Carragher expects ‘different’ Liverpool approach under Alonso with the Reds ‘one step ahead’ in boss hunt
Jamie Carragher is expecting a “different” Liverpool approach under Xabi Alonso than Jurgen Klopp if the Bayer Leverkusen boss replaces the German in the summer.
Klopp announced last month that he will be leaving Anfield at the end of the season after spending nine years at the club since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2015.
The Liverpool boss has won six major trophies in that time and they will be some big boots to fill for whoever ends up succeeding the German at the Premier League club.
Former Liverpool midfielder Alonso is the current favourite to take over from Klopp with the Spaniard guiding Bayer Leverkusen to top of the league in the Bundesliga.
Their 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the weekend means Alonso’s men are now five points clear of the second-placed Bavarians with 13 matches to play.
There is a growing interest around Europe in Alonso with the Spaniard becoming a target for Bayern Munich but Italian publication Tuttomercatoweb insist Liverpool are ‘one step ahead’ of the competition for their former midfielder.
READ MORE: Arsenal midfielder and Liverpool defender come into Premier League XI of the season
On Monday night, former Reds defender Carragher gave an in-depth analysis of Alonso’s style of play and whether the Leverkusen boss would suit a move to Liverpool.
Carragher said on Sky Sports: “He seems the standout favourite, and when you think of the great managers and where they start, a lot of them do something pretty remarkable at a slightly lower level perhaps.
“When you think of what Jose [Mourinho] did at Porto, winning the Champions League and Jurgen Klopp winning two Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund.
“When you look at Alonso and what it looks like he’s about to achieve with Bayer Leverkusen, and the result they had at the weekend, it is insightful to see if he is in the Premier League next season what is his way of playing and how he goes about it, and how it might be different to what we’re seeing now with Klopp at Liverpool.
“At the weekend, it wasn’t a normal Bayer Leverkusen performance in that they didn’t dominate possession. They only had 39 per cent of the ball but they were fantastic defensively.”
On whether Alonso’s brand of football would be successful at Liverpool, Carragher added: “For Bayer Leverkusen to be top of anything is pretty special. When you think of the squad they’ve got and the money that’s being spent. When you ask if this is the perfect fit for Liverpool, what stands out for me are the number of passes and the amount that are short.
“So far, 646 of their 683 have been short. It comes to 95 per cent which is probably not what Liverpool are right now under Klopp. It’s more reminiscent of what we see from a Pep Guardiola team. It’s interesting when we put that on a scatter graph, and you can see Bayer Leverkusen alongside Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain [among Europe’s top five leagues].
“You can see Liverpool are further behind. We know from watching them that they are a more direct team and use counter-attacks more. From the company Leverkusen are keeping, we can say that Alonso’s own influence is more like Pep Guardiola, which makes sense as he’s been his manager.
“But if Xabi Alonso was to become the Liverpool manager, which I think he will, I feel they are quite fortunate given that Jurgen Klopp has chosen this moment to move on. The timing for Alonso to step in is pretty perfect given the job he’s doing.
“Would I expect Alonso’s Liverpool to be higher up this scatter graph? Maybe. But I would expect somewhere in the middle – like where Bayern Munich are on the graph – as he has to have his own philosophy and his own imprint.
“This team is so used to playing a certain way under Jurgen Klopp, there’s the Anfield factor with the crowd, the energy. Xabi Alonso knows that so I would expect to see a merging of the two styles if he were to get the job.
“There is no doubt that right now he’s looking like the brightest young thing as a manager.”
