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Xabi Alonso

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keniget

keniget

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I noticed in another thread that he was mentioned as "one of ours".

I was just wondering - particularly in light of all the manager chat - who does he have more of an affiliation with (Sociedad aside), us or Real Madrid?
 
You should see his recent interviews on youtube when he speaks about LFC. It's clear where his preference lies.
 
He's going to want to go and manage Madrid at some point though. So what would we get out of him. 5 years?
 
Wonder how true this is:

Xabi Alonso has a release clause in his contract that allows him to leave Bayer Leverkusen for Liverpool or Real Madrid. The release clause becomes active this summer! [BILD]
 
Xabi Alonso has always sucked the tit of whoever was paying his wages, which is fair enough. I'm sure he's called every fan-base the best he's played for at some stage, definitely did with us and Bayern. I like and respect Xabi enormously, but he wasn't here long enough to get the love of Hyypia, for example.

Between Madrid and us it's probably pretty equal. I think he's smart enough to recognise the risks of considering the Madrid job. Zidane pulled it off and shined there, but he seems content with a short managerial career(?). Xabi played a neat game of stepping stones in his playing career. This may tell us nothing at all, and we are at a higher level that the Liverpool he joined. But it might provide some indication that he's highly selective of the clubs he picks and is conscious not to take something beyond his standing. Liverpool be a sizable leap up, however would provide a better platform for any manager wanting to develop and become the best.
 
It's a risk with all managers and particularly foreign managers though that there is likely to be another club that they would want to manage.

If we limit ourselves to lifelong Liverpool fans then we are unlikely to get the best.

At least with Alonso he has a big connection with Liverpool too.
 
German Super Cup winner

GERMAN SUPER CUP WINNER
16/17

German League Cup winner

GERMAN LEAGUE CUP WINNER
2017

  • German Champion

    GERMAN CHAMPION
    16/17
    15/16
    14/15
    German cup winner

    GERMAN CUP WINNER
    15/16


  • Spanish cup winner

    SPANISH CUP WINNER
    13/14
    10/11
    Uefa Supercup winner

    UEFA SUPERCUP WINNER
    13/14
    05/06

    Champions League winner

    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNER
    13/14
    04/05

  • CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RUNNER-UP
  • 06/07
    Champions League
    Spanish Super Cup winner

    SPANISH SUPER CUP WINNER
    12/13
    European champion

    EUROPEAN CHAMPION
    2008, 2012

    Spanish champion

    SPANISH CHAMPION
    11/12

    World Cup winner
  • WORLD CUP WINNER
    2010

    English FA Cup winner

    ENGLISH FA CUP WINNER
    2006
    English Super Cup winner
  • Community Shield
    2005, 2006
 
Xabi Alonso is now speaking at his pre-game Leverkusen press conference, which probably has a few more eyes on it than usual.

“First of all it was a surprise, but I have huge respect for Jürgen,” Alonso said. “Huge admiration before coming to Liverpool and during his years it has grown bigger, what he has achieved and the way he has achieved it.”

“At the moment, I am really happy here [at Leverkusen] and enjoying my work here,” Alonso added. “I’m feeling each day and each game is a challenge and we are in an intense but in a beautiful journey here in Leverkusen.

“I am trying to give my best to help my players be ready for the next thing, and that’s my goal. What will come next, I don’t know.”

I'm hearing "come and get me", but that might be because that's what I want to hear.
 
Fabio said:
All out this summer to get xabi, and see if he'll bring some of their players along for the ride. Wirtz, frimpong and Boniface would be nice.
Click to expand...
Never happened with Klopp did it, wonder if there's any extras in that clause. "You can leave for Madrid or Liverpool but you can't have any of our players"
 
binomial said:
Never happened with Klopp did it, wonder if there's any extras in that clause. "You can leave for Madrid or Liverpool but you can't have any of our players"
Click to expand...
Never happened with klopp, but xabi might be different
 
Fabio said:
All out this summer to get xabi, and see if he'll bring some of their players along for the ride. Wirtz, frimpong and Boniface would be nice.
Click to expand...

Don't be silly, that will be our transfer for the summer and you know it ... a new manager, no new players or anything just a manager.
 
I'd assumed Xabi would go to Real this summer, but with Ancelotti recently signing a new deal, we have a short window where we're in pole position.

He'd be at the top of my list right now.
 
Frogfish said:
My list only has his name. That's it. Just the one name.
Click to expand...

That's how it feels after a breakup with a terrific Girlie as well. Only the best will do thereafter - and it's still likely not enough

We're losing one of the best managers in the world.

BUT we are well positioned to bring in another top talent.
 


The chronology, you might think, is just too perfect. As the community around Liverpool Football Club digest the bombshell news of Jürgen Klopp’s departure, the emergence of Xabi Alonso as a head coach of genuine substance at the top of the European game seems just right. Like one of his inch-perfect passes as a player (and even now occasionally, unobtrusively impressing his charges in training sessions), it feels like an opportunity may be dropping right at the feet of the Premier League leaders just when they need it.

His work since arriving in north-west Germany speaks for itself. Taking over a Bayer Leverkusen team in the relegation zone in October 2022 and taking them close to Champions League qualification and to a Europa League semi-final was impressive. But the continuation of that upward trajectory this season has been mind-blowing. Eighteen games into the Bundesliga season his team remain unbeaten, top of the table having dropped only six points. They have the league’s best defensive record – a particularly notable feat given some of their chaotic displays at the back in recent years – but without being overly cautious or unattractive.

In Europe they are one of the favourites, along with Liverpool, to lift the Europa League. Many feel that, as with Klopp’s team, this season’s Champions League is poorer for not having them in it. Alonso is not far from the brink of doing something extraordinary. Not just in besting a Harry Kane-reinforced Bayern Munich, but in the manner in which Leverkusen are doing it. The journey, rather than the current position, is what convinces many that the Basque coach is the real deal.

Speaking to the Guardian in November, he told us that his initial brief was just to make Leverkusen “more competitive” as they sought to show that they had the fight to get away from the bottom, relying on their abilities to counterattack, before graduating to a style more about control. Many young coaches who are shooting stars hit a wall when faced with their first major left turn. Alonso, on the other hand, was dropped right in at the deep end. He had to adapt to survive and already had a plan to evolve the style in mind. He talks passionately of allowing players to interpret positions rather than being stuck to formations. In this context, he would appear to have the ideal mindset to deal with the mammoth task of succeeding Klopp.

Bild reported on Friday a long-rumoured release clause in Alonso’s Leverkusen contract covering just his three biggest former clubs – Liverpool, Bayern and Real Madrid. Club and coach have sidestepped the subject of a release clause rather than flatly denying it. In his press conference to preview Saturday’s match with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Alonso sensibly stuck to praising Klopp and reiterating that he was fully absorbed in his current work, “an intense and beautiful journey”, and very happy where he was “at the moment”.

It is fair of him to apply a degree of transience to his current role. Leverkusen is a great place to develop, with many big club trappings and facilities but without the intense scrutiny of other comparably successful clubs. There is a limit to what can be done there. In late autumn Alonso was widely expected to be Carlo Ancelotti’s successor at Real Madrid next season. That the Italian signed a new deal to 2026 may be connected to Alonso’s vow to take his own decisions and do things at his own pace. “I will take my own decisions when I feel it is the right moment,” he said in November.

Despite knowing that every step of the way on his coaching journey would be closely tracked Alonso stayed in his first principal role, with Real Sociedad’s B team, for three years. Not because he had to – Mönchengladbach were ready to appoint him in the spring of 2021 – but because he felt it felt right.

And whereas in many aspects of his temperament Alonso may differ from Klopp, the one thing that definitely binds them is their desire to do things by feel. Klopp’s intuition and quick, instinctive connection with Liverpool saw him through that tricky opening foundational phase at the club.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
keniget said:
I noticed in another thread that he was mentioned as "one of ours".

I was just wondering - particularly in light of all the manager chat - who does he have more of an affiliation with (Sociedad aside), us or Real Madrid?
Click to expand...

I think that was me..

As the post above, he's name checked us a few times since hanging up his boots. And has in the past referred to us as 'home' on interviews.

As I've put in other threads. He didn't really want to leave us. But it was the G&H time, where Rafa had to sell to buy. If you remember he actually stayed with us for another season before leaving.

So I do regard him as one of ours.
 
The Nomad said:
I think that was me..

As the post above, he's name checked us a few times since hanging up his boots. And has in the past referred to us as 'home' on interviews.

As I've put in other threads. He didn't really want to leave us. But it was the G&H time, where Rafa had to sell to buy. If you remember he actually stayed with us for another season before leaving.

So I do regard him as one of ours.
Click to expand...

Oh, I think of him as one of us too... was just wondering if he feels more Real than Liverpool.
 
Xabi will come in, tweak Liverpool 2.0 to Liverpool 2.1 with minor adjustments - really just more of the same with one or two additional tactical options available to ensure we have multiple options for every situation. He will continue to refresh & evolve the team every year, never letting us stand still, never going stale, and he will lead Liverpool for 30 glorious trophy filled years. At around that time I will depart this mortal coil a happy man and wont give a fuck about what happens next.

Thats the way I see it, anyway
 
tombrown said:
Xabi will come in, tweak Liverpool 2.0 to Liverpool 2.1 with minor adjustments - really just more of the same with one or two additional tactical options available to ensure we have multiple options for every situation. He will continue to refresh & evolve the team every year, never letting us stand still, never going stale, and he will lead Liverpool for 30 glorious trophy filled years. At around that time I will depart this mortal coil a happy man and wont give a fuck about what happens next.

Thats the way I see it, anyway
Click to expand...
He certainly seems to have both general and football intelligence, knows the city, knows the league, and has always had that natural charisma with other players looking up to him.
Can't think of any other manager I'd want right now.
Just wish a couple of the coaches could have stayed on to help out. I guess Pep's going to try and get his own management job again?
 
juniormember said:
He certainly seems to have both general and football intelligence, knows the city, knows the league, and has always had that natural charisma with other players looking up to him.
Can't think of any other manager I'd want right now.
Just wish a couple of the coaches could have stayed on to help out. I guess Pep's going to try and get his own management job again?
Click to expand...
Someone said it in another thread- Milner will return as Xabi's assistant, that will give the continuity.
 
Xabi didn't make a lot of changes when he took over Leverkusen. It was after the first season the that he started tweaking he squad.
 
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