How about the Argentine NT coach ?
The Athletic had a nice piece describing how different Xabi’s tactics are at Leverkusen versus Klopp’s here.
The main problem for Liverpool, ironically enough, is that Alonso the coach doesn’t believe in long passes. He wants his team to play it short, on the grass and straight up the middle so fast it’ll make your head spin.
Only a handful of managers have been as ideologically committed to short passing as Alonso at Leverkusen. He’s got less in common with Klopp than with Maurizio Sarri at Napoli (2015-2018) or Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton — good managers and great teams, sure, but not at all like the current Liverpool.
Leverkusen’s build-ups start from a flexible back three that can swing one outside centre-back wide to become a back four when the situation calls for it. In front of them, a pair of defensive midfielders play very narrow at slightly staggered heights, a la De Zerbi’s Brighton for quick combination play between the lines.
…
If Alonso cut-and-pasted his current game model onto Liverpool, the high press would drop off into more of a Man City-style mid-block. In possession, the creative players at the back would have less freedom to pick out runners over the top and Salah might have to abandon his wing to create between the lines. Even Alisson would see his role diminished in a back-three system that discourages the goalkeeper from venturing out of his box to join the build-up as a keeper-back.
4 Likes
If anything, I think Pep will extend his contract knowing there’s no one else to challenge him going forward.
1 Like
I think a problem with such an analysis is that it assumes Alonso will play exactly the same way even at Liverpool. Best managers in the world set their team up based on the players they have and not the other way around.
Klopp’s Dortmund was very different from Klopp’s Liverpool v1, which in turn is different from our v2.
I think a big part of the interview/selection process will be how does the new manager plan to get the best out of our existing players and win.
3 Likes
Klopp used to implement 4-2-3-1 at Dortmund, a style he has rarely used at Liverpool. The greatest trait of a good manager is to evolve and adapt. If Alonso really has that high ceiling, then he will adapt a style that will suit our existing squad.
2 Likes
Klopp’s principles haven’t changed though.
Xabi might still be working on his, but it wouldn’t surprise me if quite a bit of what he’s doing, he would translate to his new club.
Also, formations count for nothing. Whether someone played 4-2-3-1 at a club and then mostly 4-3-3 at another, really doesn’t make any difference.
Going from 4 at the back to potentially 3 at the back is more of a change.
But going from zonal and ball oriented press to Zerbi’s (if it would be like that at a big club) man marking defending… now that would be a difference for us, after almost a decade of Klopp.
The question is whether Alonso is ideologically committed to these things, or whether he is making best use of the options he has. Does he encourage his keeper to stay back because he has a limited keeper? Does he play short passing because he hasn’t got a Trent?
2 Likes
Exactly. To argue that Xabi’s tactics are set in stone after a season and a half of senior management isn’t realistic.
4 Likes
It also isn’t realistic that his main ideas and principles were decided on his first day at Leverkusen…
2 Likes
There are pragmatic managers like Ancelotti who devise their playing style based on their team’s strengths.
There’s nothing to say that Xabi will be rigid and inflexible in his tactics.
2 Likes
From what I’ve seen of Leverkusen, they seem to have a balanced possession based gameplay. They do press and do look to regain the ball relatively quickly.
They build up play from the back and look to release their quick striker to get the goals.
They’ve got quite a bit of defensive stability as well.
They might not press as much as Liverpool’s early gegenpressing sides but neither do we do that as much nowadays.
There are quite a lot of similarities and the differences between the playing styles (while present) can be easily attributed to the quality of players in both the teams.
1 Like
And the talk of Xabi preferring to go in with
a 3-2-3-2 formation , that’s something that will allow one of our wingbacks to slot into the deep lying midfield position which isn’t that different from the transition that we play with anyway.
1 Like
I am still in denial and trying hard to accept his decision, even though it should be easier, as I always trust his choices so he knows best in his case, obviously.
But I don’t think anybody will be a good fit…
In 2015 it was so obvious that Klopp was the right choice, that if anyone, he will be the one to turn our fortunes around. I had unlimited patience with him and was ready to back him if it would fail. The energy, the changes he brought were something else.
I don’t follow other teams as closely today like back in 2015, but there’s no one that stands out like that in my opinion. I’m trying to be realistic, this will not be an easy task for FSG, I guess we have to trust their analysts, because another Klopp we can’t find.
1 Like
People are not robots, but it doesn’t mean their principles change wildly from job to job. If you do that, there are big chances you’re gonna lose yourself.
These are not kids playing Football Manager. Also, forget about ideas and theories for a moment, imagine what it must be to change principles massively and actually putting it into practice. Which is the most important thing actually.
Even if you were trying to be a rigid robot, it’s impossible to copy/paste absolutely everything from club to club and from season to season with a change of a few players.
If we’re so excited about the prospect of Xabi Alonso (the great thinker of the game even as a player), then it’s because he most probably for a while now, has decided on what he wants his teams to do. Especially once he takes over a team at the top.
That’s not to say he didn’t somewhat altered his tactics to suit what he found at Leverkusen. Most of us here probably didn’t follow Leverkusen’s path. Now also, there will be a sea of sudden articles that will want to shock the football world a little bit with pro and against arguments.
If we’re a little bit afraid that now it would be too early for him to takeover from Klopp at Liverpool, then yeah, it’s an obvious lack of sample. Showing more what he can do, perhaps at more than one club and for more than a season and a half, can he get over the line in terms of winning, etc.
What we might do here is appoint him and use the general love for him to give him time before he can make us win again (if he doesn’t do it immetialy, also very possible).
He can remain of a global protagonist idea that he wants to control and dominate things on the pitch, also regain the ball as soon as possible.
But then also, so what if he’s more about control and less about chaos (even we evolved with years towards that, naturally)? If he’s more about patience and less verticality? Playing a little bit shorter and the extra pass? It doesn’t mean he would forbid players like Trent playing long passes. He brought bloody Granit Xhaka to Leverkusen and he’s the player that’s usually most on the ball for them. A player who’s biggest strengths are duels, aggression and long passing.
Fans will also have to decide for themselves, because a lot of things here are pretty contradictory.
Principles are one thing, layers and adapting a smaller portion of one’s approach to a new inherited team is another thing.
Xabi can even change his principles with more time, but this is the risk we would be taking at this point of his coaching career. Knowing the guy as a player and character (as much as we can from the outside), I think he has it pretty clear in his mind.
My guess is that his beliefs are pretty strong long before Levekusen what he wants to do, especially once he gets his hands on a side ready to compete and win.
If those are somewhat different to Jurgen, so what, it’s not the end of the world.
It’s not the only aspect that will or should decide whether he gets the job or not anyway.
4 Likes
The biggest “concept” I took away from that piece was Leverkusen’s use of ladder passing through the center of the pitch. I think our new set of midfielders would be very well suited to that, actually.
3 Likes
Andy Hunter, Guardian:
Xabi Alonso, the former Liverpool midfielder who is now head coach with Bayer Leverkusen, is the frontrunner to succeed Klopp.
1 Like
Great, Hunter looked at SkyBet 
4 Likes
Lewis Steele, Mail:
‘Liverpool’s search for a Jurgen Klopp successor is set to be placed in the hands of Will Spearman, who works as a data-cruncher for the Reds, will be given a key role in the recruitment process. Spearman has a PhD in physics from Harvard University.’
Yeah right