Rayo Vallecano coach Andoni Iraola has played down reports linking him with Premier League outfit Leeds United while paying tribute to his La Liga high-flyers, speaking to Mundo Deportivo.
There are shades of Marcelo Bielsa in the way Iraola has transformed Rayo from a second-tier side into Europa League chasers. Bielsa, in the blink of an eye, dragged Leeds from the depths Championship and into the top-half of the Premier League; coaxing career-best performances out of the likes of Luke Ayling, Gianni Alioski, Liam Cooper and Mateusz Klich.
Rayo, when handing the reigns to Iraola in the summer of 2020, had just finished seventh in the Spanish Segunda. Two-and-a-half years on, Los Franjirrojos are fifth in La Liga, three points behind Atletico Madrid. Dreaming of Champions League qualification.
Did we mention that Iraola is a committed disciple at the temple of Bielsa? He played under the enigmatic Argentine at Athletic Bilbao. And appears to have been inspired by his mentor’s famously free-wheeling, hard-running style.
Will Andoni Iraola replace Jesse Marsch at Leeds United?
According to The Athletic, Leeds are now ‘weighing up’ an approach for the 40-year-old former Spain international; Jesse Marsch’s departing on Monday afternoon. But when quizzed about his future at Rayo, Iraola took a leaf straight out of the Bielsa playbook by shifting focus back onto his players.
Clearly, like Leeds’ bucket-perching, touchline-squatting legend, Iraola is a coach who prefers to do his work in the shadows.
“Football belongs to the footballers,” Iraola says. “The coaches are not so important. The players make us look better, and I am lucky that I have players with (such a high) level.
“We are on a good line, but I am aware of what my role is.”
Iraola, like Bielsa did in West Yorkshire, continues to get outstanding performances out of a squad made up largely of youngsters and lower-league nomads. Alvaro Garcia is one of La Liga’s finest left-backs these days. Fran Garcia has earned himself a move to Real Madrid. And Isi Palazon just cannot stop scoring or assisting.
“The 32 points (we have accumulated) matter to me,” Iraola adds. “Although it is true that there are many days left. You have to go game by game.
“The position (in the table) worries me zero. I worry about the points and competing well.”
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