A change in manager for Liverpool also means a change in the system, but which players could shine even brighter if the Reds successfully secure Xabi Alonso?
Liverpool’s current team has been tailor-made for Jürgen Klopp’s system, but players will be required to transition in a matter of months. Not everyone will adapt to the change in tactics on the horizon, but should Liverpool get Xabi Alonso, some players could play even better.
Of course, Alonso has demonstrated a high level of quality in a short space of time as a manager, which suggests that he will find ways to adapt his system to help suit the players who need more time. But early indications of his tactical set-up at Bayer Leverkusen show that Liverpool’s transition to “Alonso Ball” won’t take long.
Especially for two of Liverpool’s key players who are entering the final year of their contracts in the summer. A quick transition there could be important in terms of settling long-term futures, with Virgil van Dijk causing a minor panic recently via some fairly innocuous comments about the effects of Klopp’s impending departure.
But it’s not actually the captain who would be set to gain the most. Let’s look at four Liverpool players who look really well-suited to working under Alonso.
Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah is a perfect fit for Alonso’s system. The Egyptian star, as shown in the current campaign, has continued to thrive in the ‘playmaker’ role, and would only get better under Alonso, where he would be instructed to come into central areas more frequently. Given Darwin Núñez would create space for him as the central striker by running in behind, it could even mean Salah has more opportunities to strike at goal from outside of the box on his left foot.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonas Hofmann currently plays in that position, and he has put up a respectable tally of five goals and six assists in 18 games. Salah, however, would be able to evolve the role in that system. Liverpool’s star man is a much greater threat when it comes to running in behind, while also being a more clinical finisher in dangerous areas.
Conor Bradley
Conor Bradley was the Man of the Match against Chelsea, and he would certainly maintain his minutes in the side under Alonso. Bayer Leverkusen’s style provides multiple methods of breaking down the opposition, but one of the most common is by getting the wing-backs high up the pitch. That has seen both Jeremie Frimpong (five league goals and six assists) and Álex Grimaldo (seven league goals and eight assists) among the most productive in Europe this season.
It also bodes well for Andy Robertson, who recently made his return to action against Norwich, but interestingly, that could also mean that Trent Alexander-Arnold’s central role isn’t utilized at first. He fits the criteria of a player that can play in Granit Xhaka’s current role, though.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Granit Xhaka is the player in Bayer Leverkusen’s system that is relied upon to break the lines. As seen in Liverpool’s box-four formation under Klopp, Alexander-Arnold’s transition into midfield areas has helped evolve the club’s form since last season’s clash against Arsenal at Anfield. It would be unsurprising to see Alexander-Arnold make a permanent switch to midfield, where he could replicate the same sort of passes that Alonso played in his Liverpool days.
Darwin Núñez
Darwin Núñez is an excellent candidate to lead the line for Liverpool under Alonso, who would look to use the Uruguayan’s pace in behind to find space inside the box as well as his creative ability that he has displayed this season. The performances of Victor Boniface are already a promising factor to a blueprint that Núñez could follow, and that should see his production continue to rise, even after Klopp finally says goodbye.
