One day during the many months that Bournemouth spent analysing the man who would eventually become their coach, they saw his Rayo Vallecano team run through a routine that looked familiar. If at first they could not quite put their finger on why, when they got the chance to ask him about it, everything fell into place. Yes, Andoni Iraola told them, it’s one of Eddie Howe’s. Iraola, described as a “sponge” by his former coach Joaquín Caparrós, soaking up everything he saw and heard, had learned from the Englishman, just as he had from Marcelo Bielsa, Ernesto Valverde and Patrick Vieira. From everyone.
Howe had learned from him, too, a lot shared. Howe, a frequent visitor to Spain, travelled to Madrid shortly before becoming Newcastle manager to see Atlético and Rayo. Rayo lack the basic resources elite teams consider standard, but there was good reason to go. He watched Iraola train, spent time with him and returned even more impressed. Analysts and sporting directors came from England’s big clubs, too, a quiet chatter commencing; something was happening over there, a coach emerging who was different.
