CHERRIES boss Andoni Iraola commented on his familiarity with Manchester City’s style, having played for the Cityzens’ sister club New York City.

After a glittering career in his native Basque country with Athletic Club, Iraola finished his career with one final season stateside.

Iraola played under former Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira at New York City, the MLS franchise a part of the same multi-club model as Manchester City, named the City Group.

Manchester City welcome Cherries to the Etihad tomorrow afternoon (3pm), in what will be Iraola’s first encounter as a manager with Pep Guardiola.

The City Group’s footballing philosophy is well established, with sides all over the globe trying to replicate the high-possession based system made extremely successful by Pep Guardiola and City.

“I think the idea is pretty clear,” Iraola told the Daily Echo.

“I know some of the people that work there are part of City Group and for sure we will speak soon, or after the game.

“But the idea they try to do the same in the teams have, with the same methodology.

“Obviously each coach has details, his concrete things.

“But I think it's pretty clear for everyone that they try to dictate the games and be a possession-based team, positional play, and they are doing really, really well.

City boss Guardiola has previously named former Argentina and Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa as an inspiration.

Iraola played under Bielsa at Athletic Club, and whilst he believes there is a lot to learn from the current Uruguayan national team boss, he does not feel that Guardiola’s teams play in a similar style to the Argentine.

He explained: “Marcelo is always someone who can teach a lot about a lot of things in football, but I wouldn't say that the teams from Pep are similar to the teams that Marcelo Bielsa coaches.

“I think they can play different ways, different styles, but for sure they have things that you can take from each part of the game.”