Xabi Alonso’s potential popularity at Liverpool could be a reason why the club’s decision-makers opt not to bring him back to the club, Melissa Reddy suggested.
The former Red, who was a key fixture in Rafa Benitez’s Champions League-winning side, has been heavily linked with the perhaps soon-to-be-vacant head coach role at L4.
This comes amid what has been a supremely disappointing campaign on the red half of Merseyside, with Liverpool limping towards a finish inside the Champions League spots.
A significant part of the reason behind Michael Edwards’ first exit from his role at Liverpool, we were led to believe, was Jurgen Klopp having a greater say in the decision-making at L4 behind the scenes.
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Darwin Nunez, for instance, was believed to be a signing that the German head coach personally pushed for – though not necessarily a typical Edwardian signing.
One certainly gets the impression that our former sporting director’s return to Liverpool hinged on that power balance swinging back firmly in favour of the boffins. So it makes sense that Arne Slot was brought in specifically to be the “head coach” instead of “manager”.
And look, we’re okay with that, but Melissa Reddy’s suggestion that Liverpool may be avoiding a serious look at Xabi Alonso as the Dutchman’s replacement due to fears of a repeat of the “Klopp factor” is troubling.
“Why do the drops of information against Xabi Alonso centre around his use of a back three at Bayer Leverkusen when he employed a back four at Real Sociedad B and Real Madrid?” the former Sky Sports reporter wrote on her personal Substack.
“While there are doubts around the 44-year-old’s coaching ceiling as he’s in the embryonic stages of his career and he is not the slam dunk portrayed, is part of the issue also the popularity he would automatically command?
“As succession planning is constantly worked on, what characteristics would the club be looking for now in their next head coach?”
Is it possible that Liverpool’s decision-makers would sooner stick with Arne Slot for another season than commit to his potential Spanish successor for fear of the power balance swinging back toward the manager?
Reddy’s absolutely right to point out that the 44-year-old’s potential return at Anfield would be a popular decision.
But at the moment, there are also some pretty significant doubts over whether both Edwards and Richard Hughes will still be at the club beyond the upcoming summer window.
In that case, is the decision to hold on to Arne Slot one made in the interest of guaranteeing some continuity at the club amid some key exits behind the scenes?
If that’s the rationale, it’s a poor one. Liverpool look utterly rudderless on the pitch, to the point that it’s hard to see how a change – any change – wouldn’t lead to a notable uplift in performance levels.
And given that the likes of Luis Enrique and Hansi Flick likely won’t be on the market this summer, we don’t really see a better alternative to Alonso.
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It seems Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes think they are the managers of the football team. Get a manager in now.
They need to get the manager of Stuttgart in n3xt season.
Slopt will be the death of LFC as a top club.
You want a puppet or muppet, please go to a toy shop. A proper football manager is required, not a yes man head coach.
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