Xabi Alonso | Next Ex-Chelsea Man Ager?

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Nole said:
I don't buy the Liverpool links argument. He is a football manager now, not a player, and managers simply don't operate on that level of player loyalty. He was a key part of Liverpool winning the Champions League in the mid-2000s and he respect Liverpool and the fans a lot but his Liverpool past is being hugely exaggerated. He is not a Gerrard-level figure whose identity is inseparable from the club. There is too much over-romanticism from football fans projecting rivalries and sentiment where they don't really apply. I highly doubt anyone would sacrifice a major career opportunity in 2026 over something that happened 20 years ago. If he doesn't come to United, it will because of the lack of structure and chaos at our club, not because of he's an ex Liverpool player.

United should be doing everything they can to get him. He is an elite manager and I rate him very highly, what he achieved with Leverkusen was genuinely one of the greatest managerial achievements in modern football. If we're serious, my personal priority list would be: 1) Tuchel (likely post-World Cup), 2) Xabi Alonso, 3) Xavi.
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What makes you put Tuchel above him, also unrealistic as it is where would Enrique go on your priority list
 
croadyman said:
What makes you put Tuchel above him, also unrealistic as it is where would Enrique go on your priority list
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Because Tuchel already has Premier League experience, has won the Champions League with Chelsea, and is now managing England with a very real chance of winning the World Cup this summer. His contract with England ends after the tournament, so I'm not sure how that’s unrealistic at all. If anything is unrealistic, it's Enrique leaving PSG for United
 
Kwabs said:
This is a kind of hyperbolic version of what I said.
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Yes.

Kwabs said:
So how did the bulk of this squad win the CL a couple of years ago?
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Still having Kroos and Modric in the team, Vinicius being much more grounded, no Mbappe for further tactical headaches and inflated egos, a somewhat favorable draw and a fair share of luck in crucial matches. Real Madrid 23/24 was extremely reliant on moments and individual quality. They outperformed their xPTS in La Liga by almost 18 points and in the UCL, the only match from the quarterfinals onwards in which they created more xG than their opponent was the home leg against Bayern. This is not a sustainable basis because it's not reproducable and too reliant on individuals.
 
Zehner said:
Still having Kroos and Modric in the team, Vinicius being much more grounded, no Mbappe for further tactical headaches and inflated egos, a somewhat favorable draw and a fair share of luck in crucial matches. Real Madrid 23/24 was extremely reliant on moments and individual quality. They outperformed their xPTS in La Liga by almost 18 points and in the UCL, the only match from the quarterfinals onwards in which they created more xG than their opponent was the home leg against Bayern. This is not a sustainable basis because it's not reproducable and too reliant on individuals.
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Do you consider City a favorable draw?
 
GatoLoco said:
Yesterday I listened to a podcast featuring Aitor Karanka and Iker Casillas. Karanka was the second coach of Mourinho from 2011 until 2014. Casillas was the first goalkeeper for most of that time, until he was subbed by Diego Lopez, who was preferred by Mourinho. That caused a clash between the coaches and Casillas and between Real Madrid fans as well, who chose to support the different sides.

I remember during that time, I chose to support the coaches and I felt I had good reasons for that. I despised Casillas. I saw him as a traitor that was a friend of Barcelona players.

Yesterday, while listening to Casillas I felt a bit silly. First because I found him to be a very friendly individual. Second, because, after listening to him, I believed he had his reasons to act the way he did. I had bought a narrative. Knowing what I know, I still support the coaches, but that podcast made me understand that, when clashes like these happen, it is not appropriate to reduce the scenario to good guys and bad guys.

Probably I need to extrapolate to Alonso and the rest of the squad as well. They all want to win with the club. I feel Alonso and his coaches want to do it with obsessive attention to detail and professionalism. And the players -who know how to win, because they have done so several times- probably believe some consensus is needed, because at the end of the day, Alonso is leading a group and this is a team sport.

And this is what we fans have to learn. Everyone wants the best for the club and the president has to take a decision that makes the club go forward. We shouldn't see the clash as a fight between good and bad guys
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't a big part of that conflict that Casillas was a big part of trying to keep things civil between the real players and the barcelona players (Along with Puyol) for the purposes of the national team? And Mourinho did not like that as he did not want them being friendly with each other?
 
GatoLoco said:
So why did you talk about a somewhat favorable draw?
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Because you did play other teams on your way to the title as well. Dortmund was arguably the weakest finalist since Monaco and Porto in 2004. They finished 5th in the Bundesliga that year. And Leipzig as your first knock out opponent was also a relatively easy draw. Still, Bayern was the only ko round in which you created more xG than your opponent. Leipzig, City and Dortmund all had more xG than you and that was my impression back then as well from the eye test.

I'm not saying that UCL win wasn't deserved or anything. After all, you can only beat what's in front of you and your players were decisive in the crucial moments, fair play to that. But you didn't give the impression as if that was a team about to start a dynasty and likely to repeat this success and I'm a bit surprised you take issue with that since I thought this was pretty much commonly agreed on.
 
cant see him wanting to go to United with his history, but obviously would be a good hire as a permanent manager if he were to want it.
 
Cloud7 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't a big part of that conflict that Casillas was a big part of trying to keep things civil between the real players and the barcelona players (Along with Puyol) for the purposes of the national team? And Mourinho did not like that as he did not want them being friendly with each other?
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Yes, that was the one.

Zehner said:
Because you did play other teams on your way to the title as well. Dortmund was arguably the weakest finalist since Monaco and Porto in 2004. They finished 5th in the Bundesliga that year. And Leipzig as your first knock out opponent was also a relatively easy draw. Still, Bayern was the only ko round in which you created more xG than your opponent. Leipzig, City and Dortmund all had more xG than you and that was my impression back then as well from the eye test.

I'm not saying that UCL win wasn't deserved or anything. After all, you can only beat what's in front of you and your players were decisive in the crucial moments, fair play to that. But you didn't give the impression as if that was a team about to start a dynasty and likely to repeat this success and I'm a bit surprised you take issue with that since I thought this was pretty much commonly agreed on.
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Because my take back at the time was that Leipzig had a very physical style that was not the best for a Real Madrid post Christmas, City was a nightmare and a bad Bayern was still Bayern, an European powerhouse. Dortmund, I agree with you.
 
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It is pretty straight forward for Xabi Alonso. Take a good break and wait for the liverpool job in summer. Arne Slot's contract expires in 2027 anyway so it won't cost to much to end his service. Hopefully Alonso stll has his instruction manual how to bring the best out of Wirtz and Frimpong.
 
ThierryHenry14 said:
It is pretty straight forward for Xabi Alonso. Take a good break and wait for the liverpool job in summer. Arne Slot's contract expires in 2027 anyway so it won't cost to much to end his service. Hopefully Alonso stll has his instruction manual how to bring the best out of Wirtz and Frimpong.
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Yeah he will happily wait it out
 
Wait 6 months, then get re-hired by Madrid to lead changes to the squad
 
Surely that’s that, they have to be negotiating w him behind the scenes.
 
Not sure about him, sacking an underperforming dutch manager and replacing him with a hipster latin manager who likes to play 3 at the back, what could possibly go wrong?
 
Sacked within a season and half written all over him, if he decides to manage Liverpool. Would be plying his trade in turkey or Saudi after that.
 
Adebisi's Hat said:
Not sure about him, sacking an underperforming dutch manager and replacing him with a hipster latin manager who likes to play 3 at the back, what could possibly go wrong?
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Didn't do that at Real and Alonso is not a Latin manager.
 
Great option for us, if the owners bin the current structure off and would actually let him do his job.
 
I was always pretty sceptical of the Liverpool only theory.
I wonder how eager they are to move Slot on now. I suppose they wont like him much even if the alternatives are pretty uninspiring.
 
He already took one bad job in RM, I don't understand why to take another. His stock is still high but if the Chelsea job goes bad he might be back to Lerverkusen level jobs. He should look for a stable position to work from, there must be good jobs out there that aren't at basket case clubs
 
It's a good match imho, Alonso proved not at ease (yet) with managing divas and Chelsea has a 40-squad and needs a structure. Also, both parties come from underwhelming times.
 
pcaming said:
if they get him, they’ll be a big threat next season
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Based on what exactly? Total flop at Madrid in terms of being a manager off the field, will be even worse at Chelsea except with a considerably less talented squad. Sacked by October
 
Chelsea would have been top 5 contenders if they had just kept Maresca, their squad isn't as bad as their position suggests.

Chelsea may well go into next season with no European games, United have seen how big a benefit that can be this season.

If they have no Europe I'd fancy them to have a good league campaign. Alonso is walking into a job where the only way is up from their current position of 9th.
 
Dominos said:
Chelsea would have been top 5 contenders if they had just kept Maresca, their squad isn't as bad as their position suggests.

Chelsea may well go into next season with no European games, United have seen how big a benefit that can be this season.

If they have no Europe I'd fancy them to have a good league campaign. Alonso is walking into a job where the only way is up from their current position of 9th.
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Yep. It's funny how short most people's memory is. Just last year Chelsea was UCL bound, and people already forget.

The squad is still relatively good. Their odds are probably similar to ours for a top 5 finish next season.
 
I think he will probably like the fact that they have so many young players and no real divas on massive wages.

If they agree to let him work and bring in a few experienced heads, they could have a really good thing going.
 
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