Liverpool told of Xabi Alonso fault that could wreck Klopp legacy, as three-year agreement nears

Former Real Madrid manager Bernd Schuster has warned both Liverpool and Xabi Alonso about one potential pitfall of the Spaniard replacing Jurgen Klopp at Anfield.

Schuster told Alonso he has to be “careful not to want everything too quickly” as he explained he was in a “similar situation” to the Spanish coach during his own managerial career.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp announced in January he would leave the club at the end of the season after overseeing a hugely successful period in the Anfield side’s history since taking over in 2015.

Alonso is seen as the leading candidate to take over from Klopp, with TEAMtalk exclusively revealing last week that the Spaniard has been offered a three-year contract at Anfield. We also learned initial talks between Liverpool and Alonso’s camp were positive and progressed well.

The 42-year-old, who played for Liverpool between 2004 and 2009, is leading Bayer Leverkusen towards the first Bundesliga title in the club’s history this season.

Leverkusen, who are five-time runners-up in the German top flight, are 10 points clear of champions Bayern Munich with just 10 matches of the campaign left to play.

Alonso’s side are unbeaten after 24 league games, winning 20 and drawing four during a superb season to date, while they are also still competing in both the DFB Pokal and the Europa League.

The Spaniard was appointed as the German club’s head coach in October 2022, having coached Real Sociedad B from 2019 and 2022 in his first managerial role.

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Alonso inexperience could undo Klopp’s work

Former Germany international Schuster coached 10 teams between 1997 and 2019 and had his most successful spells in LaLiga with Getafe and Real Madrid.

The 64-year-old, who left Getafe to take over at Real Madrid in 2007, suggested he had regrets over the timing of this move and he likened it to Alonso’s current situation.

“Xabi’s situation reminds me of a similar situation I was in a few years ago,” Schuster told Sport Bild.

“Back then, I coached my team Getafe into the European Cup and then went to Real Madrid. Afterwards I thought to myself that I would have liked to have played with Getafe as a smaller club in the European Cup (Champions League).

“This was the first time in Europe for this club in its history and would therefore have been a very nice story. So, it’s hard to decide.

“I would understand Xabi in every decision he makes. But what I can say for sure is that sometimes you have to be careful not to want everything too quickly.

“As a young coach you still have a lot to learn. And if, like Xabi, you already have your own team that he has strongly brought together and developed, it is also a really interesting task to go one step further with this team.”

While it’s true to say Alonso is inexperienced – having managed at senior level for less than two full seasons – one cannot deny the remarkable impact he’s made so far.

It’s fair comment to say replacing Klopp with Alonso is a risk and the Liverpool job is most certainly a step up in all departments when compared to Leverkusen.

However, Alonso is widely regarded as the brightest young manager in the game and it could be argued not moving for Alonso would be even riskier for the Reds.

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