Dirk Kuyt has said that he saw traits of a ‘future coach’ in Xabi Alonso when they were teammates at Liverpool.
The pair played together for three years at Anfield between 2006 and 2009 and are both currently working in management, with the Dutchman in charge of Belgian second-tier outfit Beerschot and the Spaniard top of the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen.
The latter is many people’s favourite to take over from Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season, and the ex-Netherlands striker isn’t surprised at how exceptionally the 42-year-old is doing as a coach.
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Kuyt told the Liverpool Echo: “If you look at former team-mates and players, sometimes you doubt they can become a coach and then you see them doing really well in a management job. But, for Xabi, I think in my mind definitely he was like a future coach.”
The Dutchman added: “Suddenly he is challenging for the league title in Germany and that is something that is very special because for the last few years Bayern Munich was always up there and the number two was Borussia Dortmund.
“Now Xabi is there and I think people almost cannot believe that someone other than Bayern Munich are going to win the league. That shows the quality of a manager like Xabi Alonso.
“People can say maybe it has come too quick but sometimes good things come very quickly and for me, definitely, he was always a guy during our playing time that was always thinking about the game; thinking tactically; talking always tactically outside of the pitch. You could see from a distance a manager one day.”
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There are certain footballers who you look at and confidently predict that they’d make excellent managers due to their supreme tactical understanding and reading of the game.
Alonso was one of the most intelligent players to pull on the Liverpool shirt, always knowing what pass to pick from midfield, although very few could’ve predicted the phenomenal impact that he’s made at runaway Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen.
While his past Anfield connections obviously help to make him a leading contender to replace Klopp in the summer, the 42-year-old’s work in Germany speaks for itself, and it’s no surprise that he’s also been touted as the potential next manager of two of his other former clubs in Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg asserted on Friday that the Bavarian giants appear to be the frontrunners to land the Spaniard if he were to leave the BayArena this year, but for now the situation remains quite fluid.
We live in hope that, if Alonso were to move on from Leverkusen, Anfield would be the next port of call in what has the makings of a legendary managerial career.
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