Xabi Alonso wins first title as Real Madrid youth coach

Steven Gerrard appears to have competition for the job of future Liverpool manager

Former Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has won his very first trophy in his inaugural season as a manager, leading the Real Madrid under-13s (stop laughing) to a league title. It was a convincing championship too, as Infantil A beat Adarve away on Wednesday to win the Division de Honor Juvenil with three games to go (seriously, stop), sparking widespread celebrations on the streets of Madrid*. "It is my first season and it has been very positive," Alonso said. "The stars of this is them [the team]. The ones that deserve it is them. They're only 13 years old, but they're doing things that older players do. That's what it's all about." "They're the ones that are on the pitch and fight, play, know how to suffer, and have made us enjoy it very much," he added. Joking aside, it always felt likely that Alonso - one of the finest passers and most tactically and positionally astute midfielders of the last decade - would turn to management. And, you know, be quite good at it. The man can pull off a thick ginger beard for christ sake if that's not a sign of greatness in any field then I don't know what is. There's also the fact that he was a serial winner in his playing career, with a World Cup, a European Championship, two Champions Leagues, an FA Cup, three Bundesliga, one La Liga and two Copa del Rey titles to his name. Obviously, it is still an under-13s team, but will that stop Liverpool supporters pining for him, possibly as Steven Gerrard's assistant manager once the Jürgen Klopp era is over? No, no it will not. And I'll be completely honest, I'd very much like to see it happen too.     *not actually