Xabi Alonso: Welcome back to Anfield.

[SasaS]

So we can rest assured Alonso won't be at Bayern next season.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

4 minutes ago, dave u said:

 

Agree 100%.

 

You don't beat a team to the title and then go and join them. You just don't do it, it's a massive kick in the balls to your current club.

 

Yep. It'd be like Mickey dropping Rocky to coach Apollo after Rocky II.

[dave u]

1 hour ago, markcd said:

I think Bayern is more likely.

 

If it was me (and it probably won't be) then I'd rather follow Tuchel than Klopp. 

 

Anyone who believes in himself should not see it that way at all. Even the likes of Moyes, Allardyce, Lampard or whoever you want to mention will look at this job and think "I could really achieve things there". Doesn't mean they would do, but any manager worth his salt would believe they could. So anyone who looks at our set up and thinks "nah, too big shoes to fill" shouldn't be considered for the job anyway as they've got no balls and probably know they aren't good enough.

 

A top manager who knows what he's doing should see this as an absolutely perfect destination as everything is in place already. Usually when a big job comes up it's because the club is in a bit of a mess and needs someone to come in and fix it. This isn't that.

[dave u]

Just now, Babb'sBurstNad said:

 

Yep. It'd be like Mickey dropping Rocky to coach Apollo after Rocky II.

 

That's a perfect analogy.

[3 Stacks]

I think it was @Razoray who said, the shoes are not even that big anyway and I agree. Klopp was a special manager and we may not ever reach the heights we did with him, but he was also bad for a few years as well and no one seriously thought about sacking him. Klopp himself said at other clubs, he could have been sacked. 

 

Even putting Liverpool aside, we're at an era in the Premier League where the league itself is rich and attractive enough to players where if you do a good job as a manager, you have the resources to do something. All we really need is someone who can do an objectively good job and who isn't a twat, and our fans will believe.

[dave u]

The shoes are fucking massive, but he's left the club in the healthiest state it might have ever been in, all things considered. So that makes the job much easier.

 

[3 Stacks]

2 minutes ago, dave u said:

The shoes are fucking massive, but he's left the club in the healthiest state it might have ever been in, all things considered.

They're only massive if people want to compare the next person with Klopp in terms of personality and being a transformational figure. Then yeah, obviously, but then I'd argue those people just want the next person to fail, because no one will compare.

[SlugTrail]

What if he stays, Bayern and other Euro giants poach all his best players and next season Leverkusen finish near relegation, he then misses out on opportunities to manage at potentially 2 of his former clubs.

 

Loyalty in football is non existent. If he wins the league he should move whilst his stock is high rather than stick and potentially fail due to circumstances out of his control.

[SasaS]

4 minutes ago, SlugTrail said:

What if he stays, Bayern and other Euro giants poach all his best players and next season Leverkusen finish near relegation, he then misses out on opportunities to manage at potentially 2 of his former clubs.

 

Loyalty in football is non existent. If he wins the league he should move whilst his stock is high rather than stick and potentially fail due to circumstances out of his control.

 

Fortunately, they would probably sack him long before that near relegation finish to thank him for not kicking them in the bollocks / pissing on his legacy, so he might not miss out.

[Megadrive Man]

21 minutes ago, Babb'sBurstNad said:

 

Yep. It'd be like Mickey dropping Rocky to coach Apollo after Rocky II.

 

If Rocky was being made in 2024, that's exactly the sort of wacky twist that would happen!

[Megadrive Man]

One factor to take in to account is that nobody expected Klopp to leave Liverpool this summer, so a move here wouldn't have even been on his radar.

 

My gut feeling is that he will stay at Leverkusen until 2026 then go to Madrid.

I just don't see him leaving so early and straight after a title win. 

[Scott_M]

1 hour ago, Bjornebye said:

Didn’t they wear blue when they beat England in 2002 in Japan? 

Must only be England they can beat wearing blue.

[SasaS]

Smart move for him would be us, there would be less pressure to deliver immediately, and big shoes to fill may actually work in his favour here.

 

What we don't seem to know is do we actually want him, as in Edwards and Hughes and in terms of, the job is yours if you want it. And Alonso obviously cannot come out and say anything yet. I think he is more likely to stay in Germany.

 

I just don't want to go through another Bellingham again, hints and smiles making eyes at him and it's a sure thing for months and then join the collective cue for spiked Kool-Aid when he ends up in Madrid.

 

[JohnnyH]

4 hours ago, dave u said:

 

I agree, but he'd be a loyal idiot with integrity and I'd respect that.

 

I was in a similar situation on Footy Manager when I got Pompey promoted all the way from League Two and I won the Premier League with them. Liverpool offered me the job but I wanted to stay and finish what I'd started at Fratton Park. I have no regrets. 

If you look under “Peak Usher” in the dictionary, this is what you find.

[VladimirIlyich]

7 hours ago, JohnnyH said:

If that’s the reason he leaves then I definitely don’t want a quitter like that at Liverpool. 

I would have more respect for him if that happened. You can't recover from that nowadays,you just aren't given the time any more. Bayern fuck their opponents like this regularly and there is no recourse.

[TheSire]

1 hour ago, dave u said:

 

Anyone who believes in himself should not see it that way at all. Even the likes of Moyes, Allardyce, Lampard or whoever you want to mention will look at this job and think "I could really achieve things there". Doesn't mean they would do, but any manager worth his salt would believe they could. So anyone who looks at our set up and thinks "nah, too big shoes to fill" shouldn't be considered for the job anyway as they've got no balls and probably know they aren't good enough.

 

A top manager who knows what he's doing should see this as an absolutely perfect destination as everything is in place already. Usually when a big job comes up it's because the club is in a bit of a mess and needs someone to come in and fix it. This isn't that.

I'd exclude Moyes. He comes across quite weak and full of doubt whenever he's speaking at time at the mancs. I think the players kind of walked all over him but they were obviously a set of cunts.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Every time someone says "big shoes to fill" I think of Sideshow Bob framing Krusty.

[Chris]

5 hours ago, Megadrive Man said:

 

If Rocky was being made in 2024, that's exactly the sort of wacky twist that would happen!

 

A Rocky movie (Creed III) pretty much was made in 2023 and they didn't even involve Stallone in it. So, yeah, your analogy totally stands up.

[Denny Crane]

10 hours ago, Megadrive Man said:

One factor to take in to account is that nobody expected Klopp to leave Liverpool this summer, so a move here wouldn't have even been on his radar.

 

My gut feeling is that he will stay at Leverkusen until 2026 then go to Madrid.

I just don't see him leaving so early and straight after a title win. 

 

My intial thought was he would be wise to continue at Leverkusen for at least another year,  it does seem underpriced in people's thinking.

 

If one argument is we don't want Xabi if he goes to Bayern, I'd say I'm not so keen at a manager who jumps ship after 18 months. If he's able to keep his squad together at Leverkusen surely that would be enticing for him. I don't see it as him bottling the chance to come here but loyalty to his current club players and supporters. 

 

 

[Barnesey]

The Bayern and Madrid jobs come up every couple of years. The same isn’t generally true of Liverpool. 
 

Come to us and he’ll have a job for as long he wants it (assuming things go reasonably well) after which time the other options will pop up again. Go to B or M and your out of work 2 - 3 seasons later and Liverpool job is tied up for years. 

[elvis]

I have a sneaking suspicion we'll take Amorim and go in  for Xabi at some point in the future. 

[Lee909]

I don't think it will be Alonso

 

Got a horrible feeling that Edwards will try and be the cleverest guy in the room and go for Amorim or de Zerbi

[Megadrive Man]

2 hours ago, Barnesey said:

The Bayern and Madrid jobs come up every couple of years. The same isn’t generally true of Liverpool. 
 

Come to us and he’ll have a job for as long he wants it (assuming things go reasonably well) after which time the other options will pop up again. Go to B or M and your out of work 2 - 3 seasons later and Liverpool job is tied up for years. 

 

It might come up more regularly after Klopp.

 

Woy got less than a year, Kenny got 18 months, Brendan got just over three years.

[joe_fishfish]

1 hour ago, Lee909 said:

I don't think it will be Alonso

 

Got a horrible feeling that Edwards will try and be the cleverest guy in the room and go for Amorim or de Zerbi

There's no way we pass up on Alonso if he wants to come here over Bayern.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

5 hours ago, Denny Crane said:

 

My intial thought was he would be wise to continue at Leverkusen for at least another year,  it does seem underpriced in people's thinking.

 

If one argument is we don't want Xabi if he goes to Bayern, I'd say I'm not so keen at a manager who jumps ship after 18 months. If he's able to keep his squad together at Leverkusen surely that would be enticing for him. I don't see it as him bottling the chance to come here but loyalty to his current club players and supporters. 

 

 

 

Yeah, if he can keep his squad together then having a crack at the CL as first time Bundesliga winners would be pretty enticing. The chance to potentially make history again.