Andoni Iraola and Mikel Arteta were part of the same youth team but only one of them stood out as a future manager when they were young

Liverpool's Premier League meeting with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon will reunite two former youth team-mates whose coaching potential became clear at very different stages. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was already offering tactical advice as a boy, while Reds head coach Andoni Iraola only convinced their old coach he could become a manager after hanging up his boots.

The pair grew up playing for Basque youth club Antiguoko alongside former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso. Now, Iraola and Arteta are set to be in opposite dugouts at Anfield, with their shared footballing education providing a fascinating backdrop to Liverpool's Premier League clash with the reigning champions.

For Roberto Montiel, who coached the trio of high-profile managers and is now Antiguoko's vice-president, Arteta's interest in management was evident early on. Iraola's career, however, came as more of a surprise.

Liverpool's head coach was a talented but reserved youngster, and Montiel did not recognise his coaching potential until Iraola returned to Antiguoko after retiring as a player.

"Andoni was a very shy boy and a very good student, and he had spectacular talent," Montiel told The ECHO.

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"As a child, being very shy, when we had the game under control he would do things with the ball that very few players could do. We had a great team and I consider myself very, very competitive, and I instil that in all my teams."

Montiel helped Iraola take his first steps into coaching, although he admitted he had initially expected his former player to leave football behind.

He said: "The truth is that when he quit football, I thought he was going to retire, but when he called me and told me that he wanted to start coaching and asked if I could give him a team in Antiguoko, I saw that he might have the makings of a coach.

"He went to Madrid to get his coaching licence and there I saw that he might have a future, since he was the best in his class during the course."

Iraola's first senior managerial job was with Cypriot club AEK Larnaca. After one season, he returned to Spain in 2019 to take charge of newly promoted Segunda Division side Mirandes, before joining Rayo Vallecano a year later.

Bournemouth appointed him in 2023 and he quickly established himself as one of the Premier League's most promising coaches, taking the club to new heights and securing Europa League qualification. Liverpool came calling in June, giving him the opportunity to take charge at Anfield.

Sunday's visitors are led by a manager whose interest in coaching developed much earlier. Montiel recalled how a young Arteta would watch training sessions and then offer suggestions about where his coach could improve the team.

"Mikel always played ahead of his age group and showed a lot of maturity despite being a little boy," he added. "Right away, we knew he could make it at a professional level.

"He's the best player I have ever seen at Antiguoko, better even than Alonso, and I think he had the idea of being a coach a long time before he hung up his boots."

Montiel added: "Arteta would watch me coach some of the teams and afterwards bombard me with ideas and suggestions of how to change things around. He was still only young, but I could see he was engineering the idea of coaching. I would laugh because he'd tell me where my team was failing and where I had to use the scalpel to make changes!"

After retiring in 2016, Arteta had three possible routes into coaching. Arsene Wenger offered him a role overseeing Arsenal's academy, while joining former PSG team-mate Mauricio Pochettino's staff at Tottenham was another option. Instead, he chose to work under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Arteta was widely tipped to succeed Wenger at Arsenal in 2018, but the club appointed the more experienced Unai Emery, also from the Basque country. His opportunity came 18 months later, following Emery's sacking, and his seven-year spell in north London has seen him win the FA Cup and a Premier League title.

The Arsenal game follows another Antiguoko reunion for Iraola, with Liverpool having beaten Alonso's Chelsea in the Carabao Cup at Anfield on Wednesday evening. Alonso was quieter than Arteta as a youngster, but Montiel remembered a player who commanded respect without needing to raise his voice.

"Xabi was a small lad, who didn't bulk up until the Under-17s," Montiel said. "But he organised play very well and was a commanding presence without being very bossy.

"He was a bit introverted but transformed when on the pitch. He was never someone who needed to shout a lot - a few words was all it took. But he was always highly respected and when Xabi said something, everyone respected it."

Alonso took charge of Real Sociedad B in 2019 before joining Bayer Leverkusen in 2022. He led the German club to their first Bundesliga title in 2023/24, completing the entire domestic season unbeaten.

Liverpool were among the clubs linked with Alonso following Jurgen Klopp's departure in 2024, but he stayed in Germany and the Reds appointed Arne Slot. Alonso moved to Real Madrid a year later, although his time at the Bernabeu ended before he completed a full season. Chelsea appointed him in July.