Rafael Benitez is confident Liverpool's supporters will rally around Andoni Iraola as he prepares to take charge at Anfield.

Iraola was announced as Arne Slot's successor in June, signing a two-year contract after three successful seasons in the Premier League with Bournemouth. 

The 44-year-old replaced Slot just over 12 months after the Dutchman led the Reds to their record-equalling 20th top-flight title, but his second campaign was far from pretty. 

Liverpool spent £450m on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Milos Kerkez, but they could only manage fifth place in the Premier League, securing a spot in the Champions League for next season on the final day. 

Their 60 points were the fewest of any Premier League team to finish fifth or higher since Tottenham in 2006-07 (also fifth with 60), while their 24-point drop between 2024-25 and 2025-26 was the largest by any ever-present Premier League side in those seasons.

In fact, Bournemouth only finished three points behind Liverpool in the table, with Iraola leading the Cherries to European qualification for the first time in their history. 

He becomes the second Spaniard to take charge at Liverpool after Benitez, who was at the helm between 2004 and 2010, and the 66-year-old is confident the new man in the dugout will have the backing of the Anfield faithful, primarily due to his high-octane style of play. 

"It's a massive club. But I think he has an advantage – he knows the league," Benitez said. 

"That is not easy. At the beginning, when we arrived in the Premier League, it was totally different. But he knows the league.

"The fans will be very supportive, for sure. The way that he wants to play, I think they like that. And I think he has great possibilities to do well."

Iraola's final campaign in charge of Bournemouth capped three years of growth under his leadership, having replaced Gary O'Neil in 2023. 

He led Bournemouth to Premier League finishes of 12th in 2023-24 and ninth in 2024-25 before gatecrashing the top six in his final season. 

They broke their Premier League points record in each of those seasons, achieving 48 points in 2023-24, 56 in 2024-25 and 57 in 2025-26.

Iraola will be tasked with overseeing a summer of transition on Merseyside, following the departures of Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate. 

Victor Munoz has already put pen to paper on a deal to join Liverpool and will link up with the Reds after Spain's World Cup campaign concludes.

"Iraola has done really well, obviously in Bournemouth as you have seen," Benitez added. "But then we were following him when he was in Rayo Vallecano.

"One of the members of my staff was watching him training, and he told me after that he liked it because he [Iraola] was involved, he's trying to do things on the pitch all the time.

"Bournemouth has done really well, and now he has a different challenge."