Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen believes that Xabi Alonso is making a mistake by opting to stay at Bayer Leverkusen and putting himself out of the running to replace Jurgen Klopp.
The Spaniard formally announced he would be staying at the German club on Friday, believing that he still has more to do with the club in the Bundesliga and the Champions League in 2024/25.
“I feel this is the right place to develop as a coach. I have to feel it, and right now I feel this is the right place… my job is not over here,” said Alonso. “For sure all the decisions needed to be analysed well and I tried to take the right ones.”
Plenty of pundits have commented on Alonso’s decision, and now Owen – who was sold to Real Madrid just six days before Alonso’s arrival on Merseyside back in August 2004 – has questioned how Alonso could turn down the Liverpool job?
incredible what Leverkusen are doing at the moment, but they’re not going to win the Champions League or be one of Europe’s elite,” Owen told Betideas.com.
“The thing is in life, certainly in football, you can have all these best-made plans and then comes the unexpected,” he added. “I look at my career and thought I was going to play for whoever, and all of a sudden you’re offered something else and you think that it might never ever come again.
“When Real Madrid asked me to play for them, I knew I was never going to get asked again so what was I going to do?”
Both Owen and Alonso swapped Liverpool for Real Madrid, but each have left different legacies at Anfield. In 2009, the same summer Alonso made the move to Madrid, Owen damaged his own by signing for Manchester United.
The former England striker compared Alonso’s path to an ex-midfield partner, adding: “It’s alright thinking about taking it step by step and building and maybe waiting on his move to Liverpool, but I’m sure Steven Gerrard thought that when he was at Rangers.
“People thought Aston Villa might be a stepping stone, but things didn’t go as well and all of a sudden he’s not really in the running for the Liverpool job.”
Alonso, though, is on track to lead Leverkusen to their first ever Bundesliga title, with a 13-point lead, and will lead the club in their return to the Champions League next season. Gerrard’s difficulties at Aston Villa, which saw him sacked in 2022 after 11 months at the helm, have placed him out of the conversation to succeed Klopp.
Owen continued: “It’s alright plotting a perfect path, but you know what, life is never perfect and if the opportunity comes to manage Liverpool how the hell do you say no given his affinity with the club?”
