‘Absolutely exceptional’; Jurgen Klopp backs Xabi Alonso as stand out choice in next generation of managers

Jurgen Klopp had branded himself one of the managerial dinosaurs when he identified who he believes is the outstanding coach of the next generation.

It is a choice many a Liverpool fan may hope their board will echo. Because while Klopp was not anointing Xabi Alonso his successor at Anfield, a glowing tribute was an endorsement of the work the Spaniard is doing with Bayer Leverkusen.

Klopp would, he said, have been effusive in his praise a couple of months back. If one fundamental change since then is the German’s announcement that he will leave Liverpool, another came on Saturday. Leverkusen’s 3-0 win over Bayern Munich put them five points clear at the Bundesliga summit, making Alonso on course to become the first manager to make any club other than the Bavarian superpower the champions of Germany since Klopp himself. Time will tell if the Spaniard replaces Klopp in another respect.

For now, a manager who has retained a keen interest in the Bundesliga is impressed. As he prepares to consign himself to Liverpool’s past, he is looking at football’s future. “Xabi is doing an incredible job,” he said. “If there would not be the rumours around, that’s completely independent. If you would have asked me eight weeks ago about Xabi Alonso, I would have gone ‘Oh my God’.

“The dinosaurs if you want, [Carlo] Ancelotti, [Jose] Mourinho, [Pep] Guardiola, maybe me, we will not do it – OK, maybe Mourinho, but all the rest will not do it for the next 20 years – [but] the next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is stand-out in that department.”