Xabi Alonso is some fans’ pick to eventually take the Liverpool job, but the Spaniard is “not rushing” his pathway as a manager, instead “enjoying” his current role.
When Jurgen Klopp‘s time at Anfield comes to an end – which could be as early as 2024 – the club faces a big decision over who to appoint as his successor.
Speculation over the next Liverpool manager has largely focused around ‘in-house’ options, though that term is of course used loosely, with one of those being current Rangers boss Steven Gerrard.
Gerrard has distanced himself from links with his beloved club, but when the time comes he will dominate the rumour mill, along with Pepijn Lijnders.
Another favourite, though, is Alonso, who enjoys an affinity with the Kop having spent five years with Liverpool between 2004 and 2009, before a premature departure to Real Madrid.
Alonso signed a new contract as manager of Real Sociedad B last month, following talk of a possible move to take over at Borussia Monchengladbach, and the 39-year-old is “taking things slowly.”
“I prefer to take it step by step and we will see how we will go,” he told Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game podcast.
“The key thing is that you need to feel prepared.
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve been coaching for three years or four years, once you are committed and you are fully convinced that you can do the job, I think that it has to come from your heart.
“But for myself, I don’t want it to come too early, because I am still young and I feel that taking different steps will help me get to know myself better as a coach.
“[It will mean] having more knowledge about the game, more knowledge about how to make mistakes and how to correct them. I am in that position at the moment.”
That is why Alonso hasn’t followed the likes of Mikel Arteta, Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard in taking a ‘big’ job as his first foray into management.
But he is convinced of his desire to eventually reach the top, which could well lead him to Liverpool if he is able to prove himself worthy of the role.
“I want it to be my second career. It doesn’t matter if it’s quicker or slower, but I’m convinced I want to be a manager,” he continued.
“For that to happen, I feel that in myself I need to live, to learn a lot of things, before getting the big job.
“Because of that I am not rushing myself. And I am very happy to be in the hometown club, it’s a great project – maybe not under the spotlight every day, but I don’t care about that.
“I like doing what I’m doing at the moment.”
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