Bolo Zenden believes that Xabi Alonso needs to do more to give himself a chance of taking over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Zenden played with Alonso when they were both at Liverpool, and Alonso went on to enjoy success at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
After retirement, the Spaniard went on to take over as Bayer Leverkusen manager, and after a little more than a season, the German side are one of the title contenders in the Bundesliga this season.
However, speaking to TG Casino, Zenden said that Alonso would have to keep up that impressive performance for a while longer if he wants to be considered as Klopp’s replacement.
He said: “I played with Xabi at Liverpool, and I can understand why people are saying he could be the solution when Klopp leaves. I think Jurgen is doing a great job at the moment and he's here to stay for many more years. There's no doubt that Alonso is doing great things at Bayern Leverkusen - who aren't a small team!
“To be able to compete with the likes of Dortmund and Bayern isn't easy, but he's doing really well and he has a certain style of play and his own ideas of how to play.
"He likes to play a possession-based game and create things from there. It's offensive, and it's caught the eye of a lot of people.
"We have to ask if Liverpool is the right fit for him at the moment, but Xabi is in the right place. I don't think moving to Liverpool will happen on the back of one successful year - he has to prove himself over the next few years and keep the momentum going.”