Gianluigi Longari has pinpointed one reported Liverpool managerial candidate who ‘stands out’ among those being considered by the Merseyside club.
The journalist claimed that Xabi Alonso is unsurprisingly ‘first on the list’ at Anfield, but he did put forward an interesting alternative to the Bayer Leverkusen boss.
He posted on X (translated from Italian): “Liverpool evaluations in progress for the bench. Many candidates in the running, the first on the list of LFC is Xabi Alonso. Among the alternatives taken into consideration by Reds, the name of Ruben Amorim, currently managing Sporting, stands out.”
🚨 #Liverpool valutazioni in corso per la panchina. Tanti candidati in corsa, il primo della lista del #LFC è #Xabi Alonso. Tra le alternative prese in considerazione dai #Reds spicca il nome di Ruben #Amorim attualmente alla guida dello Sporting.
— Gianluigi Longari (@Glongari) February 6, 2024
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It’s no surprise that Alonso is seemingly top of the wish list, considering his remarkable work at Leverkusen and his previous Liverpool connections. However, if the 42-year-old is unwilling to leave the BayArena, or goes elsewhere, Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim could well be a worthy candidate to consider.
Despite only turning 39 recently, he’s taken charge of almost 200 first-team matches in the Portuguese capital (Transfermarkt), winning the league title in his first full season in charge in 2020/21 and guiding them to the Champions League round of 16 the following year.
He’s helped to nurture talents such as Joao Palhinha, Matheus Nunes, Pedro Porro and Pablo Sarabia, while he’s also renowned for his amicable personality and his reluctance to criticise referees in public, which means that he’d likely represent Liverpool in a positive light.
Another positive to Amorim is his reputation for fostering an unbreakable team spirit at Sporting, restoring a mood of placidity to a club which had been at war with itself in previous years, as well as promoting young talent and a sharp tactical nous.
Alonso remains the prime candidate, for sure, but the 39-year-old Portuguese coach would certainly appear to be a standout alternative.
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Must admit I’ve only heard good things about Amorim and if we can’t get Xabi back then he would definitely be a very strong back up. In all honesty his style of play is more similar to Klopps than Xabi’s but obviously he doesn’t have the history and instant connection with the club. Jurgen managed to do it though so… Either way I think we’re in a strong position moving forward
Here’s an out of the box thought, I would love to see LFC appoint Sarina Weigmann. All comparisons to Klopp would be forgotten and we would have one of the best strategists in the game leading Liverpool 2.0. A serious woman for a serious team. The publicity generated would be explosive as well.
Failing that, just go for Stevie G. Its an itch that has to be scratched, so may as well do it now and then if (when) it goes badly, at the least the only way is up for whoever succeeds him, and they will have been insulated (somewhat) from direct comparisons with Klopp.