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It seems that the dream of Xabi Alonso taking over at Liverpool is all but over and now Paul Joyce has helped reset our aims on the two candidates currently in the running for the job.
Writing for The Times, the northern football correspondent reported: ‘The development strengthens the hand of candidates such as the Sporting Lisbon head coach, Rúben Amorim, who is highly regarded at Anfield, and the Brighton & Hove Albion manager, Roberto De Zerbi.’
Neither are new names but this does present a chance to look closer at the pair who are currently the frontrunners in a seeming two horse race.
READ MORE: Paul Joyce delivers Alonso hammer blow with Xabi ‘unlikely’ to be Klopp’s successor
Ruben Amorim’s Sporting side won the league in 2021 and are currently on course to repeat that feat this season, quite an achievement when competing against Porto and Benfica.
Praised for ‘man-management and tactical acumen’ in the same report, the 39-year-old could be available for £17 million if the Reds want to meet his release clause.
Playing three at the back, the team from Lisbon are praised for intense pressing out of possession and it took just 13 games during his time as Braga manager for the former midfielder’s current club to lure him away from his first coaching role.
Next up is a name that is perhaps more familiar to our supporters, with Roberto De Zerbi remaining unbeaten against Jurgen Klopp during our manager’s time at Anfield.
Connections to Richard Hughes, our new sporting director, see that the Italian’s decision to join Brighton over Bournemouth meant that the new man in a senior role at our club is clearly a long-term admirer.
A first season in Europe has met sales of key players and injury problems to delay progress at the Amex this season but with the Seagulls in eighth place in the Premier League, it’s been far from disastrous.
In Amorim’s style of play, there are clear similarities to our current pressing style – whilst De Zerbi produces attacking football that has seen them create more shots on goal than any other team in the division last season.
It’s perhaps not the Hollywood names we dreamed of to replace the legendary figure in the current role but we have to trust those in charge to analyse the stats in order to find the perfect candidate.
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