{"id":4102,"date":"2026-05-05T07:44:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T07:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=4102"},"modified":"2026-05-05T07:44:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T07:44:46","slug":"liverpool-tipped-to-appoint-alonso-next-season-by-gary-lineker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=4102","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool tipped to appoint Alonso next season by Gary Lineker"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

The narrative surrounding Anfield has definitively turned negative in recent weeks. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Following a deeply frustrating 3-2 defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Manchester United over the weekend, Liverpool\u2019s 2025\/26 campaign has officially hit another massive speed bump.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL CAUGHTOFFSIDE APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES \u2013 STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON <\/b>APPLE<\/span><\/u><\/b> & <\/b>GOOGLE PLAY<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

That loss marked their 11th Premier League defeat of the season.<\/p>\n

While manager Arne Slot is still expected to keep his job provided he guides the Reds to a top-five finish and secures elite European football, the immense pressure is undeniably starting to mount.<\/p>\n

Legendary striker and pundit Gary Lineker has just thrown gas on the fire, admitting he genuinely wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see the club make a ruthless managerial change by bringing in former midfield maestro Xabi Alonso this summer.<\/p>\n

Arne Slot continues to struggle at Liverpool<\/h2>\n

Just 12 months ago, Slot was viewed as untouchable after brilliantly winning the Premier League title during his debut season in the Anfield dugout. However, this current campaign has been an absolute slog.<\/p>\n

Big-money acquisitions like Florian Wirtz have struggled to find their absolute best form, and a frustrating injury to striker Alexander Isak has severely hampered their attacking flow.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the latest episode of The Rest is Football podcast alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, Lineker didn\u2019t hold back his thoughts on the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould Slot be there next season?\u201d<\/em> Lineker asked Shearer and Richards.<\/p>\n

\u201cEleven defeats in the Premier League, still in the Champions League positions. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Xabi Alonso was there next season.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It is worth noting that Alonso is currently a high-profile free agent, having been out of work since parting ways with Real Madrid in January 2026.<\/p>\n

He was heavily linked to the Liverpool job when Jurgen Klopp initially stepped down, but he opted to stay at Bayer Leverkusen before eventually making his move to Madrid in June 2025.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
More Stories \/ Latest News<\/span><\/header>\n
\n

\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\"Liverpool<\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n

\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\"Manchester<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n

\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\"Arsenal<\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n<\/section>\n

Alonso\u2019s availability could pressure on Slot<\/h2>\n

Currently, Liverpool are incredibly close to mathematically securing their primary objective for the season.<\/p>\n

They need just four more points from their remaining fixtures against Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Brentford to completely guarantee Champions League qualification for next term.<\/p>\n

Slot has undoubtedly earned the right to try and fix this current mess, but the shadow of Alonso will naturally continue to loom large over Anfield.<\/p>\n

If Liverpool stumble poorly through their final three fixtures, the club\u2019s ownership group might just decide that bringing their former Champions League-winning midfielder back home is the perfect way revive the club.<\/p>\n

Van Dijk replacement: Liverpool have two names on shortlist to replace the Dutchman<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The narrative surrounding Anfield has definitively turned negative in recent weeks. Following a deeply frustrating…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}