Finding a successor for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool was always going to be a really, really tricky task.
Klopp truly is a one of a kind manager. The perfect blend of tactical acumen, motivational skills and complete and total harmonisation with the club, there will never be another like Jurgen.
As a result, being something of a ‘Klopp-lite’ can’t be one of the factors upon which the Reds make their decision. Liverpool are going to have to accept that as they whittle down their list of possible replacements.
And whittling it down they are. There is still the same handful of names floating around that have been pretty much since Klopp announced his decision to leave – excluding Xabi Alonso, of course.
But as per David Ornstein earlier this week, Liverpool have now just about struck one of those names permanently from their list. We think it could be a mistake.
Who have Liverpool dropped interest in
Obviously, when you’re assessing a number of different candidates without a clear front-runner, there are bound to be some left by the wayside.
That doesn’t mean they’re bad or anything like that. In fact, it’s a great privilege for any coach to be considered by Liverpool in the first place. It just means that they’re not the right fit.
And the Reds have clearly decided that Roberto De Zerbi is not quite the right match for them. Despite regularly being put forward as a top candidate, it seems that the Italian will not be the Reds’ next manager.
At first, we were all for that. We haven’t been convinced by De Zerbi’s Brighton this season and don’t necessarily think he’s ready for a step up like the one to Liverpool.
However, upon listening to Theo Walcott talk about the 44-year-old today, we’re starting to change our minds.
Walcott described De Zerbi as being ‘exceptional,’ ‘incredible’ and hailed his teams as being ‘great to watch.’ Meanwhile, Cesc Fabregas, appearing with Walcott on the BBC’s Planet Premier League podcast called the coach ‘unbelievable.’ Maybe he isn’t so bad after all.
Richard Hughes walking a tightrope
Given the difficulty over assessing only De Zerbi, we really feel for the man who appears to be in charge of making this decision – new sporting director Richard Hughes.
Hughes isn’t even officially through the door at Liverpool yet but is attempting to to navigate their biggest appointment in more than 30 years.
Unfortunately for him, there is little room for error here. Looking at some of the other candidates, De Zerbi really does feel like one of the very strongest. It would surely be a mistake to rule him out already.
Of course, with reported interest from Bayern Munich too, there may be other reasons for Liverpool bowing out. In which case, fair enough. If it were us though, we’d still be keeping our options open until someone outs themselves as the outstanding option. It could still be De Zerbi.