Liverpool, Bayern Munich or stay put? TNT Sports panel debate pros and cons of Xabi Alonso's next move

Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso would have an easier task taking over at Bayern Munich than trying to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, according to TNT Sports' James Horncastle and Michael Owen.

Alonso has shot to the top of the list of favourites for the end-of-season vacancies at his former clubs in Munich and on Merseyside, with Thomas Tuchel and Klopp both stepping down at the end of 2023-24.

Alonso is in high demand after guiding Leverkusen eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table in his first senior managerial job.

Horncastle and Owen debated the difficult decision he faces between two European heavyweights, or staying put.

“As much as people in this country would assume that Xabi Alonso and his past at Liverpool would mean that the next thing for him is Liverpool, in some respects Bayern represent, not a better opportunity, but anyone who has to follow Jurgen Klopp and walk in his shadow is going to find it very tough,” began Horncastle.

“If you’re taking over from Thomas Tuchel after a very underwhelming and disappointing season, with the squad that they’ve got…”

Owen added: “It’s almost the opposite, isn’t it? You can’t do any worse than Bayern are doing at the moment in the league.

“They always win the league, don’t they? If they don’t win it this year, the next person who goes in, it’s a formality to do well.”

Bayern’s 3-0 defeat to Alonso’s Leverkusen kick-started a disastrous week where they also suffered a 3-2 defeat to Bochum after losing the first leg of their UEFA Champions League clash with Lazio 1-0 in Rome.

That led the club to announce that Tuchel will depart at the end of the season, and the shortlist of favourites to replace him includes Alonso, Zinedine Zidane, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Klopp.

Considering those options, Horncastle said: “Not Klopp, because whatever happens next year, he’s going to take some time out.

“Conte is interesting to me because I think he wants a winning project. He always wins the league, but he wants a team that is capable of winning the Champions League.

“Bayern have the squad and the talent to do that, he’s out of work at the moment, he could spend the next three months working on his German. And follow in the footsteps of his mentor Giovanni Trapattoni.”

As for Liverpool, Alonso tops the bookies’ list ahead of Roberto De Zerbi, Ruben Amorim, Julian Nagelsmann and Ange Postecoglou.

Former Liverpool striker Owen has been blown away by the rapid ascent of Alonso in the managerial world, with the Spaniard leading Leverkusen from second-bottom to eight points clear on top of the Bundesliga in the space of 18 months.

“He’s doing such incredible work. No one has seen the like,” Owen said.

"They are still the only team in Europe that is unbeaten in every competition, he’s just done an incredible job. Everybody likes him, he was a great player, he’s got that credibility. His team play in an amazing way. Both teams, I would be surprised if they go for him.

“And you know what? If I was Alonso, yes you could say he’s building a great team, but you don’t get many chances in life to go to the elite clubs. If you say no now and then you do poorly next year at Leverkusen…

“I would go for Liverpool, but I do understand why the Bayern one is almost more of a guarantee of progress in your career, whereas following Jurgen Klopp is going to be very difficult.”

Horncastle believes that Alonso, who led Real Sociedad’s reserve team in his only previous job before taking over at Leverkusen in October 2022, could be tempted to pump the brakes on a jump into one of the elite clubs of the sport.

“I’m sure Xabi would do well if he stayed another year at Leverkusen, he might feel like he needs another year,” Horncastle said.

“But I think he’s always had quite a clear plan in his mind that after Real Sociedad’s youth team he would take a first-team job in Europe’s top five leagues and then he would try and grow to get to a stage where he could take over one of his former clubs be that Bayern, Liverpool or Real Madrid as well.”

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