Liverpool's Alonso Dilemma: Questions Surround Slot and Heir

Liverpool thought they had their succession plan mapped out. Arne Slot to steady and then elevate the post-Klopp project, Xabi Alonso waiting in the wings as the romantic, long-term heir. Now, both names carry more questions than answers.

According to AS, Liverpool will not move for Alonso until they fully understand one thing: how a Champions League-winning midfielder, adored at Anfield as a player, managed to crash so dramatically at Real Madrid as a coach.

Slot’s Shine Fades Fast

On paper, Slot is safe. He is under contract at Liverpool until 2027. He delivered the Premier League title in his first season and did it with room to spare, restoring swagger and certainty to a club that had begun to fray at the edges in Jürgen Klopp’s final months.

That feels a long time ago.

The 2025-26 campaign has buckled. Liverpool are out of the Champions League early. Out of the FA Cup. Out of the League Cup. Their title defence has disappeared over the horizon, with Arsenal 20 points clear and Liverpool marooned in fourth, clinging to respectability more than competing for glory.

This is not what a €400 million rebuild was supposed to look like.

The football has turned from bold to brittle. Slot’s playing style, once hailed as a modern evolution of Liverpool’s high-energy identity, now sits under a harsh spotlight. The criticism in recent months has not been gentle. English media reports suggest the club’s hierarchy is at least considering a change, even if no decision is imminent.

And that is where Alonso comes back into focus.

Alonso: Anfield Icon, Madrid Fallout

For a long time, Alonso looked like the natural fit for Liverpool. A former midfield conductor with a sharp tactical brain, steeped in the club’s history, already admired for his early work in the dugout. He was widely viewed as the front-runner for the Liverpool job whenever it next became vacant.

But his time at Real Madrid has cast a shadow over that narrative.

Several reports in Spain describe a dressing room split almost down the middle under Alonso. By October, the tension had boiled over. Key figures such as Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde openly challenged his approach, pushing back against long tactical meetings and extended video analysis sessions that Alonso considered essential.

Some players bought in. They liked his intensity, his insistence on reshaping the system and refreshing the team’s playing style. They saw a coach trying to drag Madrid forward, not just protect reputations.

Others saw something else: a manager who, in their eyes, did not treat them as the stars they believed themselves to be.

For Vinicius in particular, the friction cut deep. Under Carlo Ancelotti, he had been the centrepiece, the untouchable talent. Under Alonso, his role and status felt diminished. To some in the squad, the Brazilian’s complaints were less about tactics and more about ego. To Alonso, it looked like resistance to change.

A Dressing Room in Open Revolt

The breakdown was not subtle. It was brazen.

Reports from Spain describe players openly disrespecting Alonso during team meetings. Some pretended to fall asleep during tactical sessions. Others talked among themselves while he spoke. For a coach trying to build authority at one of the most demanding clubs in the world, it was a direct challenge, not a quiet grumble.

The behaviour infuriated those inside the squad who believed in Alonso’s work and wanted the group to follow his lead. It also pushed Alonso himself to the edge.

At one point, stunned by what he was seeing, he is reported to have snapped: “I didn’t realise I’d walked into a nursery here.” It was the outburst of a coach who felt his professionalism mocked and his authority shredded.

The fallout left Alonso out of a job and, for now, out of the elite coaching picture.

Liverpool’s Risk Calculation

This is the man Liverpool are now scrutinising.

The appeal is obvious. Alonso knows the club, the city, the expectations. He understands what it means to play with the ball and without it at Anfield, to manage emotion and intensity on and off the pitch. Supporters would welcome him instantly.

But Liverpool cannot afford another misstep. Not after a season that has already veered off course despite massive investment. Not with Slot under contract until 2027 and a squad built to his blueprint.

So the questions are sharp and specific. Did Alonso fail in Madrid because he pushed too hard, too fast? Or because a group of powerful players refused to be challenged? Would a Liverpool dressing room, constructed differently and with less entrenched superstar hierarchy, respond better to his methods? Or would the same fault lines appear?

Liverpool want answers before they even think about handing him the keys to the club.

For now, Slot remains in place, his position fragile but not yet broken. Alonso, meanwhile, waits without a club, his reputation caught between tactical visionary and cautionary tale.

If Liverpool do decide to move on from Slot, they will not just be choosing a new manager. They will be betting that Xabi Alonso’s Madrid scars have made him stronger, not exposed a flaw that Anfield can’t afford.