The English Football Thread

[Fulham Broadway 16,393]

Paedophile Arsenal fan, 39, becomes first person in England to be jailed for cyberflashing after sending picture of his genitals to 15-year-old schoolgirl

Typical Gooner

[Vesper 27,317]

Landmark football governance bill introduced to create independent regulator

https://theathletic.com/5351609/2024/03/18/football-governance-bill-independent-regulator/

A landmark football governance bill has been introduced in UK parliament to confirm the creation of an independent football regulator.

The independent football regulator will have powers to prevent breakaway competitions such as the European Super League, strengthen the owners and directors’ test and hold backstop powers around financial distribution between the Premier League and English Football League (EFL).

It comes over three years since the fan-led review called for the introduction of a regulator in November 2021. The government announced plans for one in February 2023.

The regulator will be independent from the government and football authorities, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport says it will be “equipped with robust powers revolving around three core objectives: to improve financial sustainability of clubs, ensure financial resilience across the leagues, and to safeguard the heritage of English football”.

The failed Super League project in April 2021 — which Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Chelsea attempted to join alongside other European clubs – came at the beginning of the fan-led review and only strengthened calls for an independent regulator.

GO DEEPER

Tension, suspicion and plotting - what happened after the collapse of the Super League

Under the new legislation, breakaway, closed-shops competitions like the European Super League will be blocked.

Last week, the Premier League again failed to agree a funding package for the EFL as part of the ‘New Deal for Football’, despite pressure from the government.

GO DEEPER

EFL 'clearly disappointed' at PL's failure to agree funding deal

The bill includes backstop powers on such financial distribution. This means “if the leagues fail to agree on a new deal on financial distributions, then the backstop can be triggered to ensure a settlement is reached”.

New owners and directors will also face “stronger tests to stop clubs falling into the wrong hands”. They could be removed and prevented from owning football clubs if deemed unsuitable, and follows the financial mismanagement at Bury and Macclesfield.

GO DEEPER

Bury, Macclesfield, Derby and whether a regulator would have saved crisis clubs

The legislation will also “give fans a greater voice in the running of their clubs” to stop owners from changing club names, badges and home shirts. Fan engagement is cited as “central” to the bill, with a number of clubs already having launched fan advisory boards since the fan-led review.

What has the Premier League said?

While the Premier League acknowledged the need for sustainability, it expressed “concern” about the bill negatively impacting the competitiveness of English football.

 

A Premier League statement read: “The government has consistently stated that it wishes to support the Premier League’s continued global success which generates funding to help sustain the entire football pyramid. With our clubs, we have advocated for a proportionate regime that enables us to build on our position as the most widely watched league in the world.

“Mindful that the future growth of the Premier League is not guaranteed, we remain concerned about any unintended consequences of legislation that could weaken the competitiveness and appeal of English football.”

What has the EFL said?

The EFL welcomed the bill, with chair Rick Parry describing his hope that this will be “an important milestone to help us secure the long-term financial sustainability of England’s football pyramid”.

“If delivered on the right terms,” Parry said in a statement, “this landmark legislation can help fix the game’s broken financial model by offering the independent input ultimately needed to help ensure that all Clubs can survive and thrive in a fair and competitive environment.”

‘A remarkable moment for a sport that has resisted external oversight’

Analysis from The Athletic’s Matt Slater

Almost three years have passed since the Premier League’s six richest clubs announced they wanted to play in a European Super League that would entrench their positions at the top of the pile and dramatically hit the finances of domestic leagues across the continent.

It was an act of greed and stupidity that convinced Prime Minister Boris Johnson that there might be some votes in standing up for football’s lower and middle-classes.

We are in the last few months of the government run by the guy (Rishi Sunak) who replaced the woman (Liz Truss) who replaced Johnson but, for fans of good governance and clubs in the English Football League, the wait has been worth it.

Confirmation, at last, that Sunak’s government will introduce the football governance bill outlined by the fan-led review Johnson commissioned in 2021, means the English game is going to get an independent regulator.

It is a remarkable moment for a sport that has defiantly resisted external oversight for so long, at times striding from success to success, at others lurching from crisis to crisis. The Premier League, in particular, has been so opposed to interference that it broke away from the English Football League in 1992 and has spent the last three decades largely ignoring the game’s governing body, the Football Association.

GO DEEPER

How did the Premier League change English football?

Whether the as-yet-unformed independent regulator for football will do any better than the FA in keeping the Premier League’s more selfish moments in check, while encouraging its noble instincts for self-improvement and excellence, remains to be seen.

But the FA never had a head start or suite of powers like the regulator: a robust licensing system, control of the owners’ and directors’ test and, most importantly, “backstop powers” to enforce a fairer financial distribution between the Premier League and EFL if, as they have so amply demonstrated, fail to agree on one themselves.

That last one is the most eye-catching and contentious of the powers — it is also the clearest sign that this represents a defeat for those clubs in the Premier League who thought this government would not have the stomach or time to force them to share more of their enormous media income with the rest of the pyramid. That now looks like a stunning miscalculation.

It probably also represents a victory for the EFL, especially its chairman Rick Parry.

GO DEEPER

Warring clubs, breakaways and teams going out of business – running the EFL is the impossible job

The Premier League’s first chief executive, and an ex-chief executive of one of the “Sneaky Six”, Liverpool, he has fought the good fight for greater financial sustainability throughout the professional game. Parry has not won the bout yet but he is ahead on points going into the final rounds and he now has a friendlier set of judges to impress.

[KEVINAA 54]

 

 

[bluesman2610 1,226]

Welp are they going to get a points deduction and not make it to the PL. 

 

[Vesper 27,317]

Ruben Loftus-Cheek being overlooked for England does not make sense

https://theathletic.com/5358491/2024/03/22/loftus-cheek-england-milan/

“What’s Milan like?” Ruben Loftus-Cheek asked Fikayo Tomori. It was in an international window and when Tomori got the text from his old friend and team-mate, he thought Loftus-Cheek was planning a city break.

The anecdote they shared during pre-season in Los Angeles last summer was revealing for two reasons.

First, it showed the long-standing nature of AC Milan’s interest. Loftus-Cheek’s text to Tomori was sent “early” in the club game’s off-season. So early Tomori didn’t suspect a reunion was on the cards with a player with whom he came through Chelsea’s academy. Second, the timing of their correspondence made it clear neither had been called up by England for their June matches against Malta and North Macedonia.

GO DEEPER

Assessing England’s Euro 2024 midfielders: Who plays alongside Bellingham and Rice?

Both were overlooked again by England last week ahead of the Euros in the summer and while defender Tomori had only returned from injury in the 10 days leading up to the squad being named for friendlies against Brazil tomorrow (Saturday) and Belgium on Tuesday, midfielder Loftus-Cheek’s continued absence came as a surprise in Italy.

Earlier in the season, England manager Gareth Southgate could be excused for waiting and seeing whether the now 28-year-old could back up his immediate impact at Milan — he set up Christian Pulisic’s opener against Torino in the second league game of the season, won a penalty at Roma in the third and scored his first goal, a long-range screamer at Cagliari, in the sixth — but now it is far harder to justify.

Since the turn of the year, Loftus-Cheek has arguably been in the form of his life.

When the award for Serie A’s midfielder of the season is handed out in May, Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Teun Koopmeiners of Atalanta are likely to be the favourites. But Loftus-Cheek has given himself a chance with eight goals in 2024 alone. It’s almost as if there’s a major tournament on the horizon.

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli believes Loftus-Cheek has been exceeding expectations.

“We came up against him in the Champions League last season,” he recalled — Graham Potter, Chelsea’s manager at the time, played Loftus-Cheek as a No 6 in a 3-0 home win at Stamford Bridge in the October. “I looked at him as more of a box-to-box player, but I didn’t see him being such a big player for us in the opposition penalty area with this much quality and physicality.”

He has reminded Pioli of a player he trained during his spell as Lazio coach from 2014 to 2016 — Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who went on to be voted Serie A midfielder of the year for the 2018-19 season, and who that club’s owner, Claudio Lotito, once priced out of a move to Europe’s elite with a valuation in excess of €100million (£85.7m; $109.1m at current exchange rates). The 29-year-old Serbia international, who has been one of the best signings of the Saudi Pro League’s extravagant 2023 summer with league leaders Al Hilal, is silky for his size and was a devastating box-crashing predator throughout his time in Italy.

“The Loftus-Cheek I’ve found is more attacking than I thought,” Pioli elaborated. “He’s fantastic.”

Loftus-Cheek was the first player Milan chose when considering how to spend the money they earned from last season’s run to the Champions League semi-finals and the then looming sale of fellow midfielder Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United.

Their chief executive, Giorgio Furlani, and technical director, Geoffrey Moncada, completely overhauled the midfield and the attack. Pioli had a lot of new players to integrate and it has taken time to strike the right balance, but 40 of the club’s 77 goals this season have been scored by summer 2023 acquisitions — a stark contrast with the five they got a year earlier from the signings made by Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara in the previous off-season, when Milan were champions of Italy.

Fourteen of the 77 goals have come from the bench, the most by substitutes in Europe’s top five leagues and a testament to the depth of attacking options Pioli has at his disposal. Milan have streaked past Juventus in recent weeks into second place in Serie A.

But it’s the starters who have made the biggest impression.

Pulisic has stolen the limelight from the other recruits because of his disproportionate profile and his performances have lived up to it. This is the best season of his career (12 goals), he’s scored in his past four appearances for the club and things could not be going better for him ahead of a home Copa America with the United States this summer. Then there’s Loftus-Cheek. One more goal this season will match his personal best of 10, in the Chelsea side who won the 2018-19 Europa League under Maurizio Sarri.

Since the turn of the year, Pioli has often flipped his midfield triangle. At the start of the season, Rade Krunic played in front of the defence, with Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders pushed up. More recently, the base of Milan’s midfield has changed. Ismael Bennacer’s December return from a long-term knee injury has led Pioli to partner him with either Reijnders or Yacine Adli, moving Loftus-Cheek into a hybrid role behind centre-forward Olivier Giroud.

Call him a No 10, a shadow striker, his runs into the box have been devastating. The goals he scored against Empoli and Udinese in January were practically the same: converting cutbacks from Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao on the left. Milan have also leaned on his aerial prowess on crosses from open play and corners, giving the team a dual threat in the air with him and fellow Chelsea old boy Giroud.

It all raises the question: why doesn’t Southgate select him as an alternative to Jude Bellingham?

Is it because the England manager doesn’t hold Serie A in high regard?

It is a league that had clubs in all three UEFA finals last season and currently tops the UEFA co-efficient table. It is a league that provided Italy with the players who beat his England side in the final of the previous Euros, at Wembley, in 2021 and then made last summer’s Nations League semi-finals at their expense. It can’t be inferior to the Saudi Pro League or the Dutch Eredivisie, where Jordan Henderson, who is in the England squad, has played his football this season.

While it’s understandable Southgate continues to pick Henderson for his leadership and his role as a hard-running screen for England’s plethora of attacking players and it makes sense that 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo got a promotion from his first involvement with the under-21s to be the stand-in for the Ajax captain as he recovers from a weekend knock, it’s hard to know what else Loftus-Cheek has to do to be in the squad. Where’s the meritocracy?

If a dim view is taken of Serie A, Southgate would be advised to watch Loftus-Cheek’s man-of-the-match display in Milan’s 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in November, when he steamrollered the opposition midfield. He has already started 30 games this season and since putting the mild groin strain he sustained against Lazio at the end of September behind him, he has looked in great physical condition.

When the summer comes around, the hope is Loftus-Cheek isn’t texting one of his old team-mates: “What’s Germany like?”

On this form, he deserves to be there.

GO DEEPER

‘Metaprism’, crayon drawings and ‘pearl lacquerware’: Rating Euro 2024 and Copa America kits

[Vesper 27,317]

3 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Ruben Loftus-Cheek being overlooked for England does not make sense

https://theathletic.com/5358491/2024/03/22/loftus-cheek-england-milan/

“What’s Milan like?” Ruben Loftus-Cheek asked Fikayo Tomori. It was in an international window and when Tomori got the text from his old friend and team-mate, he thought Loftus-Cheek was planning a city break.

The anecdote they shared during pre-season in Los Angeles last summer was revealing for two reasons.

First, it showed the long-standing nature of AC Milan’s interest. Loftus-Cheek’s text to Tomori was sent “early” in the club game’s off-season. So early Tomori didn’t suspect a reunion was on the cards with a player with whom he came through Chelsea’s academy. Second, the timing of their correspondence made it clear neither had been called up by England for their June matches against Malta and North Macedonia.

GO DEEPER

Assessing England’s Euro 2024 midfielders: Who plays alongside Bellingham and Rice?

Both were overlooked again by England last week ahead of the Euros in the summer and while defender Tomori had only returned from injury in the 10 days leading up to the squad being named for friendlies against Brazil tomorrow (Saturday) and Belgium on Tuesday, midfielder Loftus-Cheek’s continued absence came as a surprise in Italy.

Earlier in the season, England manager Gareth Southgate could be excused for waiting and seeing whether the now 28-year-old could back up his immediate impact at Milan — he set up Christian Pulisic’s opener against Torino in the second league game of the season, won a penalty at Roma in the third and scored his first goal, a long-range screamer at Cagliari, in the sixth — but now it is far harder to justify.

Since the turn of the year, Loftus-Cheek has arguably been in the form of his life.

When the award for Serie A’s midfielder of the season is handed out in May, Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu and Teun Koopmeiners of Atalanta are likely to be the favourites. But Loftus-Cheek has given himself a chance with eight goals in 2024 alone. It’s almost as if there’s a major tournament on the horizon.

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli believes Loftus-Cheek has been exceeding expectations.

“We came up against him in the Champions League last season,” he recalled — Graham Potter, Chelsea’s manager at the time, played Loftus-Cheek as a No 6 in a 3-0 home win at Stamford Bridge in the October. “I looked at him as more of a box-to-box player, but I didn’t see him being such a big player for us in the opposition penalty area with this much quality and physicality.”

He has reminded Pioli of a player he trained during his spell as Lazio coach from 2014 to 2016 — Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who went on to be voted Serie A midfielder of the year for the 2018-19 season, and who that club’s owner, Claudio Lotito, once priced out of a move to Europe’s elite with a valuation in excess of €100million (£85.7m; $109.1m at current exchange rates). The 29-year-old Serbia international, who has been one of the best signings of the Saudi Pro League’s extravagant 2023 summer with league leaders Al Hilal, is silky for his size and was a devastating box-crashing predator throughout his time in Italy.

“The Loftus-Cheek I’ve found is more attacking than I thought,” Pioli elaborated. “He’s fantastic.”

Loftus-Cheek was the first player Milan chose when considering how to spend the money they earned from last season’s run to the Champions League semi-finals and the then looming sale of fellow midfielder Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United.

Their chief executive, Giorgio Furlani, and technical director, Geoffrey Moncada, completely overhauled the midfield and the attack. Pioli had a lot of new players to integrate and it has taken time to strike the right balance, but 40 of the club’s 77 goals this season have been scored by summer 2023 acquisitions — a stark contrast with the five they got a year earlier from the signings made by Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara in the previous off-season, when Milan were champions of Italy.

Fourteen of the 77 goals have come from the bench, the most by substitutes in Europe’s top five leagues and a testament to the depth of attacking options Pioli has at his disposal. Milan have streaked past Juventus in recent weeks into second place in Serie A.

But it’s the starters who have made the biggest impression.

Pulisic has stolen the limelight from the other recruits because of his disproportionate profile and his performances have lived up to it. This is the best season of his career (12 goals), he’s scored in his past four appearances for the club and things could not be going better for him ahead of a home Copa America with the United States this summer. Then there’s Loftus-Cheek. One more goal this season will match his personal best of 10, in the Chelsea side who won the 2018-19 Europa League under Maurizio Sarri.

Since the turn of the year, Pioli has often flipped his midfield triangle. At the start of the season, Rade Krunic played in front of the defence, with Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders pushed up. More recently, the base of Milan’s midfield has changed. Ismael Bennacer’s December return from a long-term knee injury has led Pioli to partner him with either Reijnders or Yacine Adli, moving Loftus-Cheek into a hybrid role behind centre-forward Olivier Giroud.

Call him a No 10, a shadow striker, his runs into the box have been devastating. The goals he scored against Empoli and Udinese in January were practically the same: converting cutbacks from Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao on the left. Milan have also leaned on his aerial prowess on crosses from open play and corners, giving the team a dual threat in the air with him and fellow Chelsea old boy Giroud.

It all raises the question: why doesn’t Southgate select him as an alternative to Jude Bellingham?

Is it because the England manager doesn’t hold Serie A in high regard?

It is a league that had clubs in all three UEFA finals last season and currently tops the UEFA co-efficient table. It is a league that provided Italy with the players who beat his England side in the final of the previous Euros, at Wembley, in 2021 and then made last summer’s Nations League semi-finals at their expense. It can’t be inferior to the Saudi Pro League or the Dutch Eredivisie, where Jordan Henderson, who is in the England squad, has played his football this season.

While it’s understandable Southgate continues to pick Henderson for his leadership and his role as a hard-running screen for England’s plethora of attacking players and it makes sense that 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo got a promotion from his first involvement with the under-21s to be the stand-in for the Ajax captain as he recovers from a weekend knock, it’s hard to know what else Loftus-Cheek has to do to be in the squad. Where’s the meritocracy?

If a dim view is taken of Serie A, Southgate would be advised to watch Loftus-Cheek’s man-of-the-match display in Milan’s 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in November, when he steamrollered the opposition midfield. He has already started 30 games this season and since putting the mild groin strain he sustained against Lazio at the end of September behind him, he has looked in great physical condition.

When the summer comes around, the hope is Loftus-Cheek isn’t texting one of his old team-mates: “What’s Germany like?”

On this form, he deserves to be there.

GO DEEPER

‘Metaprism’, crayon drawings and ‘pearl lacquerware’: Rating Euro 2024 and Copa America kits

FRAUDGATE OUT

[KEVINAA 54]

MAH/MATISSE ARMANI just uploaded this 27 minute video.

I REVALUED Every Chelsea Signing Made Under Clearlake Capital Ownership!

 

[Vesper 27,317]

Six big issues Gareth Southgate must resolve before Euro 2024

On talent alone England have to be taken seriously at the Euros this summer but there are still major questions to be answered

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/03/25/gareth-southgate-england-problems-euro-2024/

England will be among the favourites come the start of Euro 2024 this summer but defeat to Brazil at Wembley on Saturday did expose some fragilities that Gareth Southgate must look to address. 

Here are six problem areas where England still need to find answers before their first match against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on June 16.

The left-back dilemma

And it is a dilemma. Gareth Southgate talked up Ben Chilwell’s performance against Brazil but, also, described Luke Shaw as “world-class”. Problem is the Manchester United defender may not play again until the end of the season. With squads reduced back to 23 – from 26 – for the Euros, can Southgate afford to take a player who is not fully fit? He has also admitted Shaw is unlikely to be able to play all seven games if England go all the way to the final. The solution may well be to move Kieran Trippier over from the right-side given he will go to the tournament as Kyle Walker’s under-study. That also helps in ensuring there is a place for Trent Alexander-Arnold in the squad, even if he is used in midfield. Southgate may look to Joe Gomez who has played left-back, impressively, for Liverpool. There is no easy answer with Shaw out. But can he risk him?

Harry Maguire re-opens the centre-half debate

The Manchester United defender spoke confidently – and convincingly – about how well he has played for England during tournaments before the Brazil game, even when he has been out of his club side. Maguire’s performances at finals and the statistics back him up… and then he makes a terrible mistake from which Raphinha should have scored. It is the kind of unforced error that if it is repeated in Germany this summer could see England out of the tournament. Who to partner John Stones is a problem especially with Lewis Dunk then being at fault for Brazil’s goal when he came on. It will be Maguire but it is an undeniable issue that he does not face stronger competition for his place. Marc Guehi is injured, Levi Colwill is also absent and Southgate is clearly unconvinced by Fikayo Tomori. Jarrad Branthwaite is uncapped but should feature against Belgium while Southgate was certainly impressed by Ezri Konsa when he came on against Brazil, at right-back, and talked up the importance of his versatility.

Who partners Declan Rice?

Even more pressing an issue than who plays alongside John Stones is who will partner Declan Rice. Conor Gallagher played against Brazil and did alright, Jordan Henderson is expected to feature against Belgium but is struggling and Kalvin Phillips is deservedly out of the squad. It is interesting how frustrated Gareth Southgate is at not being able to give Trent Alexander-Arnold a run of games in midfield. For this one, though, the answer is obvious. There is a specialist in the squad. Although he is only 18 – until next month – and has so far played just 15 minutes for his country, it is already time to trust in Kobbie Mainoo. Put it this way, if a Premier League team was being selected right now on form, who would be picked as Rice’s partner? It would be Mainoo and we know he has the temperament – doing well in a patchy Manchester United team – and ability to thrive in what is now an experienced England side.

The left-side of the attack

It looks like Gareth Southgate is favouring a 4-2-3-1 formation for Germany with three players behind the main striker. We know that Jude Bellingham will play in the middle of those three, as a number 10, and that Bukayo Saka will feature on the right. But on the left? England have an abundance of talent: Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish and now also Anthony Gordon. And yet no-one has nailed down their place. It feels like sacrilege not to include Foden, who has played most of his Premier League minutes on the left but was on the right against Brazil. However, he did not continue his club form at Wembley and was a disappointment. England need to unlock him. Both Rashford and Grealish have had frustrating campaigns and while Gordon did well against Brazil it was only his first cap and can he really be selected ahead of those other three?

The Harry Kane team

For all the talk of how important Jude Bellingham is to England – and he is – they still remain the Harry Kane team. It is undeniable. England are just not the same without their captain and, sadly, so far Ollie Watkins has just not taken his chance to be a convincing deputy. It is all the more disappointing given Watkins’ outstanding form for Aston Villa. And so, against Belgium, Southgate will turn to Ivan Toney and he talked up the Brentford striker’s “swagger” as one of his characteristics. Toney does not lack confidence and is maybe more similar to Kane than Watkins. But, again, it is a big ask for him to come in for his first start and stake a claim. Rashford would be a solution but never looks at home through the middle. Kane is world-class and world-class players are obviously never easy to replace but England are far weaker without him.

Getting the best formation

There is one approach that Southgate has not tried yet and the fact he has not got the players available to make it work – because of injury and maybe also form – means it is currently a non-runner. But indulge me here. Personally, I would like England to go into the tournament in a 4-1-4-1 formation, changing into 3-2-4-1 after kick-off and replicating Manchester City. The key to this is the defence with John Stones stepping forward into midfield. It would need Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw either side of a centre-half, at present Harry Maguire. Maguire’s lack of pace is an obvious problem as he is just not as quick as those City centre-halves. Then I would have Declan Rice in the Rodri role and a four behind Harry Kane. This would be Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden – either more centrally or on the left - and if on the left then James Maddison could play more centrally. If Foden is in the middle then Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford or Anthony Gordon can play left. It also might help give Cole Palmer a chance. But the big flaw in my idea remains that defence.

[KEVINAA 54]

carefreelewisg just started Livestream

BREAKING: LAVIA OUT FOR REST OF SEASON | Could Lukaku RETURN? | Chelsea Pushing For Gallagher Out

Edited March 27 by KEVINAA

[MoroccanBlue 5,199]

Alonso staying at Bayer. 

Amorim the favorite to replace Klopp at Liverpool. 

[Vesper 27,317]

Xabi Alonso to stay at Bayer Leverkusen amid Liverpool interest

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/68692969

Xabi Alonso says he will remain in his role as Bayer Leverkusen manager next season as he believes the club is the "right place" to be as a young coach.

The Spaniard had been heavily linked with the manager's job at Liverpool since Jurgen Klopp said he would stand down at the end of the season.

"I am convinced it is the right decision, I am happy," said Alonso.

Leverkusen are on the brink of a first Bundesliga title and unbeaten in all competitions this season.

Former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, 42, was also seen as a candidate to take over at another of his old clubs Bayern Munich, whose manager Thomas Tuchel will also leave at the end of the campaign.

Alonso said he had informed Leverkusen's directors of his decision to stay at the club last week.

"We have had a lot of speculation regarding my future," he said. "Until now we have had so many games, been pretty busy and focused, and I wanted to reflect during the international break and take a decision.

"The players gave me so many reasons to keep believing in the team - for their commitment, for their desire, for their hunger to have a great season. My job is not over here."

• Balague column: 'Alonso feels time is right to end speculation'

 

Signed from Real Sociedad in 2004, Alonso went on to make 210 appearances for Liverpool and won the Champions League with the club in 2005.

He left in 2009 to join Real Madrid - another team he has recently been linked with - and moved to Bayern five years later before retiring as a player in 2017.

Asked about interest from two of his former clubs, Alonso said: "It wouldn't be correct of me to talk about other clubs when they are in this situation. For sure there are clubs I have a strong link [as] I played there. So I respect them.

"[I have] the conviction I am in the right place at Bayer Leverkusen and I want to keep growing with the club, growing with the players.

"We have speculated enough. I want to enjoy wherever I am and I am enjoying it at Leverkusen."

Alonso moved into coaching with Real Madrid's Under-14 side in 2018 and followed that with three years in charge of Real Sociedad's B team.

In October 2022, Leverkusen gave him his first managerial role in first-team football and, having taken over with the club second from bottom in the Bundesliga, Alonso led them to a sixth-placed finish.

In his first full term in charge this season, Leverkusen are 10 points clear of champions Bayern with eight games remaining.

They are also in the semi-finals of the German Cup and quarter-finals of the Europa League.

 

Klopp 'understands' Alonso decision

Liverpool boss Klopp says he can relate to Alonso's decision to stay at Leverkusen and cited his own experiences as a manager.

"He is doing an incredible job there," said the German. "Leverkusen has a good team and they will probably keep the team together. That's a possibility and not all years it is like that, so I understand that he wants to do that."

Before his move to Liverpool in 2015, Klopp started his managerial career with Mainz before leading Borussia Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012.

"Being at a club in a similar situation [to Alonso], I did pretty much the same and I never regretted it," he said.

There is a chance Liverpool and Leverkusen could meet in the Europa League final in May, in what would be Klopp's final game in charge of the Reds.

Liverpool are set to consider other candidates to replace Klopp, with Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim and Brighton's Roberto de Zerbi reported to be among their main targets.

[nyikolajevics 2,422]

This Kudus guy is so good.. Definetly could have helped us if we were after him last year.

[Vesper 27,317]

36 minutes ago, nyikolajevics said:

This Kudus guy is so good.. Definetly could have helped us if we were after him last year.

I begged to buy him for months

[Vesper 27,317]

Longstaff LOLOL

what a clown

[Vesper 27,317]

NUFC falling apart with injuries in real time

2 subs subbed now

[Vesper 27,317]

and Fabian Schär did his hammy but cannot come off as no more windows

[Vesper 27,317]

ludicrous pen given

[Vesper 27,317]

wow

3 3

what a crazy game