Simon Jordan feels Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou should be part of Liverpool’s thinking as the Australian shares ‘a lot of similarities’ with the departing Jurgen Klopp.
HITC Football understands that Xabi Alonso, the former Anfield icon who is developing quite a reputation for himself as one of the game’s most intelligent tacticians off the pitch too, has been installed as the early frontrunner to take Klopp’s place on Merseyside.
But, make no mistake, it is not a case of ‘Alonso or nobody’. We have been informed that Roberto de Zerbi of Brighton and Hove Albion also has his fair share of admirers at Liverpool. Ditto Thomas Frank, who first took Brentford to the big time and then established themselves there (The Athletic).
Ange Postecoglou too, though the Liverpool bosses are very much mistaken if they think Tottenham will not fight tooth and nail to keep a man who – via his free-flowing style and his sheer force of personality – has been a ray of summer Sydney sunshine piercing through the dark clouds which gathered over the club during the miserable eras of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Jurgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool
“If I were involved, yeah, I’d think he would be under consideration (for the Liverpool job),” former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan tells talkSPORT (30 January, 12pm). “He’d provide a lot of thing Klopp has been successful in.
“Galvanising the fanbase, the style of play, he’s a winner, he’s won, and he’s got the personality
“So I think there are a lot of similarities (between Postecoglou and Klopp). Spurs will have no truck for it, and neither should they. But there is definitely room (in the discussions) for Ange Postecoglou.”
Klopp confirmed, via an earth-shattering statement on Friday, that this will be his final season in the Anfield dugout. Postecoglou, in contrast, only joined Tottenham a few months ago after a silver-coated spell at Celtic, with the Aussie’s affable persona and turbo-charged tactical plans reminiscent of Klopp’s early days in the North West.
“Everybody looks at him and thinks ‘yeah, the vision arrives now. We can see it’. The style of play, the culture he exudes…,” Jordan adds.
“He is a charisma slightly lower level than Klopp. He doesn’t have the 64 million dollar smile. But he has the personality that people find relatable.”
Ange Postecoglou making big impact at Tottenham
Alonso and Feyenoord boss Arne Slot have both distanced themselves from the Liverpool job in the wake of Klopp’s announcement. Jordan, meanwhile, is not expecting the German’s successor to endure difficulties reminiscent of David Moyes post-Sir Alex Ferguson, providing Klopp does not spark an Anfield exodus.
“I don’t think its broken, so you don’t need to fix it,” he says. “You look at that Liverpool dressing room and think; ‘Are they going to tail off this season?’ Not a chance.
“The Andy Robertsons, the Virgil Van Dijks, the Mo Salahs are top class footballers with strong personalities.”
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