Why Manchester United should never appoint Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso
Since Xabi Alonso’s sacking by Real Madrid earlier this week, reports have suggested that Manchester United, who are searching for a new manager, are on “high alert”.
Image: AFP
Manchester United and Liverpool share a rivalry that goes far beyond football, shaped by decades of bitterness, dominance, and mutual disdain. It is among the fiercest rivalries in world sport, a feud that has been repeatedly inflamed by the edge and hostility of their meetings in recent seasons.
That’s why it’s insane that Xabi Alonso has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the Manchester United manager’s job at the end of the season.
The 44-year-old Alonso spent five years marshalling Liverpool’s midfield alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in the early 2000s. Famously, he was a member of the team that won the UEFA Champions League in 2005.
Among other competitions Alonso won during his glorious five years at Anfield were the FA Cup crown in 2006. During his time at Liverpool, he excelled as a deep-lying playmaker, renowned for his intelligence, composure, and outstanding range of passing. He controlled the tempo from midfield, used his positioning to protect the defence, and consistently delivered in big matches with his vision and technique.
His understanding of the game helped him become a very good head coach when he eventually retired in 2017. His biggest achievement to date was leading Bayer Leverkusen to the Bundesliga title in 2023/24, breaking Bayern Munich’s 11-year stranglehold. Because of this, he’s highly regarded, and his sacking by Real Madrid is not expected to do any harm to his reputation.
Despite being one of the most highly regarded young managers in the game, his deep ties to Liverpool and status as a club legend cannot be separated from any serious discussion about Manchester United.
There is one historical exception that is often raised in debates like this: Matt Busby. Busby played for both Liverpool and Manchester City before going on to become one of the most successful managers in Manchester United’s history, a figure whose legacy is inseparable from the club’s identity.
But he operated in a very different era. While the rivalry between United and Liverpool did exist during his time, it lacked the intensity, bitterness, and global reach it has today. Football was less tribal, less commercial, and such overlaps did not carry the same cultural weight they do in the modern game.
Appointing Alonso as Manchester United boss would be a sign that INEOS do not know what they are doing. It would be a fundamental misunderstanding of what Manchester United represents.
Rivalries matter because they are built on identity, history, and shared memory, and Alonso’s is inseparable from Liverpool. No amount of tactical intelligence or recent success can rewrite that reality.
For a club already searching for direction, handing the reins to a figure so closely associated with their greatest enemy would signal confusion at the very top. United need clarity, conviction, and a manager who embodies the club’s values, not a decision that undermines them before a ball has even been kicked.
IOL Sport
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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