Rivaldo Exclusive: Liverpool is a great option for Xabi Alonso | OneFootball

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Rivaldo in a Betfair Exclusive: Liverpool would be a great option for Xabi Alonso

Betfair Ambassador and World Cup winner Rivaldo believes Xabi Alonso would be a great fit for Liverpool if he leaves Real Madrid, as well as having his say on Scotland v Brazil at next Summer's World Cup...

Liverpool is a great option for Xabi Alonso if he leaves Real Madrid

I hope Xabi Alonso stays at Real Madrid. He's a great manager and did an excellent job in Germany. But if he leaves, going to Liverpool is a great option. He knows the club, he played there. That makes things easier. You leave one big club for another big one.

However, to be in a club as a player is one thing, as a coach is another. He's already shown he can be a great coach. There will always be pressure, he had it as a player and will have it as a manager. But he'll have structure and good players, so there's no reason to worry. He just needs to work with different personalities.

Overall, I hope he stays at Real Madrid and proves his quality. For that, he needs to bring the group on his side.

The environment isn't good at Real Madrid

Something is happening between the players and the coach at Real Madrid. Alonso needs authority, but he also needs to be friends with the players, especially the stars: Vinicius Junior and Mbappé to name two. He needs to bring them close. When he tries to be too authoritarian, players get upset.

No one wants to lose on purpose, but the environment gets bad. You can see the environment at Real Madrid is not good. He needs to bring those big players back to his side. Guardiola has always done that very well. That's what Xabi Alonso is missing: getting the key players close. Not fighting over small things, not substituting players all the time.

When the environment is bad that's when rumours appear around players wanting to leave, like Vinicius. Not because of Real Madrid, but the environment. I think there's a lack of dialogue.

I can see Brazil struggling early on against Scotland

Scotland are an opponent I know very well. I played against them in the '98 World Cup. At the start of the match, it might be a struggle, but they don't have the same tradition as Brazil. Of course, we need to respect all national teams, but Brazil is Brazil. We need to impose ourselves and win.

Scotland came into the World Cup with confidence, trying to make history, trying to beat Brazil, and it can happen. But as a Brazilian, I believe we're strong in the group stage and will get through easily, always respecting the opponents of course.