Martin Skrtel only shared a dressing room with Xabi Alonso for 18 months but he saw enough to know where the midfielder’s career was heading.
The pair were team-mates under Rafael Benitez at Liverpool from January 2008 when Skrtel arrived from Zenit Saint Petersburg until Alonso’s departure to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009.
“You could tell even back then. You thought: ‘He’s the type who will be a manager one day’,” says Skrtel. “When I came to Liverpool, what struck me about Xabi was the way he trained, the way he played, the way he talked, the way he thought about the game. So knowledgeable. A nice guy who absolutely loves football.
“I knew he had started coaching in Spain (at Real Sociedad B) and then I was a bit surprised when he moved to Germany. What he’s done since then has been unbelievable.”
Alonso has taken Bayer Leverkusen from the depths of the Bundesliga to the brink of title glory. Sunday’s 2-0 win over Cologne extended their lead at the top to 10 points with 10 games to go. A record-breaking run of 34 games unbeaten in all competitions has made the former Spain international the most in-demand coach in Europe.
He is the favourite to take over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool this summer but it is far from a straightforward process. They face competition from Bayern Munich, who want Alonso to succeed Thomas Tuchel, who is departing at the end of the season, while Leverkusen are also hoping to convince him to stay for another year.
“He’s doing such a great job. The way they play and how they dominate, even against a team like Bayern, it’s crazy,” Skrtel adds. “We’ve seen how Xabi understands football and how he can get a team ready for each challenge they face. I am so happy for him. He’s still young as a manager but very successful and I hope he continues in this way.”
Martin Skrtel (far right) trains with Xabi Alonso (second left) at Liverpool (Peter Byrne – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
Liverpool’s data-led search for suitable candidates has also thrown up names such as Sporting’s Ruben Amorim and Julian Nagelsmann, who is currently in charge of Germany.
But another element to Alonso’s wider appeal is that he already has a close bond with the club from his five years on Merseyside as a player. He saw first-hand how Benitez was able to harness the power of the Kop during the early years of his reign and the adulation he received in return.
Liverpool fans do not just demand an expect tactician and man-manager but someone who will tap into that emotion and fight their corner at every turn.
“Whether he’s the right man is a question for the owners of Liverpool but there’s no doubt that Xabi has a lot of strengths,” says Skrtel. “He played for Liverpool, he loves the club, he loves the city.
“I think knowing the club so well is really important because it’s not easy to come to Liverpool either as a player or manager. It’s a special place. There’s a lot of pressure to win trophies. Having already been there could be a big advantage for Xabi.”
Xabi Alonso is in demand (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Following Klopp is a daunting proposition but Skrtel believes that feeling will be offset by the calibre of the squad his successor will be inheriting.
Every week feels seismic for Liverpool at the moment, but this one is more important than most. Having negotiated a treacherous trip to Nottingham Forest last weekend courtesy of Darwin Nunez’s injury-time winner, Klopp’s side — still missing a raft of key players — travel to Sparta Prague for Thursday’s Europa League last-16 first leg before facing Premier League title rivals Manchester City at Anfield. That game, in particular, could go a long way to deciding how long Liverpool can maintain their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple.
It would be some way for Klopp to bow out, and Skrtel is still surprised at the German’s decision to depart.
“I was shocked when I heard Jurgen was leaving,” he said. “When I spoke to him on the pre-season tour of Singapore last summer, he was really positive and excited about the changes. It felt like the start of a new era.
“But working for nearly 25 years as a manager is not easy. It’s not just the training and the matches, but everything before and after — the analysis, the meetings, the recruitment. He’s tired and needs a break. We have to respect that and wish him all the best. I hope he comes back to management because football would really miss him.
“Winning the first trophy of the season, the Carabao Cup, felt big for Liverpool because it gives you such a boost and pushes you forward to win more. Hopefully, we can get some more of the injured players back fit. The kids have done so well and there’s a lot of talent coming through.”
Skrtel credits captain Virgil van Dijk with playing a starring role in Liverpool’s resurgence and insists the Dutch defender should be a strong contender for PFA Player of the Year.
“When you lose players like (Jordan) Henderson and (James) Milner, they are always going to be big misses, not only on the pitch but off it too,” he explains. “But Virgil has really stepped up. He’s the leader and the main man. I think the captaincy has helped him. You can see that with his performances. He’s back to his best.
Virgil van Dijk is back to his best (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
“After he had that serious injury, people doubted him but the way he’s played this season has shown he’s got so much left to offer. He’s right up there with the best centre-backs in the world. With the consistency he’s shown, I’d love to see him getting individual trophies as well as lifting collective trophies with the team.”
It’s been a breakthrough season for fellow centre-back Jarell Quansah, who has already clocked up 21 senior appearances this term. The 21-year-old academy graduate has stepped up in the absence of Joel Matip, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in December, and has earned admiration from Skrtel, a fellow member of the centre-halves’ union.
“I watched Jarell train last summer and really liked him,” Skrtel adds. “You don’t need to be worried when you put him into the team alongside either Virgil or (Ibrahima) Konate. He can play, he can compete, he’s already faced some of the toughest strikers around.
“You look at his quality and his confidence at such a young age. I don’t want to say he could play every game, but you could certainly count on him as the third-choice centre-back.
“For him to learn playing next to Virgil is a massive advantage for him. Virgil shows him the way to play and that will really help with the next stage of his career.”
Skrtel, who played 320 games for Liverpool between 2008 and 2016, retired from professional football two years ago due to a persistent back problem, having won league titles in Russia and Turkey.
He is now weighing up whether to move into management himself. He has completed his UEFA A Licence but has yet to embark on the UEFA Pro Licence course.
“I don’t think my head is quite ready for it,” he says. “Being that nervous and stressed as a coach. Being on the side and giving advice, not being able to go on the pitch and change something would piss me off. We’ll see what happens in the future.”
Skrtel with fellow Liverpool legend Lucas Leiva (right) on the club’s far east tour in 2023 (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Skrtel, 39, divides his time between Slovakia’s capital Bratislava and his home city of Trencin, although he has not left playing behind completely. He still turns out in amateur games for FK Hajskala Raztocno in an unlikely No 10 role, having kept a promise to his childhood mates to return and play alongside them once his professional days were over.
“It’s good for the fitness but it’s not easy getting out of bed the morning after. In fact, it takes me about three days to recover,” he laughs. “But in my head I still want to do it. I just love playing. In the first half of the season I played seven or eight games and scored two or three goals. I scored more last season but now we’ve got some younger players and they don’t pass me the ball as much!”
Skrtel will be back at Anfield later this month for the LFC Legends’ clash with Ajax Legends on Saturday, March 23, reuniting with the likes of Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel and Daniel Agger.
More than 50,000 tickets have already been sold for the annual fundraiser in aid of the LFC Foundation which, over the past year, has helped over 120,000 people with community projects tackling a range of social issues.
“I have two faces these days,” adds Skrtel. “Centre-back for the legends and attacker in Sunday league.
“It’s always so special to go back to Anfield as a former player, see the guys, see the fans and be part of a great occasion. But what’s behind this game is even bigger than that because the work of the Foundation changes people’s lives.”
(Top photo: Oliver Hardt/Getty Images)
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