XABI ALONSO has undoubtedly become the youngest coach in world football.
But could he be about to make the very big step up as the next Liverpool manager?
Jurgen Klopp in the Premier League by announcing his surprise exit from Anfield at the end of the season.
Alonso emerged as the initial favourite to succeed him in the dugout, and it’s not hard to see why.
The former Spanish maestro took charge of German side Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022, with the club in a relegation war.
Now they are flying high at top of the Bundesliga, leaving Bayern Munich in their wake.
However, the standings only tell part of the story, as Leverkusen are also one of the most exciting and progressive teams in European football.
Having played under the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez, there is no doubt Alonso enjoyed a second-to-none education enhanced by his natural curiosity for the finer details.
After hanging up his boots Alonso took his first job coaching Real Sociedad B in Spain’s lower leagues, far away from the media spotlight.
After all, he signed for Leverkusen at the start of last season with plans to rebuild his campaign.
Just over a year later, Leverkusen are one of the most attractive groups in football, with an incredibly incisive attack but also a solid and well-organised defence.
Despite being young and green as a manager, the narrative now is that Alonso will be the first superclub pick to combine tactics with their manager first, and that turned out to be Liverpool.
That doesn’t mean Alonso will accept the first offer if the Reds call, though.
We’ve already noticed him waiting for the right opportunity and that raises some questions.
Would returning to Merseyside be the right opportunity and the next step?
Is this the ideal for Liverpool?
Klopp will go down as one of the most successful and popular managers in the club’s history, but following his departure, Liverpool fans will be strongly in favor of appointing a manager with such a strong connection to the club.
Alonso played 210 times for the Reds, scoring 19 goals and winning 4 trophies, highlighting the triumph in the 2005 Champions League, in which he scored.
Klopp, when he was at Mainz and Dortmund, and Alonso incorporate a proactive technique into their training, prioritising attacking football over rhythm and connecting with their players.
However, Alonso is creating a dominant attacking design than Klopp did in his first move to England.
So far this season, Leverkusen have used their complex midfielders and full-backs to advance and occupy more complex attacking spaces.
Leverkusen create a lot of danger in possession with the way they move players into high positions early, as they look to stretch the width of the pitch.
This forces the opposition to protect themselves within a wider layout and creates a central area that their complex midfielders can exploit.
One of the shortcomings of Liverpool’s current formula, as all of Prem’s coaches have inspired so far this season, is that they are too slow to push midfielders into more complex spaces from transfer to a ball-dominant formula.
This despite Liverpool moving from a more functional midfield with the departure of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.
One of the other key tactical concepts of Alonso’s team at Leverkusen has been the way they prepare off the ball and protect aggressively in transition.
By Dan King
XABI ALONSO ticks almost every box to succeed Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, and if Bayer Leverkusen don’t let their lead at the top of the Bundesliga slip the case for him to do so will be irresistible.
The former Kop idol arrives at the club as a centre-back after five seasons at Anfield and has made no secret of his undying affection.
Alonso has already earned a reputation as a cutting-edge coach by betting on a horny and urgent style, in a fluid 3-4-2-1 formation.
He led Leverkusen from the back of the Bundesliga to seven places at the top, en route to being crowned German champions for the first time in its 120-year history.
It’s worth remembering that Rafa Benitez and Klopp arrived at Anfield with evidence that they could dethrone the clubs that ruled their leagues.
For Alonso to do the same, in just his second season as top-flight coach, would mark him as special.
It is this lack of long-term experience that would still make his appointment to upgrade Klopp a gamble.
But otherwise, he proves to be the ideal candidate as Liverpool are forced to plan for the long term without the guy who made them champions of England, Europe and the world.
Leverkusen presses and counter-presses aggressively to win the ball back as close as possible to the opponent’s goal.
To triumph in Leverkusen, Alonso took advantage of speed in wide areas.
Alonso likes his team to control possession, but also that they have the opportunity to use their speed to temporarily attack the opponent’s defensive line area.
Finally, Alonso has set Leverkusen up is the way they play in a compact style in possession.
This means that centre-backs and wingers move incredibly high up the pitch in the attacking phase to force the opposition back, allowing midfielders to move into attacking positions.
The central midfielders will then move into more complex attacking positions.
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