This is the article by the way that they mention.
2 Likes
I can see it being the Lisbon guy if it isn’t Alonso.
But I feel it is.
Agreed,if things had been done differently doubt he have left here when he did!
1 Like
Well, I never,Sky having a pound each way.
Yeah surprised they didn’t run Sky bet odds below it.
I do feel the Sky German bloke they brought in said nothing of anything. Salient points on his Sociedad reign by Reddy though, that’s good to see brought up.
Guess Xabi has agreed to sign for us but it’s too early to confirm anything.
If he stays at Leverkusen I can live with that.
Any other outcome and I’m done with football. Will be on the owners and won’t be long until we are back to where we was pre Klopp.
3 Likes
I’ll preface this to say that if you are still here after City and Sandcastle then you’ll still be here regardless of Xabi’s decision. But i’d like to point out no-one should be considered locked in. Xabi has a family. He might honestly believe Germany and Munich in particular is a better environment for them.
I’d say the footballing choices between us are fairly similar. It’s hard to argue one or the other has a significant advantage. Just as it may be easier for Xabi to win stuff domestically with Bayern, I think there is a much better avenue to European glory with Liverpool.
2 Likes
The other thing to bear in mind is that if he’d like to manage Liverpool and Bayern, the latter job comes up every couple of years. Ours doesn’t become vacant very often.
6 Likes
Winning with Liverpool against a stacked league and financially doped clubs is a better accomplishment than winning in a one team league like Bundesliga (despite what Bayer have done this year, there’s no stopping the Munich juggernaut every time).
And as Mascot says , a Bayern job becomes open once every 2 years. The Liverpool job doesn’t get open that much.
And I daresay our team is in a slightly better position , strength wise, than Bayern to win the UCL.
1 Like
If Xabi is given a choice between us, Bayern or RM… From a footballing perspective only, if he takes more than a nanosecond to choose us… leaves us dangling on his decision making for example, would that still make him best option…? OR immediately, do we move on to another I wonder 
1 Like
I would say the only two reasons he doesn’t come here is if stays or we don’t offer it to him.
5 Likes
I think Bayern Munich have won the league 11 times in a row, or something crazy like that. It is a one team league, with everything feeding up to Bayern.
Occasionally something remarkable happens to disrupt the status quo, such as Jurgen’s Dortmund side, and now, hopefully, Alonso’s Leverkusen side.
But the financial disparity between Bayern Munich and the others means that as a reward for their success, they can expect to be stripped of their prize assets, and then to try to fight on, and repeat the miracle all over again, with an increased imbalance of playing resources having been cherry picked.
If Xabi wants to hop on the Bayern bus and win the league with them, he will just be another in a long sequence. It’s not remarkable, which is why I don’t think he will do it.
Coming to Liverpool and winning Premier League titles here would be remarkable. Defeating the crooked clubs and doing things the right way would be remarkable.
I also don’t think he will do the Bayern Munich job right now because it will rip the soul out of the Leverkusen fans. I think he is more honorable than that.
And like others have said, the Bayern job comes around a lot more regularly than the Liverpool job. If Bayern Munich is in his future, it can easily be later, not now.
I think Xabi Alonso to Liverpool is on like Donkey Kong.
Edit:
The only other thing I can think of is he stays where he is. But the problem with that is who knows when the Liverpool job will come around again, and if the stars will align for Xabi?
So, I think Xabi Alonso will be our next manager, assuming we are in for him, and if we aren’t in for him, what the bloody hell are we playing at?!
Clear communication from the decision makers will be a matter of decorum. Alonso is working hard to write history at Leverkusen. Klopp has his own history to write with us in the next few months. I don’t expect any official announcement until very late on, or, if it is about to leak, maybe a brief announcement approved by all sides, clear, factual, and along the lines of ‘now shut up about it, we won’t speak any further, because we’ve all got work to do…’
5 Likes
Actually, the last club to have topped Bayern in the league is Dortmund, with a certain Kloppo at the helm… 
3 Likes
Yeah to win a one team league is impressive if you aren’t the one team to be fair as most of the others are at a similar level with ebbs and flows.
1 Like
Those dynamics are almost the complete opposite of what happens in football though…
Of course that all managers aim for the highest clubs. Not everyone has or can get the same starting point. Not everyone can get to those clubs as there are tons of managers and a small number of winning clubs. Mistakes happen of course, some never get the chance. What can you do, it’s life.
I’d welcome with open arms the days when we’re considered the biggest favourites to win leagues every season and there’s the pressure that comes with it.
For now, I’m just happy if we’re part of the conversation, competitive, winning a trophy per season, battling for the biggest ones.
Different leagues though, of course how Bayern usually does in the Bundesliga cannot be compared to us in England.
I don’t see the possibility that it might be sweeter to win a league with Liverpool than with Bayern as a reason why I believe Xabi would probably pick us over them, if we were battling for him.
There are a few other reasons.
1 Like
What about doing something remarkable?
Winning the league with Bayern seems to be par for the course. It is expected, and if you don’t do it, you are probably out.
Winning the league with Liverpool, especially against deeper competition and in particular the backdrop of artificially inflated teams, by doing it legitimately, strikes me as remarkable. Or if that’s not the right word, it’s a better achievement than a routine and expected Bundesliga title for Bayern.
I think Xabi will be drawn to that. And some other things will be appealing too. I hope, lol.
Both clubs are one of the world’s biggest, it’s where managers want to go. There are also other clubs of course.
All I’m saying is I don’t think the difference in difficulty of winning a league will be what’s decisive in our favour, if it’s up to us and Bayern.
Leicester winning the league is remarkable. Liverpool winning the league is great, doesn’t happen very often, but we’ve been up there in last years as one of Europe’s best sides and it’s not such a shock anymore (hopefully it remains like that).
To put it shortly, if he decides to leave Leverkusen this summer and it’s between us and Bayern, I think he’d rather leave Germany and have his next step with us. Hopefully that also means we’ve started sorting out the sporting structure, because no doubt he’ll have a look at who he’ll be working with.
2 Likes
I agree and think he would rather have his next step with us, if it is between us and Bayern. We are all just passing the time of day, and we will see what happens, but I can’t see past us!
If it’s between us and Bayern, I struggle to see him going to the top dog in Germany straight from Leverkusen. If he does that, he actually goes down in my estimation, as it would be such a bitter pill for Leverkusen fans to swallow after the ride they’ve been on. Bayern will still be there after a good stint at Liverpool. Real Madrid too for that matter.
And I maintain, winning the Bundesliga as manager of Bayern is an average achievement. It is merely doing the expected. It’s like Mancini and Pellegrini winning the Prem with Man City. Anyone can do it.
If that’s what Xabi wants as his next move I would be surprised. He can of course do what he likes, but it is so unimaginative, and safe. Ugh.
I think he will come to Liverpool.
2 Likes
Like everyone else, I hope Xabi chooses to come to us, but I don’t understand how so many people seem to think they know what he wants and how he sees the situation. There’s, rightly, very little information to go on, either from him or the clubs, so how is it that posters confidently state what’s in his mind?
I don’t think he’d Insult Leverkusen by joining Bayern, but it’s just my opinion, and probably wishful thinking.
Looking forward to all the speculation being over.
9 Likes
Rumours of Tommy T leaving at the end of the season true?