By the time Chelsea announced Xabi Alonso on a four-year deal in May 2026, Liverpool had already made up their minds about him. In March, Alonso had been crossed off the shortlist to replace Arne Slot.
The Athletic’s Oliver Kay reported the detail that undercuts the “one that got away” narrative.
“It was spelt out to me in March that if they were looking for a new coach, it wouldn’t be Alonso,” Kay wrote.
Liverpool shared an agent with Iraola, and with Alonso. They could have made the call. They did not.
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Alonso’s football is not Klopp’s
The reason was tactical. Alonso’s football at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid is built on possession and controlled tempo, a different rhythm from the pressing game Klopp made the house identity at Anfield. Bundesliga analyst Kevin Hatchard put it bluntly on social media.
“If you want aggressive, fast-paced, up-and-at-em football, he’s not your guy. Iraola much closer to Klopp’s ‘vollgas’ style.”
Richard Hughes, the sporting director who first brought Iraola to Bournemouth in 2023, oversaw the Liverpool appointment. Iraola was the only candidate the club formally spoke to, Sky Sports reported.
Iraola signed a two-year deal on June 4. He had just taken Bournemouth to a sixth-place finish and the club’s first European qualification, with an 18-match unbeaten run inside that season.
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Iraola’s first defeat, with injuries piling up
Three months in, the question is being asked again. Liverpool have nine points from six Premier League games after a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday, in which a second yellow card for Ryan Gravenberch reduced them to ten men.
It was Iraola’s first league defeat as Liverpool head coach, after an unbeaten start across his opening five Premier League matches.
The injury list is long. Alexander Isak (thigh) and Cody Gakpo (ankle) missed the City game, and Hugo Ekitike is weeks away. Florian Wirtz, the £116m summer signing, has not delivered. Jamie Carragher argued on Sky Sports before the City game that he would leave Wirtz out.
“Wirtz wouldn’t be in my Liverpool team. Manchester City at home, for me, he can’t be in the team.”
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Liverpool top the sprint charts
The underlying numbers do describe the football Liverpool asked for. Iraola’s squad has registered 636 sprints across the opening five Premier League games, more than any other side in the division, and strung together three consecutive clean sheets before the City loss. Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have been used as the two No. 6s, with Gravenberch dropped before his red card.
High intensity, two-man midfield, defensive compactness. That is why Liverpool wanted Iraola, and it is also why they did not want Alonso.
Iraola said the coming schedule is the one to watch.
“The next run of games will be a measure of progress,” he told Sky Sports. Liverpool face Brentford, Brighton and Arsenal across the next three weeks.
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