Slot under pressure as Alonso looms

IT HARDLY seems believable after last season’s title heroics, but Arne Slot’s Liverpool future is facing a threat from a former club great who has gone from phantom menace to potential messiah for a number of Reds fans.

- ROWAN CALLAGHAN

Xabi Alonso is a Liverpool legend: tactically intelligent and intimately familiar with the club’s DNA. He still has credit in the bank from Bayer Leverkusen’s incredible unbeaten march to the Bundesliga title, though his ill-fated recent spell at Real Madrid has affected his reputation.

Fans adore him, players respect him, and the media would leap at the narrative of a hero returning to save a floundering season with the title race all but over.

In theory, it’s a compelling move to inject fresh ideas into a side that looks increasingly laboured, despite their recent unbeaten run. But let’s not get carried away. Alonso is not untested; his recent spell in Madrid ended in dismissal after just seven months, with tactical inconsistencies and mixed results cited as the main issues.

That experience is vital context.