Imagine if Liverpool had sacked Arne Slot earlier in the season and not waited until after the end of the season, would Xabi Alonso have led Liverpool next season? This is the big question this summer.
Liverpool have got rid of Arne Slot despite both a Premier League title and now a Champions League ticket in the second season. The big challenge has been the negative development for Slot football after the great success in its debut season. Mo Salah criticised the Dutchman, before tearfully strolling out of Anfield for one last time. The Egyptian thought Liverpool needed to return to the high-intensity attacking football under Klopp at full throttle.
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Xabi Alonso misses Klopp’s “vollgas” football
In a post on X, Bundesliga pundit Kevin Hatchard analysed why Liverpool never considered Alonso and were happy to let him go to Chelsea.
“I think the idea that LFC missed out on Xabi Alonso because they sacked Slot too late is completely wrong,” Hatchard begins.
“He’s a great coach and a Liverpool legend, but if you want aggressive, fast-paced and forward-thinking football, he’s not your type. Iraola is much closer to Klopp’s ‘vollgas’ style.”
English journalist Ben Jacobs reports Liverpool are determined to return to the aggressive style of play that characterized the club during Jürgen Klopp’s iconic reign.
Although Alonso’s type of football pays off – and delivered the first league title in Bayer Leverkusen’s history – it can hardly be called exciting.
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Instead, Liverpool are going for Iraola, who is perhaps the closest we get to Klopp in the Premier League since the German left the club, at least from a style of play perspective, Jacobs emphasizes.
