Bournemouth: How has Andoni Iraola turned Cherries around?

The Cherries' 3-0 victory was the club's first ever league win at Old Trafford and rounded off a seven-day period where only a stoppage-time Ollie Watkins equaliser denied them maximum points from matches with Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and United.

Iraola-ball is in full swing. And it could be just the start.

The signs were always there

Bournemouth lost 3-1 to Liverpool at Anfield on Premier League matchday two but even in that early defeat Iraola's intentions were clear.

Assessing their success in pre-season, he said: "Probably the game against Southampton was the one where we were closer to the style.

"It is what we want to be, a high-pressing team, regain the ball high, have the chances."

Bournemouth did exactly that against Jurgen Klopp's side. Winning the ball high up the pitch repeatedly in the first 25 minutes, scoring the opener through that approach, and having a goal disallowed.

Liverpool struggled under the intense man-to-man press high up the pitch, with each player having clear instructions to execute.

This is a taxing approach and difficult to sustain for 90 minutes. Making mistakes against superior opponents will prove costly when an approach is predicated on dominating out of possession and so a miserable run of results - W0 D3 L6 in Iraola's opening nine games - followed.

But even in that run, Bournemouth continued to show promise and it was bound to click if they stayed true to this style.

And they have.

The proof is in the numbers

"It is true that we like, and we perform better, in high-tempo games," Iraola told Sky Sports.

"We need to run a lot. We don't need so much control, not in every single play, but I think we have the legs, we have the willingness, to go up and down."

The Cherries currently average 42.5% possession, with only five other sides in the league averaging less.

Key Bournemouth stats

• 7th for shot-ending high-turnovers (25)
• 1st for goal-ending high-turnovers (6)
• 17th for passes per sequence (2.76)
• 16th for sequence time (8.14 seconds)

Iraola's approach is mirroring his success at Rayo Vallecano in La Liga, where he made his name for an innovative pressing style, moulding them into one of the best pressing teams in Europe's top five leagues.

The approach is demanding physically but the upside has been huge for Bournemouth in recent games.

Against Villa, their opener came from them pushing numbers up against Villa's defensive line and the tireless running of Ryan Christie pouncing on a loose pass from Diego Carlos to set up Antoine Semenyo, who dispatched the opener expertly.

He's been one of the many beneficiaries of Iraola's methods.

"It's very, very intense. High-pressing is one of my things: I like to hunt people down. I feel like that side of things suits me and my style of play," said Semenyo.

"I feel like I've got the skillset to play out wide; I like to dribble and create stuff out of nothing whenever I can, so it suits. It's definitely working for me at the moment."

Iraola commands a squad composed of excellent athletes who are able to fulfil the physical demands of his approach and this is important in them containing opposition threat as well.

Across their last four fixtures, the Cherries have conceded 10 or more shots, however, three or fewer have been on target in each meeting. In each of their last five games, Bournemouth have allowed their opponents fewer than 1.1 expected goals (xG).

"The clearances, the blocks, the defensive work has to be good because they send a lot of players forward, so they will give you spaces after," said Iraola after the 3-0 win at Old Trafford.

With Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Luton up next, there are few signs of the Cherries coming unstuck.

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