16 February 2024 , 22:30
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Jurgen Klopp has hailed Xabi Alonso as the “stand-out” manager in the new generation of coaches.
Alonso is the hot favourite to succeed Klopp at Liverpool when he leaves this summer and the former Reds midfielder is chasing trophies on three fronts with Bayern Leverkusen. Klopp was not speaking about him as a potential successor when he admitted he is blown away by how well he is doing at Leverkusen.
“Xabi is doing an incredible job,” said the Reds boss. “If there were not the rumours around, that’s completely independent, if you had asked me eight weeks ago about Xabi Alonso, I would have gone ‘Oh my God’.
“The dinosaurs if you want, Ancelotti, Mourinho, Guardiola, maybe me, we will not do it - OK maybe Mourinho - but all the rest of us will not do it for the next 20 years. The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is the stand-out in that department.”
Klopp is particularly impressed by how quickly Alonso has transformed Leverkusen and they were next to bottom of the Bundesliga when he took over 16 months ago.
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Now they are pushing for honours in the Bundesliga, the German Cup - the DFB Pokal - and the Europa League. “How quickly his team is that well-tuned, that impresses me,” said Klopp. “For the time it’s taken, he’s put his proper stamp on it.
“Nobody knows if that’s always the way he wants to play or if it’s the way this team specifically plays. He’s not long enough in the business to tell, but obviously the coaching part is exceptional. That’s clear.
“He’s a former world-class player, obviously from a coaching family as well, which helps a little bit, he was like a coach already when he was playing. The football he’s playing, the teams he sets up, the transfers he did, it was all absolutely exceptional.”
Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for Alonso and the work he is doing with Bayer LeverkusenLeverkusen outclassed rivals Bayern Munich 3-0 last Saturday to open up a five-point lead in the Bundesliga title race and Klopp claims they were the better team. Klopp was the last manager to deny Bayern the Bundesliga in 2012 with Borussia Dortmund and says it is extremely rare for an opponent to be better than Bayern.
“I played a long time in my life in the Bundesliga and that is super-impressive,” said the German. Not only the points tally, but the way they play. “Leverkusen were clearly the better side in the first game and that’s rare.
“To be honest when we beat Bayern at Dortmund, it was a bit of defending very well, counter-attacking and taking the momentum. But Leverkusen were simply better. That was probably the real surprise given the short time he was there and the fact that it’s a young team.
“He has made super signings for this team, exactly what they needed and that’s really a very special job. Everybody would say exactly the same. In Germany, they talk like this. Wow, that is really impressive.”
Klopp feels Leverkusen can finally ditch their cruel nickname of Neverkusen because they are doing so well on three fronts.
“Especially as they are in the semi-final of the German Cup, there is only one other Bundesliga team in it if Gladbach wins, so Leverkusen have a very good chance to win the Cup,” he said.
“Obviously when you look through the Europa League, Leverkusen are one of the favourites there as well so this could be THE season for Leverkusen. It’s really crazy.”
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