Liverpool find themselves at the top of the Premier League table by two points after victory against Burnley last Saturday. The Reds overcame sickness around the camp and a stuttering start to the match, with three headed goals enough to seal the win.
Following his recent announcement, Jürgen Klopp has just seven league games remaining at Anfield before he departs. Potential replacement Xabi Alonso demonstrated his qualities as a manager immediately after the Burnley game. His Bayer Leverkusen side dominated their crunch match against Bayern Munich 3-0.
If FSG intends on appointing Alonso, Leverkusen’s technical director Simon Rolfes threw a potential spanner in the works earlier this week, telling German TV channel Sport1 he is ‘sure’ the 42-year-old will not be leaving the club at the end of the season.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked experienced LFC reporter Neil Jones for his thoughts on the Alonso links.
Should Unai Emery be on Liverpool’s shortlist to replace Jurgen Klopp?
Neil said:
“If Liverpool don’t go for Alonso now, there might not be another chance. Maybe not for five, or ten years. I completely understand why he’s the bookies’ favourite.
“I wouldn’t be saying ‘I’m sure’ put it that way, if I was Simon Rolfes. I’d be saying, ‘Well, hopefully!’
“I think it’d be difficult for Leverkusen to hold on to Alonso beyond this season and I think it would be remiss of Liverpool not to be pushing us as hard as they can to get him.
“He is one of the ‘ones’, isn’t he? One of the next batch of managers that are going to go to the top of the game.
“People say he’s inexperienced – of course – but he’s got more experience really in football than most. He’s won everything that there is in the game, domestically and internationally.
“In terms of overall breadth of football experience – ‘put your metals on the table’ would be the phrase I would use. So, I don’t have too many concerns about him.
“Everything starting to point towards him managing at the very top level. I think Liverpool is at the very top level at this moment in time. I hope it is him.
“He looks to me like someone who’s got a lot of the tools. He’s got the personality, the calmness and the statesmanlike attitude away from football, and on the sideline, He’s making players better, he looks like he’s got some flexibility in his tactics.
“He looks like he can get his teams playing with energy, passion, discipline, organisation.
“He’s taking on a giant in Germany. The last person to do that was Jürgen.”
Why Jurgen Klopp Needs a Break from Football – w/Sports Science Expert Peter Brukner
Redmen Reacts
From the outset, Alonso has been the outstanding candidate to replace Jürgen Klopp at the end of the season. He would arrive with an immense amount of goodwill from fans, given his exploits in a red shirt. He is challenging the dominant power in Germany, which is a situation that would be replicated in England with Manchester City. His Leverkusen side are playing with a highly effective passing style and looks set to break the record for the longest unbeaten run in German football history. His time at Anfield was in a previous era, but he would arrive with some idea of the pressure and high expectations involved in the job. With no obvious ‘big name’ candidate available – sorry, José – Mike Gordon and his colleagues are now left trying to predict who is coming force in European football. Xabi Alonso certainly seems to be top of that list.
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