AFC Bournemouth host Chelsea at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday night and Andoni Iraola has spoken in high regard about the visitors' quality in his pre-match press conference.
Iraola said: “It is going to be a tactically difficult game; in the first three games they have used three different structures.”
The Cherries boss also spoke on how Chelsea are such a difficult team to prepare for.
“The problem with Chelsea is they have so many options, you can not only cover Cole Palmer because then they have Mudryk or Pedro Neto or other players,” said Iraola.
“Chelsea have so many options on the offensive side, they have different kinds of wingers, inswingers or outswingers, it is difficult to prepare for everything.
“I think we are going to have to be adjusting every minute, tactically it will be very demanding.”
The Spanish manager was also full of praise for the Blues’ star-player, Cole Palmer.
“I expect Palmer to play and play as well as he normally plays,” said Iraola.
“Palmer is a top-level player, one of the best players of the last season in the Premier League.”
In contrast to many, Iraola generally spoke positively of Chelsea instead of criticising their transfer business.
“They are a team that is playing very well, and they have a lot of different options to play,”
“At the end of the game they will make amazing subs, because they have Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho or whoever doesn’t start the game.”
AFC Bournemouth’s next seven fixtures include the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Iraola explained how he intends to deal with tougher opposition: “We don’t want to lose our identity and nature, but some things we normally do might be good for them, and if we go to a game which is open then we risk them having chances and punishing us.”
AFC Bournemouth will go into the game on Saturday as underdogs against Chelsea, but the Cherries showed in their comeback against Everton that they should never be underestimated.