“Exciting, emotional football!” – Xabi Alonso’s managerial contributions are outlined.

“Exciting, emotional football!” – Xabi Alonso’s managerial contributions are outlined.

Xabi Alonso is one of the front-runners to succeed Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, and Bundesliga analyst Dan O’Hagan provided us with a thorough analysis of the Spaniard’s background.

It will be unusual to see a new manager in the dugout come August, since Klopp is expected to retire at the end of the season.

Given the incredible improvement he has made with Bayer Leverkusen in just 18 months, leading them to the top of German football, Alonso is the clear choice in European football for the position.

Sam Millne talked about Alonso’s tenure as Leverkusen manager and what he may offer Liverpool with Bundesliga pundit Dan O’Hagan (@danohagan).

Is he worthy of consideration for the Liverpool position?

Indeed. I witnessed his Leverkusen debut game last season, when they soundly defeated Schalke 4-0. His style of play was impressive right immediately.

And while it was a little hit or miss the previous season, they have been, in my opinion, the best team playing in Europe this year. They are the only squad that has never lost in any of the three main league competitions.

Anywhere would be a good place for Alonso’s style of play. It is flowing, contemporary, high-tempo, thrilling, emotive, and full of goals.

Naturally, Klopp leaves a tonne of gigantic shoes to fill at Liverpool, but Alonso might be the coach’s personality and playing style that the team needs.

It goes without saying that Klopp leaves gigantic, enormous shoes at Liverpool to fill, but Alonso might be the type of coach and player big enough to step into those enormous shoes.

How does he organise his team?

According to Alonso, he is not a big believer in formations. Although the official record for this season is 3-4-3, it has changed three, four, or five times already in games.

It could be a back three or a back four. It moves so naturally. He has athletes with intelligence and adaptability.

Under Alonso, systems are mostly meaningless because they dominate the game’s tempo and have so much possession of the ball that they effectively control the game regardless of the system.

Leverkusen has an extremely laissez-faire atmosphere with little formal organisation.

How fast has he made progress?

They were in the bottom two when he took command, although they had ended in the European spots the previous season, thus they had made progress all season. However, he never took over a bottom two squad.

That being said, this season has been amazing from the beginning as they have truly built upon the foundations he created in the prior one.

The number, the kind, and the source of the objectives. The two wide players he has this season—Alex Grimaldo on the left and Jeremie Frimpong on the right—have produced amazing goals and assists for wing-backs.

He made improvements in the areas he could have done better throughout the summer. They have transformed from, in my opinion, an underperforming but excellent group to, this season, without a doubt, the greatest team in Germany.

Any worries?

One thing that raises questions in my mind is that, as this is only his second season leading a senior first team in a top division, Alonso isn’t quite the whole package yet.

He spent a few years playing in Spain’s third and second divisions with Real Sociedad’s B team, and prior to that, he was a member of Real Madrid’s under-14 squad.

My only concern is that he might just need to spend one or two more years at Leverkusen in order to potentially win awards and gain experience.

Is he a man-manager as well as a skilled tactician?

Big players at big clubs these days, I believe, respect those who have medals, and Alonso undoubtedly has every medal in existence.

Given how recent his career has been, the players will have seen Alonso play, so they will naturally have a good understanding of who he is, what he’s accomplished, and how to treat him with respect right away.

Given his accomplishments and his willingness to let his players play, I believe the players would warm up to him right away.

He offers those guys on the pitch a great deal of independence and accountability. Players at Leverkusen seem to relish competing for Alonso, and I don’t think that’s the case anywhere else.