Jurgen Klopp was not the first man to be offered the Liverpool job, Newcastle messed up one appointment and Spurs seem incapable of getting their favourite. So the Reds might be just fine without Xabi Alonso…
It seems as though Alonso is minded to stay at Bayer Leverkusen, ignoring the advances of both Liverpool and Bayern Munich, perhaps with the Real Madrid job in mind further down the line.
It is a blow for Liverpool, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Klopp wasn’t a bad alternative to FSG’s preferred candidate, and Rafa worked out well in the end.
Here are nine occasions a back-up plan worked a treat…
Mauricio Pochettino – Tottenham’s third choice
It used to be that not a single day went by in which Spurs were not aggressively, irrevocably, inextricably Spurs. Even decisions that make them look competent and professional at the time are eventually proven to be just completely Spurs in retrospect. They were simpler times.
Reappointing Pochettino seemed the obvious choice a year ago but, as it appeared at the time, Spurs were gonna Spurs. More on that in a bit. But even the initial ascension of Pochettino to the White Hart Lane throne could have gone so differently. With Tim Sherwood’s win percentage callously cast aside in the summer of 2014, Spurs managed to narrow down their search for Andre Villas-Boas’ permanent successor to Pochettino and Frank de Boer.
Perhaps cowing to a fanbase which leaned more towards the proven trophy-winning capabilities of the latter, who had won four straight Eredivisie titles with Ajax by this point, Spurs acted on an interest they had held for months by engaging in official talks with De Boer.
They had tried to tempt the Dutchman to north London the previous winter after sacking Villas-Boas, before making Louis van Gaal their primary manager target, then almost immediately accepting he was probably going to hold out for Man Utd after the World Cup instead.
So the crosshairs focused in on De Boer, who spoke with former Ajax players Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen about the prospect of taking over and invited discussions but warned Spurs “they have to have good plans”.
He added that, “I want to add something to a club, something which people can say: ‘That’s the hand of Frank De Boer. Liverpool is a nice example of that, with what Brendan Rodgers is doing right now,” in the same week the Reds bottled the title against Chelsea and subsequently collapsed into a slump from which Rodgers could not drag them.
Those public comments ultimately frustrated Spurs and ended their dalliance with De Boer, with the more private Pochettino plucked from Southampton instead.
The Argentine transformed Spurs from Europa League mainstays into title challengers and Champions League finalists, albeit with the caveat that they continued to win nothing; the man is no miracle worker. But metamorphic though his reign was, it is incredible to think that Spurs at one stage favoured and almost went for “the worst manager in the history of the Premier League” instead. Because Spurs just have to Spurs.
Jurgen Klopp – Liverpool’s second choice
The man Levy ultimately wanted and has long raised an unreciprocated eyebrow about was Carlo Ancelotti, whose capture of La Decima rather undermined the idea he might leave Real Madrid for England’s sixth-best side.
A year later, and by now out of work, Ancelotti had a far more tantalising opportunity to return to the Premier League. The Italian had been sounded out by Fenway Sports Group in September 2015 – with Liverpool forlornly denying that story – as the reign of Rodgers limped on. When the Northern Irishman was finally sacked the following month, it became a straight shootout between Ancelotti, the similarly unattached Jurgen Klopp and, earwigging a conversation to which he really didn’t then belong, Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe.
There are conflicting reports as to who Liverpool championed. Some suggest Klopp was never anything but first choice but former Anfield scout Pedro Philippou later claimed “there was a bit of conversation about Ancelotti coming in,” before it drifted to his German counterpart.
In any case, Harry Redknapp provided the scoop, saying: “I have heard from good sources that [Ancelotti] was offered the Liverpool job. I don’t think [he wanted it]. They spoke to him at some stage.”
That much was confirmed by Ancelotti himself years later: “It was after Real Madrid, I had a chat with the owner. They were looking for a new manager but I think they made a right choice with Jurgen. He is doing fantastic work at Liverpool, so well done.”
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