CAN XABI ALONSO end the era of Bayer Neverkusen?
Leverkusen have never won the Bundesliga, but have finished runners-up on five separate occasions. In 2002 they became the first side to reach the Champions League final without ever having won their domestic league… and they lost that too, to Real Madrid. That was a particularly anguished season, given they finished second in the league and lost the final of the German Cup.
But victory at home to Bayern Munich this evening can go a long way to ditching the club’s bridesmaid status. Leverkusen currently lead the Bundesliga by two points, ahead of Bayern in second.
That Leverkusen are in this position is remarkable and is the early proof that Alonso is turning out to be the coach we thought he might be.
Alonso was a delightfully intelligent midfielder in his own right, and was in a position to absorb ideas from the most significant coaches of their generation: Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafael Benitez, and Vicente del Bosque.
It’s an enviably diverse education, working with both some of the great ideologues and improvisers of the modern game: men who preached tiki-taka and men who served up its opposite, from juega de posicion to Shit on a Stick.
So it’s perhaps unsurprising that Alonso has shown an adaptability and pragmatism during his time at Leverkusen. He began coaching at Real Sociedad B and picked Leverkusen carefully, having turned down an earlier opportunity to coach Borussia Monchengladbach.
When Alonso arrived last season, Leverkusen were in a relegation battle. They had lost five of their opening eight games – winning only once – conceding an average of two goals a game. Alonso steeled the defence and turned them into a superbly effective counter-attacking team, eventually rising to finish sixth in the Bundesliga.
The defensive improvement has been a feat of pure coaching. Of their current first choice XI, the goalkeeper, back three and right wing-back were all at the club before Alonso arrived.
This season has brought evolution, with the team becoming more possession-oriented and less reliant on counter-attacking. It has been hugely successful. Leverkusen are on a 30-game unbeaten run – two away from equalling the all-time Bundesliga record – and have the league’s best defence. It is undergirded by a prolific summer in the transfer market.
Moussa Diaby was sold to Aston Villa for €60 million, money with which Leverkusen signed Granit Xhaka from Arsenal, Jonas Hofmann from ‘Gladbach, Nathan Tella from Southampton and, crucially, striker Victor Boniface from Union Saint-Gilloise. Their greatest heist of all was landing Brazilian Alejandro Grimaldo on a free transfer from Benfica.
Grimaldo has seven goals and nine assists so far this season, playing at left wing-back. Alonso’s opposite number today, Thomas Tuchel, was the last coach to have elite-level success while playing a back three, with Chelsea in the Champions League.
Grimaldo’s numbers are an insight into how Alonso coaches the system, with the wing-backs pushing on to advanced positions and providing a large part of the attacking thrust. Jeremie Frimpong, once of Celtic, provides frightening pace at right wing-back.
Alonso’s use of the system has parallels with Roberto de Zerbi at Brighton: he has pace down the wings – albeit provided by wing-backs rather than wide forwards – with a square of highly technical midfielders shuffling the ball deftly between them, aiming to bait an opposition press so as to create space for their flying wide-men.
Xhaka has been a revelation as part of that midfield, where he plays deep and alongside Argentina’s World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios. Hofmann and the team’s star man, Florian Wirtz, play further forward. Wirtz is a deliciously nimble playmaker, in the mould of Phil Foden and Jamal Musiala. Boniface is an out-and-out number nine, with 10 goals and seven assists in 16 league games so far this season. Alas, he is injured and may be out until April, which is a severe blow. Patrik Schick has deputised to reasonable success this season.
Leverkusen are also a highly effective pressing side: they have scored four times from high turnovers this season, and have had a league-high 42 shots from those turnovers. Put it all together and it’s obvious to see why Alonso is the favourite to be the next Liverpool manager. He has thus far successfully mixed gegenpressing with the kind of advanced, press-baiting DeZerbiball that is emerging as the next grand tactical advance on what Jurgen Klopp had done so successfully at Liverpool.
Alonso also benefits from a quality of Guardiola’s: the marrying of a playing career that demands respect with a deep technical appreciation of the game. As a Leverkusen insider told the Athletic last year of Alonso, “Having a deep theoretical understanding of football and a superstar aura from winning everything as a player is a ridiculously powerful combination for a manager.”
There are, of course, no guarantees Alonso ends up at Anfield next season. Would Real Madrid have surprised everyone – not least the Brazilian FA – in renewing Ancelotti’s contract if they believed Alonso was attainable at the end of this season?
Plus, there are still some things for Alonso still to prove, not least the ability to cut it in the Premier League, which is of a higher standard than the Bundesliga.
But there will be no game this weekend of a higher standard than what’s about to go down at the BayArena. Alonso has hewn something special at Leverkusen, and his next career step can wait.
He is more focused on succeeding Klopp as the man to prevent Bayern Munich from winning the Bundesliga.
On TV: Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich, Sky Sports Football; KO 5.30pm
