It’s three weeks since Jurgen Klopp delivered his bombshell resignation speech and the question won’t go away.
It’s not whether Liverpool will win the League, the Carabao Cup or an unlikely Quadruple: it’s who will succeed him.
For Scousers of a Red persuasion, it’s far more important than who will be the next prime minister, and for Catholics, the next Pope.
For this post is treated with even more reverence: this is the man who dictates the mood music of millions for the foreseeable future.
It can be the difference between a warm sense of well-being and a debilitating angst; between going home with a smile on your face or kicking the cat. And it goes well beyond the river Mersey.
The feel-good factor and relationships of a global diaspora will depend on Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), getting this right.
A dud like Roy Hodgson could send them to despair – and he did.
Brendan Rogers gave them false hopes, but Klopp delivered them to the Promised Land: and they’re still in the vicinity.
The German will be a nigh on impossible act to follow and the divine touch has yet to be discerned among the possible successors.
Indeed, any list of names suggests the cupboard is alarmingly bare of proven candidates.
Klopp and Pep Guardiola seem head and shoulders above the rest in being both astute man managers as well as tactical masterminds, with Carlo Ancelotti third on the podium.
Neither Pep nor Carlo would think about it given their current/previous clubs.
Names don’t come bigger than Zinedine Zidane who has often been linked with Manchester United.
But his lofty persona and lack of affinity with things English – even the language – wouldn’t work with hands-on American owners at what it still claims is a people’s club.
Tommy Tuchel was once thought of as part of a Big Three when he won the Champions League with Chelsea, but his star is waning with Bayern.
Ditto Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea after such an impressive stint at Spurs.
There are, of course, several up-and-coming managers but Steven Gerrard isn’t one of them.
The former skipper and full-blown playing legend has just renewed his contract in Saudi Arabia but it’s doubtful if he even bothered to insert a release clause in case his dream job came up.
The timing would have been ideal had his managerial career run to his expectations.
If it had been him that took Aston Villa from the relegation zone into Europe and top 4 contention and not Unai Emery, he might well be flying to Boston to meet up with John Henry right now.
Alas for Gerrard, it was he that took Villa INTO the relegation zone.
Nope, he didn’t cut it as a manager of his first big EPL club after a decent – but not convincing – job at Rangers.
Meanwhile, Emery has shown himself to be one of the best in the business and could be a dark horse for Anfield. So could Ange Postecoglou.
Others are Roberto de Zerbi at Brighton, Ruben Amorim at Sporting Lisbon but, by far the most talked about, is Xavi Alonso.
Already odds-on for the job before Klopp made his announcement, the Bayer-Leverkusen boss has the advantage of being a former player.
Not just any player but an astute, thinking man’s midfielder and a Champions League winner.
Since then, he played for Real Madrid, cut his managerial teeth at Real Sociedad B and then has become a revelation at Bayer Leverkusen.
Taking over when they were in the drop zone, he has turned them into title contenders while hardly denting the piggy-bank.
This is essentially a factory team in a small town that became known as ‘Bayer-Neverkusen’ after always missing out on the top prizes.
But Alonso has changed that, turned them into title contenders and plays an attractive style too.
He speaks decent English and is wanted by most fans. He should be a shoo-in but FSG are, as is their wont, taking their time.
They’ve been looking for the right man since November when Klopp first told them he wanted a break – and studying the data.
They will learn a lot about how good teams are at set-pieces, pressing and what they have for breakfast on matchdays.
But not even ChatGPT will be able to tell them about their target’s personality, suitability and whether he is actually up to the task.
And Alonso would not be a like-for-like replacement for Klopp. He is quieter as are his teams.
Instead of lightning transitions, his are more laboured; instead of heavy-metal football, his are soft-metal.
Short passes are preferred to long and instead of chaos, he likes control. Bayer Leverkusen made the fewest long passes in the Bundesliga last season.
Whether this would suit the current crop of Klopp players is open to debate, but he is said to adapt to the players at his disposal.
If FSG still have doubts, they could do what many clubs do in this situation and opt for the existing No.2 – in this case Pep Ljinders.
And, of course, they will be getting Klopp’s opinion on the Dutchman.
He knows the players, the club and how FSG work which is why he’s still in the betting.
And Liverpool have taken this option before: it was when Bill Shankly left suddenly and the club went on to even greater things under Bob Paisley.
It could even be that Alonso has already got the job but it’s not being announced because it might derail Leverkusen’s title run-in.
Despite appearances to the contrary, such gentleman’s agreements do still happen in football.
But for their part, Liverpool will want to announce a new appointment before the season ends.
Uncertainty is bad for business, and, above all else, FSG is a business.
Whoever it is, Liverpool fans can trust them not to do what Manchester United did when Fergie left.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.