Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso shared Liverpool’s midfield for five seasons. Alonso reinvented the holding midfield role and formed a fruitful partnership with Gerrard, his friend and teammate.
Their biggest night came in Istanbul on May 25, 2005. Gerrard scored Liverpool’s first goal against AC Milan to start the comeback from 3-0 down, and Alonso equalised from the rebound after his own penalty was saved. Liverpool won the final on penalties.
The pair later became a trio with Javier Mascherano. Gerrard formed a potent midfield with Alonso and Mascherano in 2008-09. Liverpool finished second that season with 86 points.
Alonso made 210 appearances and scored 19 goals before joining Real Madrid in 2009. Both men later moved into management, and their names came up together again in 2024.
Gerrard has now said Alonso was his favourite to succeed Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, according to The Overlap Daily.
Klopp announced on January 26, 2024 that he would leave at the end of the season. Alonso, then in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, became the bookmakers’ favourite to replace him.
He announced in March 2024 that he would stay at Leverkusen.
Asked whether he has spoken to the 44-year-old since he became Chelsea manager, Gerrard said: “A couple of times on messages, but not in terms of a call or face-to-face, but I’ll bump into him. I’m sure I will, covering the games.”
Gerrard continued: “I wanted him to come to Liverpool. At the time it was him or Slot, wasn’t it? I mean, Slot done great winning the league in the first year, but I was wanting Xabi.”
He was also asked whether he would have joined Alonso’s staff if the Spaniard had become Liverpool manager in 2024.
“Would I have loved that? Yes, but I think Xabi’s got his group that he had at Leverkusen,” Gerrard said.
He added: “It would have been fascinating to see him at Liverpool, but I’m really fascinated to see how he does at Chelsea.”
Alonso guided Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double in 2023/24. He left Real Madrid by mutual agreement on January 12, 2026, after less than eight months in charge.
Alonso won his first two matches in charge, then went three without a win. That run included a 3-0 defeat at Brentford before the international break.
Chelsea beat Bournemouth 5-1 at Stamford Bridge last weekend, with former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson scoring twice. They travel to Everton in Matchweek 7.
Gerrard expects to see Alonso in person soon, as his punditry work will take him to Chelsea games.
Support DaveOCKOP and enjoy the site completely ad-free. You’ll get an uninterrupted browsing experience while helping us continue to deliver the latest Liverpool news, breaking stories and exclusives. Go ad-free today.