Former Liverpool player Didi Hamann has issued a word of warning to Liverpool fans and the next manager about the difficulties that could lay ahead in the post-Klopp era.
It was the announcement that shocked the football world; Jurgen Klopp’s message that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season. The German manager has brought about incredible success at the club since joining in 2015.
Now, Liverpool must plan for life after Klopp and Didi Hamann, speaking exclusively to us here at BoyleSports was candid in his assessment of what could be in store for Liverpool fans and Klopp’s successor.
Hamann also chatted to us about why he always thought Alonso would make a great manager, other potential obstacles to Liverpool securing Alonso as their next manager and his assessment of the Jurgen Klopp era at Anfield.
Xabi Alonso The Ideal Candidate For Liverpool But Has Big Boots To Fill
He took over at Leverkusen this time last year and the team were second or third from bottom and he’s transformed the whole football club. Yes they bought two or three players in the summer, Xhaka was a brilliant signing, but it’s pretty much the same team, he galvanized all of them.
*Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen are now 1/25 to win the Bundesliga per the latest football odds at BoyleSports.
They are still unbeaten with only two draws, 10 points clear of Bayern and they will win the title this season. I don’t think you need to be a scientist to forecast that. And he’s probably the ideal candidate because he knows how Liverpool work.
He’s adored by the Liverpool faithful and the fans loved him when he played there, the only thing I would say is that following Klopp is not an easy thing to do and that is a decision he has to make, whether he wants to be the first guy to follow Klopp because if you look at Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, they had unsteady times and went through managers in the years after they left, which is always a danger.
What Made Xabi Alonso Stand Out As A Player Who Would Make A Great Manager One Day
Out of all the players I played with, there are always some that end up being managers and good managers that I never thought they would be. Jamie Carragher would be the first one I said would definitely be a manager, but he never picked it up.
Sometimes in the playing days it’s hard to forecast because you don’t know what they want to do, and they have to get all the badges and put the work in.
With Alonso I always felt as though he would be a good manager if he wanted to because he was never the quickest. He came to the club at 21 or 22 from Real Sociedad and he was a brilliant reader of the ball because he was never the quickest.
He always had to be one or two steps ahead in his mind, he was a brilliant reader of the game and he studied it. I always felt if he wanted to be a coach or a manager then he’d make a good one.
But there are so many unknowns so it’s very hard to predict whether he would be successful and a lot of things have worked out for him at Leverkusen, but it’s down to him as well.
*Liverpool are 2/1 to win the Premier League this season per the latest football betting odds at BoyleSports.
What About Roberto De Zerbi?
The thing is, managing Leverkusen, managing Leipzig or managing Brighton is very different from managing Liverpool. If Alonso stays where he is for another two years or manages somewhere else at Bayern Munich or another really big club then it might be different.
Out of all the names being mentioned they haven’t been at the biggest clubs in the world, it’s hard to forecast what will happen at the biggest clubs because you won’t get experience managing Bayern or Liverpool by not managing them, so that wouldn’t be anything that puts them off but at the same time, for very experienced coaches like Jose Mourinho or Tuchel at Bayern, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.
Xabi is a very smart guy and if he wants the job then he will be the perfect candidate and if anyone can follow in Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps then it might be him.
Could Bayern Be The Biggest Obstacle To Liverpool Getting Alonso
Bayern would’ve been in touch because he’s well-liked and played there during the later stages of his career. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (former Bayern CEO now board member) is a big fan of his and has spoken in words of the highest order about Xabi Alonso, and it’s almost a love affair. I think they won’t leave any stone unturned in trying to bring him to the club, whether it’s financially or something else, or possibly players he wants to bring in.
But it is a decision he has to make and there are a lot of uncertainties at Bayern at the moment so I’m not too sure whether it is the right time or a good time to come to Munich because they have just appointed a new director of football, a lot of changes at board level so there is a lot of noise at the moment.
If there is peace, it makes it easier for the manager which is hard enough as it is, so that might be one thing that might put him off coming to Munich.
What did you make of the timing of Jurgen Klopp’s exit announcement?
I think the club knew from October or November of the decision so the club obviously had to approach agents and managers now because they want to know who’s manager next season.
Once you speak to agents and managers, then people know, and it’s very hard to keep things in house. Things do get leaked but Liverpool were proactive, that’s what they did and I think there are similarities to 2012/13 with Jupp Heynkes.
I think for all the players, it gave them an extra edge as they wanted him to leave with the best possible success and they ended up winning the Treble with the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund, and I see a similar scenario there, for all the players I think they have Klopp to thank.
He has made good players into world-class players and look at the youngsters coming through now. They might not have got a chance under any other manager. Everyone at the club wants to give him the best possible farewell and I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the lot.
The Europa League final is in Dublin where there is a huge Liverpool following there, so I think we are in for a tremendous few months because I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the lot.
Liverpool Should Have Won More Trophies Under Klopp
I don’t think it’s being harsh to say Klopp should have won more trophies, because of the brilliance of Manchester City. They finished second on 97 points and second again on 92, in our day mid-80s points would win you the league. The best we had was when we finished second on 80 and were seven short of Arsenal.
I don’t think it’s a criticism. Look at the football they’ve played, and the joy they’ve given people, with the games they’ve won and how they’ve won them.
If you look back they probably should’ve won more but it’s down to the brilliance of City, they would have at least one more or probably two more titles. And I have to say that they should’ve beaten Real Madrid in the Champions League final. They didn’t win the league after Ilkay Gundogan scored two late goals and then they lost the game in Paris, they lost in Kiev too, but the game in Paris was there for the taking and they should’ve won that game.
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