Arne Slot believes is a special manager.
But the boss will be hoping he doesn’t find out why later tonight when visit Anfield and Alonso returns to the stadium which once graced so often as a player. The Dutchman is the man charged to take the Reds forward to success and become a Kop icon.
But in the immediate aftermath of shock announcement last January that he was leaving the club, the clamour from supporters was for their former hero to replace their outgoing hero. Alonso was in the midst of an incredible season at Bayer Leverkusen. A campaign which would end with a domestic double, a first Bundesliga title and a second cup.
The only blemish of the whole of 2023-24 was a final defeat by Atalanta. It seemed the obvious choice for the Reds to go for their former midfielder who was a fans’ favourite as he controlled games in a red shirt between 2004 and 2009.
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Alas, he was never going to be available which Liverpool were made aware of as soon as they began proceedings to find Klopp’s replacement. So he was never a real candidate. After they assessed those who could be available, Slot was the man they wanted.
The Dutchman’s start means there will be no feeling of ‘what if?’ around Alonso and if he could have been convinced to leave Leverkusen earlier than he wanted. Liverpool are top of the and cruising in the as they prepare to welcome back their former player, who left for in 2009 after his relationship with Rafa Benitez soured.
Alonso will be warmly welcomed back but the Reds will hope he leaves with defeat. Leverkusen are not enjoying the perfection of the last campaign with a seven-point gap to leaders at home but they have seven points from three games so far in Europe and on course for the next stage of the revamped Champions League.
"It is still a club some distance from the relegation-threatened outfit which Alonso took charge of in 2022 and enjoying every moment of it.
“That he is special, that’s clear,” said Slot. “If you go to a club that was bottom of the league and with the same players you bring them all the way up without spending that much money in that summer, only bringing in one or two very good players, and they had the season [that they had]. They only lost the final of the Europa League, it tells you that he is special.
“What it is that makes him special is difficult for me to say because I haven’t faced him yet and I haven’t worked with him. What might be the situation is that he’s worked with very good managers in the past, he was a player with incredible insight in the game, he knew when to be where and he played at the highest levels so he knows and understands how these players feel in certain moments. “That probably contributes to what makes him a good manager.
“How he is exactly so special? The best way to find that out is to talk to the players he has worked with and I haven’t done that yet.”
Many believe Alonso’s path is to another of his former clubs in Real Madrid next summer. Nobody can rule out that he will one day sit in the home dugout as a manager in Anfield. But, for now at least, it does not look like there will be a vacancy in that post again for a while.
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