It’s a clear no from me, to Xabi and Stevie working together. Shades of Houllier/Evans. It needs a clear boss. And even in a scenario where say Xabi was the boss and Stevie was the assistant, Stevie’s legendary history here would be problematic as the moment we had a dip or whatever, the would-be successor is sitting right there.
Xabi is his own man and if he comes, he will come with his own team.
Stevie did well at Rangers and then fell short at Villa. I hope he gets another job to show what he can do, as I suspect he was neither the Mesiah or a naughty boy, but something in between.
If Slot is let go sooner rather than later, and we were in for Xabi but not until summer, Stevie might arguably be the right caretaker material, so long as it was clearly defined with an end of season exit. His playing career demands instant respect, he obviously gets the club, so his forte might be to rally the troops short term, but he hasn’t shown the chops to get the job for the long haul.
Stevie G if he had dedicated himself to coaching/managing when his playing days ended… provided he threw himself into the role immediately of learning what it involved, might have been in a better position to manage LFC than he is now…
Stevie G today, with his entourage, Carragher down his ear every two minutes, and his blossoming family life outside of football… I feel he has missed his chance with us… or, at least I hope he has.
Alonso has me worried also. There is a lot more to managing a club like LFC than simply being good at tactics.
I do think that the fans’ general want for Xabi is much higher than their knowledge of Xabi’s coaching career and style.
Granted, we don’t have much of a sample, but let’s say it’s objectivelly good enough and there are some clear attractions that make him a legit potential LFC candidate in the near future.
As for whether it was too soon for him to go to Real and if it would still be too soon to takover Liverpool, like I said, I think these ex-big players who don’t necesssarily see themselves managing deep into their later life, will go and test these challenges pretty quickly (they have to merit it, of course).
In this world of change, fans and public calling for heads and (some) clubs actually doing so, I sometimes feel sad for some coaches who seem “wasted” quickly.
I am certain that Morton, Quansah and Elliott would have got a lot more minutes last season under a hypothetical Klopp management, especially Morton, simply because the idea of playing Gravenberch as CDM had never crossed his mind.
Had he stayed on he may have bought a new midfielder. Endo was a last minute ‘filler’. I would guess Jurgen’s a little bit more flexible in his choice of player than Arne is.
Or had we known in time they money we would get offered for Fabinho and Henderson, we might have got involved for Rice (regardless that he has since evolved more into an all action #8).
I mean, we were very close to bring Caicedo. Then also used Mac as a single pivot, which I didn’t like.
But yeah, it’s possible we would’ve aimed for a new single pivot #6 of better quality than Endo to play behind Szobo and Mac (or whoever else would’ve won those places).
Inclined to see Xabi as a more flexible manager,what has worried me this time round is Slot ‘s inflexibility in using players,particularly given the fairly tight player availability.
While i have no idea of what goes on in the dressing room,the attitude on the pitch at times suggests it could better,and that is well within the managers remit.
I would not expect Alonso to be that inflexible.
Every manager has players they trust and others they don’t. Alonso will have them. And let’s face it, Klopp did as well. Minamino and Shaqiri, for example, were not bad players. Gravenberch perhaps didn’t get as much game time under Klopp as he should have either.
For Slot, he interited his squad of last season. This summer, of the new signings… he has made use of almost all of them when he could. But there are signs that he also didn’t get what he asked for - as in, I’m pretty sure he was hoping for more pacy wide options than Chiesa (if last year wasn’t clear enough).
Alonso also had his favourites… and that subsequent player revolt is also a big reason why he is currently looking for his next role. It could be fit, skill, buy-in, politics, etc. But each manager will have players that they like.
I think I must have seen this guy play live, but I have literally no memory of him at all. First Hungarian in the Premier league., so a trailblazer for Szoboszlai and Kerkez.
Interestingly, Istvan Kozma was also the name of a Hungarian wrestler. I assume that was who Souness thought he was signing.
