Jurgen Klopp has revitalized an underperforming Liverpool team and has led them to the top of the English Premier League for the first time in 30 years, winning the Champions League and the Champions League for the first time in 30 years.
The great German coach has decided to retire at the end of the season, as it takes a lot of energy to lead a mega-club. While Ruben Amorim and Julian Nagelsmann are on the list to succeed him, Xabi Alonso, who leads Bayer Leverkusen, is seen as the top candidate.
Although he does not have extensive experience in the top flight, he is highly regarded for his skills at Leverkusen, where he has been unbeatable in the Bundesliga this season, and Liverpool and Bayern Munich are both looking to sign him.
Former German midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who has played for both teams during his playing days, insisted that the young Spaniard is the ideal candidate to lead Liverpool, but stressed that he will be the one to decide whether he will shoulder the heavy responsibility of succeeding Klopp.
“He took over at Leverkusen last year and the team were second or third from bottom and he’s transformed the whole football club,”
“Yes, they bought two or three players in the summer. Xhaka was a brilliant signing, but it’s pretty much the same team. He galvanised all of them.”
“They are still unbeaten with only two draws, 10 points clear of Bayern and they will win the title this season. I don’t think you need to be a scientist to forecast that. And he’s probably the ideal candidate because he knows how Liverpool work.”
“He’s adored by the Liverpool faithful and the fans loved him when he played there. The only thing I would say is that following Klopp is not an easy thing to do and that is a decision he has to make, whether he wants to be the first guy to follow Klopp.”
“If you look at Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, they had unsteady times and went through managers in the years after they left, which is always a danger.”
“The thing is, managing Leverkusen, managing Leipzig or managing Brighton is very different from managing Liverpool. If Alonso stays where he is for another two years, or manages somewhere else, at Bayern Munich or another really big club, then it might be different.”
“Out of all the names being mentioned, they haven’t been at the biggest clubs in the world. It’s hard to forecast what will happen at the biggest clubs because you won’t get experience managing Bayern or Liverpool by not managing them.”
“So that wouldn’t be anything that puts them off but, at the same time, for very experienced coaches like Jose Mourinho or Tuchel at Bayern, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.”
“Xabi is a very smart guy and if he wants the job, then he will be the perfect candidate and if anyone can follow in Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps then it might be him.”
BoyleSports