Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp praised Xabi Alonso as an exceptional talent from the current generation of managers after his remarkable spell at Bayer Leverkusen.
The former Liverpool and Real Madrid player has been connected with the imminent Anfield opening after Klopp revealed last month that he will step down after the season.
Alonso steered Leverkusen from near the bottom of the Bundesliga to a five-point lead at the top in just 16 months. The 42-year-old coach advanced to the German Cup semi-finals, defeating serial winners Bayern Munich 3-0 last weekend.
“Xabi is doing an incredible job,” Klopp said on Friday.
“If you would have asked me eight weeks ago about Xabi Alonso, I would have gone ‘Oh my God!’ Always what I said, the dinosaurs if you want, Ancelotti (Carlo), Mourinho (Jose), Guardiola (Pep), maybe me, we will not do it – okay, maybe Mourinho – but all the rest will not do it for the next 20 years.
“The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is a standout in that department… Former world-class player, from a coaching family as well which helps a little, he was like a coach already when he was playing. The football he is playing, the teams he sets up, the transfers he did, it is absolutely exceptional.”
Klopp added that he is not involved in the search for his successor as that is to be decided by the owners of the Merseyside club.
The 56-year-old, who has had his fair share of achievements in the German league from his time at Borussia Dortmund, praised Alonso’s immediate but potent implementation of strategies despite only taking on the role in October 2022.
“How quick his team is that well tuned, for the time it’s taken, he’s put his proper stamp on it,” Klopp added.
