It is becoming increasingly clear that Xabi Alonso is the perfect candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. Any misinformation about him being a serious option due to previous Anfield links was undermined by the match. Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen moved five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich this weekend.
It was an overwhelming statement from the Spanish national team. As previously reported by Liverpool.com, his tenure at Leverkusen, while relatively short, was just as impressive as his time at Real Sociedad B. Leverkusen scored twice as many as Thomas Tuchel’s side expected on Saturday, with Harry Kane barely able to control his shot.
Thomas Muller’s brilliant post-match interview goes viral, showing just how ‘sharp’ he is. Bayern Munich are no strangers to defeat and their grip on the title is waning. If Alonso wins, he will become the first manager to over throne Bayern Munich since Klopp won the title with Borussia Dortmund in 2012. But this win is just one of the reasons why Alonso wants to move to Anfield.
Bayern Munich could have won the title and while it was disappointing for Leverkusen, what they achieved is still a remarkable achievement. Even more impressive is how Alonso has devised a way to play with strong young players. As Alonso himself explains, his team is good at pushing and dominating.
With FSG looking to pick the right matches, someone who coaches in this style would fit right in with the pool of players Klopp has left behind. “The first thing that comes to my mind is not dominating with the ball, but dominating without the ball,” Alonso explained in an interview with ESPN after the match against Bayern Munich.
It was rare for Leverkusen to have less than 50% of the ball, but that didn’t matter as the league leaders adjusted to the situation. “I think we were able to control the space even without the ball. “Of course the first goal is important, but the confidence and determination of the players comes first,” he said.
“Today, the defensive performance of Nathan (Tela), Flo (Wirz) and Armin Adly (the team’s forwards) was excellent because they had the right moments to put pressure on the center backs and when they had to reduce the defense.” After the game. When we switched to midfielders, they didn’t jump to create space for [Leroy] Sane and [Jamal] Musiala.
They waited to find that space.“And [Harry] Kane went down. He likes to fall, so we made a lot of good decisions about when and where to press. Thanks to that, we were able to control the game.”
