It is the day that all Liverpool fans knew would eventually come.
Jürgen Klopp will not be in Liverpool's dugout at the start of next season. Instead, it will be someone else.
But who?
Just like when Alex Ferguson left Manchester United and Arsene Wenger left Arsenal, Klopp will be a difficult coach to follow. His legacy is set in stone, having led Liverpool to domestic and European success and forming one of the greatest groups of players the club has ever had. Good luck to whoever is next.
With Liverpool understandably keen to begin the recruitment process, The Athletic examined some of the potential options available to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) as it decides who will lead a new era at Anfield.
Xabi Alonso
A former Liverpool midfielder returns as heir apparent. It's a shame Steven Gerrard has just signed a new contract at Al Ettifaq, isn't it?
But it is Xabi Alonso who has recently emerged as a much clearer candidate for a move to Anfield – and the work he is doing at Bayer Leverkusen is proof of that.
When he started in October 2022, it wasn't an easy first season for Alonso. But over time, his tactical and coaching methods prevailed and he molded a team in his own image. The Spaniard draws on insights from a career that saw him play under a number of elite managers – including Rafa Benitez, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.
After 18 games, his team is undefeated at the top of the Bundesliga – and is four points ahead of second-placed Bayern Munich. They play an exciting, possession-dominated and intense style of football in a 3-4-2-1 system. His team can also be pragmatic when needed, if not quite the “heavy metal” football that Liverpool played at times under Klopp.
(Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)
Alonso has established a winning mentality and fighting spirit at Leverkusen that is similar to what Klopp built at Liverpool. He is a first-in-last-out character, often pondering tactical details for hours. Alonso is not quite the showman that Klopp is as he focuses solely on football and not other departments at the club.
Alonso has achieved top performance as a player and also appears to be more than capable as a coach.
Andy Jones
Roberto De Zerbi
The Brighton & Hove Albion manager joined the Premier League at Anfield in October 2022 and his side took a 2-0 lead after a dominant first 30 minutes.
It was the first glimpse of what is now common knowledge: the Italian is an innovative, detailed coach who has turned Brighton into one of the Premier League's most fascinating teams.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed De Zerbi has changed English football; A pretty big compliment from one of the greatest managers of all time.
(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
De Zerbi wants his players to be protagonists on the pitch and that requires a team that dominates possession. He wants his team to build from the back and create space to get the ball to the attacking players.
At best, it was a game against the best teams in the division. He is tactically flexible and willing to change his setup, system and approach throughout the game to gain advantage and control.
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He imposed his style on a team that fully accepted his methods. His exuberance on the touchline is a testament to his passion and should go down well with Liverpool fans.
With access to greater resources than Brighton can offer and a higher quality squad, it would be interesting to see how good a Liverpool team coached using De Zerbi's methods could be.
Andy Jones
Michel
Given Klopp's transformative impact on the club, it makes sense to look to Girona for inspiration for the next managerial miracle worker.
Michel has been on a trip with the La Liga leaders, taking over a side still reeling from a second consecutive play-off final defeat at the start of the 2021/22 season. In the two and a half years since, Michel has taken over Girona and ensured their security before embarking on a hard-to-believe title challenge with Real Madrid this season.
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Michel's style is based on inventive movements and courage in possession to tear the opponent apart. On an early-season trip to Sevilla, the coach was caught demanding his players take “at least two touches of the ball” and play “street football” in the face of an aggressive press, insisting on personality to cope with the pressure .
This philosophy is reflected in the numbers: only Las Palmas have completed more passes in their own half this season, while Girona have the lowest direct speed of all La Liga teams, indicating a patient and considered build-up of play.
(Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
His tactics are adaptable and creative, exemplified by Miguel Gutierrez's changing roles throughout the season; From a left-back he became a central midfielder, from a winger he became No. 8 in the penalty area. Michel's character is intense and obsessive, a Guardiola-like communicator from the sidelines.
A move to Liverpool would mean a stylistic shake-up and a major step forward for a budding young coach. On the other hand, it's nothing Michel hasn't mastered before.
Tom Harris
Simone Inzaghi
Liverpool since the start of the 2021-22 season: Champions League finalist, FA Cup winner, League Cup winner, Community Shield winner. They failed to dethrone Manchester City but were consistently excellent in knockout competitions.
Inter Milan under Simone Inzaghi since the start of the 2021-22 season: Champions League finalist, two-time Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) winner, three-time Supercoppa (Italian Super Cup) winner.
Rarely is a head coach with such a trophy cabinet available, but such is the notorious instability at Inter – and Serie A more broadly – that his contract has not been extended beyond the summer of 2025.
(Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
The sticky part is tactical. Inzaghi always plays a 3-5-2 – as in his previous job at Lazio – but his Inter side have become increasingly adaptable. They rank first in Serie A this season when it comes to high turnovers, more than 10 passing sequences and sequences ending with a shot or touch in the opponent's penalty area. In direct attacks – a substitute for counterattacks – they are second in line.
This style and shape could suit Liverpool's player profiles, particularly a full-back role for Andy Robertson on the left. It could provide enough support in midfield and defense to push Trent Alexander-Arnold inside on a permanent basis. That means swapping full-backs for wingers, but Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez look equally threatening at number 9 and Liverpool could still be tactically flexible.
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Liam Tharme
Unai Emery
Unai Emery's return to the Premier League was unfairly ridiculed during his time at Arsenal and was an emphatic story of redemption.
He turned a desperate, struggling Aston Villa side into title and Champions League qualification challengers in less than 12 months.
Emery's credentials are hard to question, particularly in Europe, where his expertise led Sevilla to three straight Europa League titles between 2013 and 2016 and most recently with Villarreal in the 2020-21 season.
The 52-year-old is a workaholic and has a lot of control at Villa to surround himself with people he trusts and works with, such as sporting director Monchi. That's something Liverpool will have to take into account, considering Klopp's coaching staff and interim sporting director Jörg Schmadtke are also departing.
(Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Emery is highly regarded in coaching circles. He has improved players collectively and individually, adhering to a set of core principles and a tactical framework that can be adjusted depending on the opponent and the state of the game.
He prefers a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 system and wants his team to play fluid, attacking football with constant movements and combinations.
When out of possession, his team adopts a 4-4-2 shape, and his team presses and employs a high defensive line, which makes them extremely successful at catching opponents offside. This season they provoked 106 offside calls, more than any other team in Europe's top five leagues.
How much debate has there been about Liverpool's defensive line over the years? It's something that would certainly continue under Emery.
Andy Jones
Thomas Frank
When it comes to replacements closer to home, Thomas Frank could be a smart (and fairly realistic) target to minimize the potential impact of major tactical changes.
The Dane has fueled Brentford's impressive promotion to the Premier League with minimal fuss, with two mid-table finishes and some notable wins along the way. Only Brighton (40) have scored more points against the “Big Six” since their promotion; Brentford have beaten Manchester City twice, Chelsea three times and Manchester United by four goals to nil.
Frank is tactically flexible and adapts his aggressive possession philosophy to exploit his opponents' weaknesses. Brentford's pressing figures are 'best of all others' and have ranked eighth in terms of passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA) since their promotion, reflecting their desire to assert themselves despite their recent promotion to the top flight.
(Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Brentford's usual 4-3-3 shape will also be familiar on Merseyside, with the inverted wingers giving the full-backs freedom to advance. Additionally, Bryan Mbeumo has thrived in a Salah-like role under Frank, while his preferred 3-5-2 against the division's bigger teams makes Alexander-Arnold's reversed role in possession a familiar concept. It's no wonder the 50-year-old has admirers at Anfield.
Things have been tougher for Brentford this season, losing both Ivan Toney and Mbuemo for large parts of a hard-fought third season in the top flight. But Frank has done well as always and feels extremely poachable for a club the size of Liverpool.
Tom Harris
Julian Nagelsmann
Nagelsmann, 30, considered one of the brightest young coaches in the game, prepared for Hoffenheim's clash with Liverpool in the 2017/18 Champions League qualifier by playing down the impact of the atmosphere at Anfield before the game.
When he left Merseyside he knew all about it. Liverpool won 4-2 but were 3-0 up after 21 minutes, Hoffenheim were stunned (and Nagelsmann left the team scratching his head in the dugout).
He would probably find it much more commendable if he attended a press conference after being announced as Liverpool's new manager.
For some time, Nagelsmann felt like Klopp's natural successor. But after stints at RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich and the German national team, he is no longer quite as popular as he was when he entered the coaching scene.
(Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Nagelsmann is an innovative manager who inculcates specific principles and structures in the players and optimizes them depending on the opponent. He often makes creative tactical changes in the game, often switching between a back three and a back four. However, this approach worked against him at Bayern Munich, where his micromanagement and messages to players became overly complicated at times.
Nagelsmann's idol is Pep Guardiola, so it's no surprise that many of his ideas try to emulate the Spaniard. He wants his team to build from the back and rely on possession, while pressing high when they lose the ball.
Klopp praised Nagelsmann upon his appointment as Germany coach, describing him as a “great coach”. However, he is not the man Liverpool coach Klopp is and Nagelsmann would be under pressure to show he can handle managing a big club after his unhappy time at Bayern.
Andy Jones
Ange Postecoglou
That would be a tricky one, buddy.
The former Celtic manager has only been at Tottenham Hotspur for eight months but has rightly received high praise for the work he has done. Both Spurs' playing style and mentality have been completely overhauled – all in the same season in which they lost their talisman Harry Kane to Bayern.
Nevertheless, Postecoglou grew up as a Liverpool fan in Australia. He spent his childhood staying up late with his father – whose favorite player was Kenny Dalglish – watching them.
The 58-year-old has breathed new life into a Tottenham side that seemed far from it last season. His use of inverted full-backs to create overloads in central areas in his 4-3-3 system appears to be an approach that could be replicated at Liverpool, and his possession-based style results in plenty of attacking flair.
(Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
One of the biggest compliments for Postecoglou was that the team's style has not changed despite the numerous injuries and suspensions he has had to contend with. He believes so, and even when the circumstances are against them – such as when they go down to nine players against Chelsea – they remain determined to go their own way.
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Had Klopp's departure taken place 12 months later, a move for Postecoglou would certainly have been plausible, as he rarely stayed in a job for more than two or three years. However, he would like to manage the club one day, so Dalglish may be required for a visit to London.
Andy Jones
(Top photos: Getty)