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<\/p>\nXabi Alonso is conjuring magic at Bayer Leverkusen, so it's little wonder he's being tipped for the very top.<\/p>\n
The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder, who turns 42 today, has only been in charge at the BayArena for 13 months, but in that time he's taken the club from second-bottom of the Bundesliga to the very summit. Having earned 31 points from a possible 33 this season, Leverkusen are two points clear at the top of the table and look set to mount their first genuine title challenge in over a decade.<\/p>\n
Naturally, Alonso's success has prompted flirtatious glances from several top European clubs. He's replaced Steven Gerrard as Liverpool fans' choice to replace Jurgen Klopp, and is also being touted as a potential Carlo Ancelotti successor, with the Italian expected to leave the Bernabeu at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Liverpool fans spot Xabi Alonso's new Leverkusen deal expires same year as Jurgen Klopp's<\/b><\/p>\n
READ MORE: Xabi Alonso's miracle work with Leverkusen 'proves he can succeed Jurgen Klopp'<\/b><\/p>\n
This is no surprise according to The Athletic's<\/i> Thom Harris, who says he sees a lot of Pep Guardiola in the former Premier League ace. Alonso spent two years playing under the now Manchester City boss at Bayern, and looks to have based much of his coaching philosophy on Guardiola's.<\/p>\n
"You see [similarities to Guardiola] in Leverkusen\u2019s brand of possession football but also in the way that, out of possession, they play a kind of rigid positional football," Harris said speaking The Athletic Football Podcast. "They\u2019re playing such a high line this season in comparison to what they were in previous seasons, pressing right up the pitch.<\/p>\n
if not Liverpool, which Premier League club do you think Xabi Alonso is most likely to manage? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
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"They\u2019re winning the ball in the attacking third a lot more than they were before. And that is very much a Guardiola thing, controlling the ball and controlling the game while having the ball. But when you\u2019re not on the ball, getting in a good shape to make sure that you can\u2019t be hit on the counter-attack."<\/p>\n
Alonso is one of the few players to have played under both Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, and he spent a couple of seasons learning under Ancelotti too, firstly at Madrid and later at Bayern.<\/p>\n
We're yet to see any Jose-esque defensive rigidity or Carlo-style attacking chaos in Leverkusen's play, but having such extensive exposure to a variety of highly-successful footballing philosophies likely will have likely afforded Alonso a great deal of tactical adaptability.<\/p>\n
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This, Harris argues, will come in handy when the time comes to pick a new club as the Spaniard won't be limited to teams with a squad makeup that suits one particular style. That said, he thinks a move to Madrid is more likely than one to Merseyside, given how wedded Klopp's team is to intense, counter-attacking football.<\/p>\n
"I think out of the two, Real Madrid would be my choice. Just because Liverpool are such a transitional team under Jurgen Klopp, they like to play on the counter-attack," Harris added. "They like to play a kind of \u2018heavy metal football\u2019, as he so often calls it. That would need a bit more of a transition if Alonso was to go there.<\/p>\n
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"But both are amazing options. He\u2019s got legacies at both clubs and it doesn\u2019t really matter if this is his first big, big club at very the top of the game because he commands that respect. Even if he\u2019s managing players like Jude Bellingham, you know they will still look up to him because he\u2019s Xabi Alonso. He\u2019s done it all.<\/p>\n
"He can show the players what he wants in training. They\u2019ll all respect that. That combined with the intelligence he clearly has and the identity and the legacy he has in the game, I think he\u2019ll be able to go anywhere he wants."<\/p>\n
Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"