Xabi Alonso exuded class as a Liverpool player in the mid to late 2000s, and he’s now doing the very same as manager of Bayer Leverkusen.
The 42-year-old is back at Anfield as the Bundesliga title holders meet his former club in the Champions League tonight, with the Spaniard set to receive a rapturous welcome from the Merseyside faithful.
Our former midfielder addressed the media at his pre-match press conference on Monday night, and one gesture that he made after the cameras stopped rolling showed the true mark of the man.
As highlighted by Theo Squires for the Liverpool Echo, once the media formalities concluded, Alonso took the time to approach the local press pack and shake the hands of every journalist present, many of whom he’d recognised from his days as a Reds player.
It was a gesture that the reporters greatly appreciated, having waited at Anfield for four hours between the end of Arne Slot’s press conference and the beginning of the Leverkusen manager’s duties.
Squires added of the former Spain midfielder: “Alonso tread the line carefully between feeding the Liverpool nostalgia narrative and respecting his Leverkusen present. Oozing class as a player, he is just the same as a manager.”
In a parallel universe, Alonso could’ve been addressing the Liverpool press pack as a matter of routine, having been touted as an early frontrunner for the Anfield manager’s job after Jurgen Klopp announced his departure from the club earlier this year.
It’s since come to light (via The Times) that, despite the abundance of speculation during the spring, the 42-year-old had never actually been approached by his former club about stepping into the Reds’ hotseat before the eventual appointment of Slot.
Nonetheless, his success on Merseyside as a world-class footballer in his playing heyday ensured that he continues to be adored by LFC fans, especially those who remember his exploits in L4 during the 2000s.
Aside from his gifts as a player and soaring reputation as a manager, Alonso showed with his gesture after the Monday night press conference that he also possesses so much class as a person, which is perhaps the most important trait of all.
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