dissect later in this piece, Iraola is a manager whose game model is based around front-footed, high-intensity, attacking football. To supplement this game, largely based around shorter, yet more direct passes, Iraola has found a great formula to consistently create gaps in the opposition’s structure and between the lines. There’s not a particular, coined term for this, so let me explain:
When most teams build up deep, they do so within structured shapes with each distance critically thought of and executed to within the inch. However, Iraola’s Bournemouth were a lot more flexible, and that’s because they had multiple players on their own ‘lines’ on the pitch. For example, a typical De Zerbi side might set-up in a 2-4-4 build-up shape, as showcased in the image below:
When you look across the line, De Zerbi’s 2-4-4 shape creates five distinct lines, with no less than two players along each line [black line for example in image below]:
On the other hand, Iraola’s Bournemouth were a lot more vertical in their shaping and their distances, with each player typically on a different line to one another:
With each player on different lines, depth is added to Iraola’s side’s build-up, creating ideal conditions for a short passing, yet direct style of play, with an example of this below:
Insatiable Thrill for Attacking
As I lightly alluded to earlier in this piece, Andoni Iraola’s success at Bournemouth was built upon intensity, namely high-tempo, direct football.
This is best displayed in the side’s underlying statistics across his final two seasons in charge, in which the side amassed the league’s 4th-highest (24/25) and then 5th-highest (25/26) xG, reaching numbers in the low-to-mid 60s. Additionally, their tally of 1.5 goals per game in the most recent, 25/26 season, was the league’s 5th-best tally.
Bringing back an attacking style of play will be crucial to rediscovering Liverpool’s identity and, in Iraola, Liverpool may have found their saviour, in this regard.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
In build-up, both during his time at Bournemouth and his early games in pre-season with Liverpool, Iraola’s side would predominantly look to build up from deep, with the ‘keeper distributing short passes to the centre-backs – however, if the opposition would press them high, both of his teams would often go direct to bypass the pressure.
Iraola places a major emphasis on progressing play as frequently as possible, and, in-line with this, he encourages his players to carry the ball forward to try and force the issue if an easier pass isn’t immediately available: This creates a lot of tensions in the opposition’s defence, as they have to choose between closing down the ball-carrier or marking their man.
Additionally, Iraola wants his teams to frequently pass the ball into space, particularly ahead of attackers and overlapping full-backs for them to chase. In the final third, Iraola’s sides typically cross the ball into the box early, aiming to force the issue in hope of a defensive error by the opposition.
Whilst Iraola insists on his teams retaining and recycling play using shorter passes, he wants his team to play with speed and intensity. As such, when his teams win back the ball, he wants them to instantly counter to try and punish the opposition.
Out of Possession
Without the ball, Iraola’s sides are meticulously trained, and each player works in tandem with one another to achieve a collective result. In general, his sides will press high up the pitch often, with the defensive line eagerly ready to step up to engage the opponent.
Additionally, Iraola places great emphasis on the idea of horizontal compactness, with players instructed to force opposition teams wide. Finally, when they lose the ball, Iraola’s sides will counter-press immediately to win back the ball.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Every role below has been chosen to complement the ones around it – if you want a deeper look at why certain pairings work, our FM26 role synergy guide breaks down the principles behind these combinations.
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper
The ‘keeper, in Iraola’s systems across both clubs, will largely remain deeper as a secondary, backwards passing option for the defenders. Without the ball, the ‘keeper is absolutely imperative to the side, as he will sweep loose balls in-behind the team’s high line.
Full-Back | Full-Back
Both full-backs, across systems at both clubs, will predominantly remain wider as part of Iraola’s double-width idea. I added the ‘Dribble More’ and ‘Make More Runs’ instructions to this role to maximise the attacking quality of Jeremie Frimpong.
Without the ball, both full-backs will mark their opposing wingers tightly, whilst being aggressive in their tackling.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back
The right-sided centre-back, in his time at Bournemouth, was consistently the more conservative of the pair with the ball, usually distributing it short to team-mates around them. However, whilst the left-sided centre-back would typically step up, the right-sided centre-back would largely mark the opposition’s striker.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back
On the other side of defence, the left-sided centre-back would actually tend to drift wider – from here, upon receiving the ball, the left-sided centre-back would often carry the ball forward. Without the ball, this centre-back would regularly step up to confront the opposition’s ‘10’ or most advanced central midfielder.
Wing-Back | Full-Back
Of the two full-backs, in this system, the left-back was usually the more adventurous of the two, advancing higher and wider to provide overlapping runs. Additionally, upon receiving the ball, he could carry the ball forward frequently to initiate his expansive, wide runs of his own accord.
Defensive Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder
The holding midfielder’s responsibility, across both clubs, has been simple: Reliably retain and recycle possession of the ball, whilst regularly winning the ball back in a disciplined manner.
Midfield Playmaker | Pressing Central Midfielder
The left-sided midfielder, during Iraola’s time at Bournemouth, would tend to come towards the ball to dictate the play and create from deep, drawing the opposition’s midfield higher to close him down; This would subsequently create space between the lines for others to move into to receive in.
At times, this midfielder would drift wider towards the left flank to link up with the advanced full-back and floating left-winger. Additionally, in Alex Scott, Bournemouth had a fantastic dribbler who could regularly take on opposition midfielders with mazy, dazzling dribbles.
Without the ball, this midfielder would step up to mark the opposition’s deepest midfielder, either within a zonal approach or a decisive, man-marking approach.
Free Role | Centre Forward
I wanted a lot of things from the ‘10’ in this system, and the ‘Free Role’ was the closest to replicating exactly what I wanted. I wanted a ‘10’ role that could float from his position, make runs in-behind, whilst also being ready to come towards the ball at points – this role perfected that, with the added instructions: ‘Make More Runs’ and ‘Roam From Position’.
Winger | Wide Midfielder
The right-winger, across both Bournemouth and Liverpool, has predominantly remained wide on the right side. I added the ‘Dribble More’ instruction to maximise Rio Ngumoha’s fantastic dribbling quality.
Finally, both wingers are asked to ‘Close Down Less’ to ensure positional discipline within our meticulous defensive system.
Wide Forward | Wide Midfielder
On the other hand, the left-winger across both clubs will more likely drift inside to create space for the left-back to overlap into. However, he isn’t tied to this narrower position as he can drift and rotate with those around him, such as the striker.
I added the ‘Dribble More’ instruction to maximise Bradley Barcola’s elite pace and dribbling.
Deep-Lying Forward | Centre Forward
At Bournemouth, Evanilson’s role up front was rather complicated to entirely distinguish, as he could make runs in-behind whilst also possessing the initiative to consistently drop between the lines to receive and link play. I chose this role, however, to accommodate for Isak’s understandable physical decline since his leg injury.
I added the ‘Roam From Position’ instruction to encourage Isak to drift from his position, whilst the ‘Dribble More’ and ‘Take More Risks’ instructions give the Swede licence to create for his team-mates.
Results
Premier League
In testing with Liverpool on FM26, we managed to win the Premier League title on the final day, pipping Arsenal to the title in one of the most intense title races I have ever played on any FM game. In fact, we only won the title thanks to a monstrous winning run that saw us win 15 of our last 16 league games, with Arsenal dropping 9 points in the process.
Across our 38 league games, we won 30 games, drawing 5 games, and losing just 3 games. Additionally, across the course of the league campaign, we scored 113 goals (2.97 goals per game) and conceded just 32 goals (0.84 goals per game) – the league’s best record in each statistic.
The xG table suggested the title race needn’t be so tense, with us conceding almost 2 goals more than forecasted, whilst the point gap between us and 2nd-place was forecasted to be around 9-points-wide.
Domestic Cups
Our quest for a quadruple was brought to a halt in the Carabao Cup Quarter-Finals, with eventual winners Arsenal defeating us 2-1 at the Emirates.
However, the window of opportunity for a treble was still alive, as we beat Brighton 2-1 to win the FA Cup Final at Wembley. On our way to Wembley, we defeated the likes of arch-rivals Everton (0-0P) and Burnley (0-2).
UEFA Champions League
Heartbreak in the Champions League Final, following defeat to Real Madrid. Liverpool fans know this feeling all too well, and the old ghost reappeared as our treble dreams were shattered following a late Mbappé winner in the Final.
On our way to the Final, we overcame PSG (2-4 AGG), Arsenal (1-2 AGG), and Roma (3-1 AGG) after topping the League Phase.
Conclusion
Whilst he achieved embryonic success in his inaugural season in charge, Arne Slot quickly proved to be the antithesis – tactically – of Liverpool, with his possession-based game eventually turning stale and lacklustre. If you want to see how that system looked at its peak, our Arne Slot Liverpool 4-3-3 recreation for FM26 is well worth a comparison.
In Andoni Iraola, Liverpool have a manager who adores attacking, and who will surely maximise his players to help them reach their full potential. In that sense, this managerial appointment feels perfect for the Reds.
If you want a taste of this beautiful tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!
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