Liverpool fans were hoping to see a former player take over at Anfield this summer, with Xabi Alonso many people’s favourite to replace Arne Slot.
However, supporters were left disappointed as not only did Alonso slip through the net, but he joined rivals Chelsea instead.
Interestingly, after Alvaro Arbeloa was appointed at Fulham on Tuesday, the two former Liverpool players will meet on the opening weekend of the Premier League season in August for their first ever matches as managers in the English top flight.
Be honest, are you upset it’s Iraola and not Xabi Alonso? 👀
Sounds like Liverpool were always leaning towards the Bournemouth boss…
That meeting should have a little added spice after Arbeloa replaced Alonso as Real Madrid manager in January. It got us thinking, though, which other former Liverpool stars have taken charge of clubs in the Premier League? As it turns out, Alonso and Arbeloa will be numbers seven and eight.
Three former players have managed Liverpool
Had Alonso been installed at Liverpool, not Chelsea, the 44-year-old would have become the fourth former Red to move into the dugout during the Premier League era.
The first was Graeme Souness, who, after representing Liverpool for six brilliant years during the 1980s, took over as manager in 1991.
The Scotsman led the Reds into the new Premier League, and lasted until 1994, having taken Liverpool into a downward spiral and alienated many people at the club, fans and players alike.
READ MORE: The job Arne Slot is now expected to take after leaving Liverpool, ‘I think it’s going to happen’
Souness was replaced by Roy Evans, who was a former player of much less repute after playing only nine times for the Reds during his playing career. He ended up doing a better job than Souness, nevertheless, lasting four-and-a-half years in sole charge of Liverpool, managing 244 matches during that time.
A League Cup win in 1995 was a proud moment for the Scouser, but Gerard Houllier’s bizarre appointment as joint manager in 1998 spelled the end for Evans, and he ultimately left, leaving Houllier in charge in 1998.
Easily the most successful former Liverpool player to manage in the Premier League took charge of the Reds while it was still the old First Division, before pivoting back during the modern-day era.
That man is of course Sir Kenny Dalglish, who led Blackburn Rovers to the title in 1995, sealing the championship at Anfield on the final day of the season.
That was ‘King Kenny’s’ fourth crown in English football, after winning three First Division titles with Liverpool. He went on to manage Newcastle in the late-90s, before a sensational return to Anfield in 2011 saw him win the League Cup and reach the FA Cup final.
Three more former Reds have managed other clubs
Along with those to have managed at Liverpool, three more former players, all at differing ends of the spectrum in terms of Anfield careers, have taken charge at other Premier League clubs.
The first was Paul Ince, the former captain who briefly took over at Blackburn in 2008.
Ince made history as the first black manager in the Premier League, but only lasted until December, marking his only stint in the top division as a particularly short one.
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Mauricio Pellegrino fared no better at Southampton in 2017. Pellegrino played only 13 times during six months at Liverpool in 2005, and he lasted just three months longer with Saints, being dismissed in March 2018 after 35 matches in charge.
Steven Gerrard, recently voted as Liverpool’s greatest ever player, had a similarly short-lived spell at Aston Villa in 2021.
Appointed in November on the back of a Scottish Premiership title-winning stint at Rangers, there had been high expectations for Gerrard, but he ultimately lasted only 40 matches with Villa, and was sacked in October 2022.
As they look to follow in the footsteps of those former Reds before them, Alonso and Arbeloa will be hoping for far better.
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