'I played with Alonso at Liverpool he could follow in footsteps of Dalglish'

28 January 2024 , 09:30

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'I played with Alonso at Liverpool he could follow in footsteps of Dalglish'

Xabi Alonso is favourite to become Liverpool’s next manager - and I have to confess that he was the first person I thought of when it was announced that Jurgen Klopp was standing down.

‌I have no doubt my former teammate will feature prominently on the wish-list that's being drawn up. But I don’t believe suggestions that Alonso is already a done deal because, as chief executive Billy Hogan explained, one of the reasons Liverpool decided to confirm Klopp’s imminent departure at such a crucial part of the season was so that they could start a recruitment process without running the risk of the news leaking out. That scenario really would have undermined the quest for a quadruple.

‌I shared an Anfield dressing room with Xabi and if he can hit the same heights as a manager that he did as a player then he is going to enjoy quite a career. He is doing a fantastic job at Bayer Leverkusen and it is ironic that he is building his reputation in the same way that Klopp once did: by going toe-to-toe with the mighty Bayern Munich.

‌Top of the Bundesliga, unbeaten in 27 games at the time of writing, if he could end Bayern’s stranglehold on German football then that would be quite an achievement.

Robbie Fowler played with Xabi Alonso during his second stint at the club

As a midfielder of great renown, Alonso won the lot with Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern and Spain. It would be too much of a cliche to say that I viewed him as a certainty to become a manager when we were teammates at Anfield. All we were bothered about was the next game and I just wanted him to be the great player he was.

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‌But he was always very astute and was a leader on the pitch - and it is clear he has taken those qualities into management. Making him Liverpool boss at the age of 42 and after just two seasons on the touchline would be the kind of gamble the club made back in the mid-1980s when Kenny Dalglish became player-manager.‌

Alonso has had a superb start to his managerial career (Bayer 04 Leverkusen via Getty Images)

I’m not sure the king-makers at Anfield are the kind of people to take a punt - and they will do all the due diligence necessary before making an appointment.

The dream ticket a few years ago would have been to see Steven Gerrard return as manager. That may appear to be an unlikely development, but I am sure Stevie’s name will also be mentioned in the corridors of power as a candidate for the job. For obvious reasons given his history with the club.

Roberto De Zerbi must also come into the thinking given the style of football he has developed at Brighton without spending a fortune in the transfer market.

And I said even before Unai Emery started rebuilding his reputation at Aston Villa that the Spaniard is a very accomplished manager who just went to Arsenal at the wrong time following Arsene Wenger ’s departure. Whoever gets the job has got mighty training shoes to fill.

Robbie Fowler