Jurgen Klopp Sings Xabi Alonso’s Praises

The manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, has hailed the “incredible job” Xabi Alonso has been doing at Bayer Leverkusen, describing him as a leader of the next generation of coaches.

Xabi Alonso who played for top clubs like Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich, joined Bayer Leverkusen as a manager during the 2022-2023 season and blew everyone’s mind away in the 2023-2024 season.

In the said season which is still ongoing, Alonso has led Leverkusen to 17 wins and four draws, and no defeat in 21 league games. This makes the club the only side in Europe’s top five leagues that is yet to record a defeat so far this season.

Bayer Leverkusen’s impeccable run has kept them top of the Bundesliga table with 55 points in 21 games, five points above second-place Bayern Munich who are the serial winners of the league.

Xabi Alonso has been so good that the 42-year-old Spanish tactician has been seen as the most credible coach to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

Note that Klopp has already announced that he will leave the club at the end of the season because he lacks the energy to continue.

Ahead of Liverpool’s league game against Brentford, Jurgen Klopp told reporters that Xabi Alonso has placed his stamp on Bayer Leverkusen within a very short period.

“How quick his team is that well tuned, for the time it’s taken, he’s put his proper stamp on it,” Jurgen Klopp said.

“The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is a standout in that department.

“[He is a] former world-class player, from a coaching family as well, which helps a little, he was like a coach already when he was playing.

“The football he is playing, the teams he sets up, the transfers he did, it is absolutely exceptional.

“If you would have asked me eight weeks ago about Xabi Alonso, I would have gone ‘Oh my God!’ Always what I said.

“The ‘dinosaurs’ if you want, [Carlo] Ancelotti, [Jose] Mourinho, [Pep] Guardiola, maybe me, we will not [manage] for the next 20 years – OK, maybe Mourinho will do it – but all the rest will not.”