Merry Go Round Of Coaches As Former Liverpool And Real Madrid Legend Bags Coaching Job

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It’s not often that top players make the transition from the pitch to the bench, that is, shifting from a great career as a player to becoming a great coach.

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The likes of Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte are perfect examples and they could be joined by another set, with Xavi Hernandez already making the transition and now another top player is about to join the bandwagon.

Former Real Madrid and Liverpool midfielder, Xabi Alonso, was appointed by German side, Bayer Leverkusen, to be their new manager this week and there would be plenty of interest on how he fares at his new job. Alonso, played for Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, winning trophies wherever he went and playing under great managers.

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After managing the Real Madrid’s academy and then spending two seasons with Real Sociedad B team, he’s taking his first senior assignment. He was asked during his presentation what the most important lesson he had learned from the likes of Pep Guardiola, Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho was.

“The first lesson that I learned from them is that the players need to follow you, they need to believe in what they are doing, they need to know that they are improving with you coaching, with your help.” He said.

He also set out his ideas, in terms of what he wanted to inculcate his players with. “We want to play modern football. That means: intensity with and without the ball, being more active than passive and with a strong mentality.

“The team has to know how we want to play. Dominant, intense, controlled, with a winning mentality and that should be from the first kick-off until the final whistle. I will try to give the players clear instructions and ideas.” He further added.

Meanwhile…

English Premier League side, Wolverhampton wanderers are said to have made contact with former Sevilla coach, Julen Lopetegui, to assume the role of their coach after the sacking of Bruno Lage.

Lopetegui himself was sacked recently by Sevilla after a run of bad results left the Andalusian club at the bottom half of the table and he was given the boot after their defeat against Dortmund in the UCL.

Read Also: Ancelotti: A Round Peg In A Round Hole For Real Madrid But Could Prove To Be His Own Worst Enemy

Lopetegui’s agent, Jorge Mendes, has a close relationship with Wolves, as a host of their key names represented by the 56-year-old super agent. Sevilla, on their part have moved quickly to appoint Jorge Sampaoli, who is coming for the second time to the club.

He was coach of the Chilean national team few years ago and also French side, Marseille, last season. Wolves meanwhile, have appointed Steve Davis on an interim basis and he would be in charge for this weekend’s game while the appointment of a new coach will probably be announced next week.

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(Sport)