Bit unfair to use Alonso. He was one of the very best midfielders/players to play in probably the 3 best leagues in the world.Where you are from, where you have played and coached matters massively when getting an opportunity. Look at Alonso's career prior to Leverkusen- he coached Sociedad's B team to relegation from the second division. How miraculous was Alonso success to deserve a Bundesliga shot?
He was and is regarded as an intelligent, tactically astute professional. I'd say he's been watched by everyone since he hung his boots up.
But, for the sake of debate, he was still about 39 when he took over Sociedad B, he got them promoted to the 2nd tier for the first time since 1962.
He went to Leverkausen who are the Spurs of Germany and turned them into arguably the best team in Europe last season. 1 game away from an unbeaten treble is absolutely insane.
He will be huge in football. He could possibly eclipse Pep.
If I was comparing Ange to someone, it would be more like a Wenger or a Fergie. Fergie won a league title with Aberdeen. That alone was huge enough to get the gig at United, but that wasn't the juggernaut United don't forget. He built that. He was 45 when he got that job.
Wenger, well, we all know. The less said the better. But he was 47 and had shown signs he was changing football to a more modern game on and off the pitch.
Ange was 55ish before anyone outside of Australia/Japan. And it was Celtic. And they were ridiculed for it. The fact he hadn't even done his Uefa licences by that time tells me even he wasn't expecting a call from Europe.