Simon Jordan can see shades of Mauricio Pochettino in reports suggesting Tottenham Hotspur could offer Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso a return to the Premier League as their new manager.
The 41-year-old Spaniard certainly suits Spurs’ supposed ‘DNA’ better than some of his potential predecessors.
Unlike Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho – two coaches brought in by Daniel Levy in a desperate and ill-judged attempt to end the club’s long trophy drought – Alonso shares many of the attributes that made Pochettino Spurs’ most popular manager of the last 30 years.
In just six months at Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso has taken a previously underachieving side from the relegation zone to the European places, while instilling an attractive brand of football that has coaxed plenty out of the raw talent at his disposal.
Can Xabi Alonso be Tottenham’s next Mauricio Pochettino?
And while Jordan, the former Crystal Palace owner, admits that Alonso’s lack of top-level managerial experience is likely to be a concern, Tottenham could do a lot worse than revisit what worked before as they look to recapture the magic of the ‘Poch era’
“It feels a bit like a Pochettino decision, which Daniel Levy did get right. Pochettino’s body of work more extensive, but it’s the same sort of mentality,” Jordan tells talkSPORT (4 May, 11am).
“A young manager with a modicum of success is easier to work with if you’re a chairman. He is not going to be as divisive as either Antonio Conte or Jose Mourinho, but he will have the ambition and the freshness of thinking.”
Tottenham need only look down the road at Arsenal to realise that experience is not everything. Mikel Arteta had never taken sole charge of a club before until replacing Unai Emery at the Emirates Stadium, after all.
‘Alonso will be a decent coach’
“It is very early (for Alonso). He was at Real Sociedad B for a couple of years, Leverkusen. He has had a decent outcome but he has been there five minutes,” Jordan adds.
“Arteta, it was more logical cause he had been an Arsenal player. It was a huge step up, Arsenal did take a punt on him. But they won an FA Cup in their first season (and now) noom, the engines have started.
“Clearly, Alonso will become a decent coach by the nature of the way he has started. But you’ve got to fit it in around Tottenham. It is an important decision.”
Bayer Leverkusen have won 10 of hteir last 14 games in all competitions.
Per Sky Sports, Alonso – who worked under Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafael Benitez as a player – is now one of Spurs’ leading candidates alongside Vincent Kompany, Julian Nagelsmann, Arne Slot and Ruben Amorim.
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