Former Liverpool player Dominic Matteo has claimed the only man who should replace Jurgen Klopp as Reds manager in the summer is current Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
The 58-year-old was only named manager of the North London-based outfit in the summer after a successful spell in charge of Celtic but the Greek-born tactician has earned plaudits for bringing an attacking and exciting style of play to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Xabi Alonso emerged as the favourite to replace Klopp when the German announced in January that he’d be calling it a day on Merseyside at the end of the current campaign but the former Reds midfielder is instead set to remain at his current club Bayer Leverkusen for the foreseeable future.
Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim is now the new favourite to occupy the Anfield hot seat next season with his side currently top of the Portuguese top flight.
“In terms of who replaces Jurgen Klopp, it has to be Ange Postecoglou at Spurs for me,” Matteo told William Hill (via Liverpool World). “He plays the right style of football which would be suited at Liverpool and I don’t think the nature of the job would get to him. I’ve been impressed with his first season at Spurs – the way he deals with the media and the way his team plays on the front foot is admirable.
“He seems to be an excellent man-manager which is needed at this high level of the game – particularly at a club like Liverpool – plus he can deal with the pressure and has won silverware. It seems Xabi Alonso has chosen to not pursue the job at this stage of his career and Ruben Amorim and Roberto De Zerbi are other managers on the list who could be available, but Postecoglou should be their first choice.”
Postecoglou is a decent manager who’s achieved success right throughout his career but we’re finding it hard to agree with Matteo’s comments.
The ex-Celtic boss started the season well with Spurs but they’ve somewhat dropped off since and currently find themselves in fourth place – 11 points off the top.
The prospect of Alonso replacing Klopp was one that excited many Liverpool supporters but you can’t blame him for wanting to remain in Germany and continue the exciting project he’s got going on with Leverkusen.
Amorim’s Sporting, meanwhile, are currently four points clear at the top of the table and have a game in hand over fierce city rivals Benfica in second.
At just 39 years of age the Lisbon-born tactician may not be as experienced as many of the other managerial candidates but he’s proving this season that he knows what he’s doing.
Anyone will find it hard to come in and continue the brilliant work the former Borussia Dortmund boss has done down the years but we’ll just have to wait and see who’s given the responsibility!
Liverpool style of play has always been short quick passing and high intensity pressing on the front. So far the only manager in English Premier League,in my observation, able to adapt and improve it further is Man City Pep Guardiola. Pep Man City team is good at tiki-taka passing but lack the hard pressing like Liverpool. If both of these skills are in use together, Liverpool might be hardest team to beat not only PL but in Europe.
No way for me. I would go for Sporting Lisbons manager Almiron without any doubt seeing we cant get Xabi Alonso.