Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen: Time needed after inheriting a difficult situation but still tipped for greatness | Football News

The appointment of Xabi Alonso by Bayer Leverkusen is popular. Former teammate Philipp Lahm insists he has all the qualities needed to succeed. Even his old coaches Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho are united in their belief in his abilities.

But others wondered if it was worth the gamble. A coach with no experience in the top flight takes over a team that is still in the Champions League but just one place below the Bundesliga. The first relegation was a huge scare for Leverkusen.

A mixed start only added to the doubters outside the club, but Alonso went on to lead Leverkusen to five consecutive league wins either side of the World Cup. Beat Ferencvaros over two legs and they’ll also be in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

For Simon Rolfes, the club’s long-serving midfielder and sporting director, the seemingly optimistic decision now appears to be an imaginative one. Speaking to him in his office at the BayArena, he insisted that he had to trust his instincts when it came to Alonso.

“It is true that Xabi does not have the experience of being a head coach at this level and also in this situation,” said Rolfes. Sky Sports. “However, for me, it is always important to consider the quality of the head coach and I just know that he has the quality to improve the team.

“Maybe it would be different if there were three games left in the season. That would be a different situation because you don’t have time. But there are only eight games in the season. With the World Cup break, we need time to improve.”

Improvements are definitely needed. Despite finishing third under Swiss coach Gerardo Seoane last season, Leverkusen suffered their worst start to a season since the club were first promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979. Their relationship has been strained.

“The starting point is a team without confidence, players without confidence,” Rolfes said. “It’s a difficult situation, a the situation is really difficult for Xabi. But I am sure that he will improve the quality of the players and the quality of the team.

It was a hunch, really. Alonso has been a world-class player, a Champions League winner and a World Cup winner. He played under the greatest manager of his time. But the senior coach’s experience is limited to Real Sociedad’s reserves.

“You can analyze the style of play there but not with a lot of data,” Rolfes said. “Different, of course. But it doesn’t matter if he’s inexperienced. After all, nobody has experience in the beginning. In the end, it’s all about the person.

“I have good information because he plays with people I know. He is always consistent as a player and a person. He is a great thinker. Always concentrated, always thinking about how to improve and overcome situations. That’s clear. He knows. the game.”

The hope is that his time at Bayern Munich will help him adapt. Rolfes spoke of the “German mentality” to Alonso. While the fact that only experience has come with young players is seen as a positive. “There is no other option for our head coach,” he added.

“Our style of play, that is our DNA. Very attacking, very technical. You see it in our youth team. We have technical people and try to give them more time to develop. young players and give them time.

“We always have a young squad so we need to have a head coach who can develop the team but also develop the players individually in terms of position, behavior and principles. This is Xabi’s great strength. And the first team is also very international. too.”

Make an impression with the players

Callum Hudson-Odoi is one of the young internationals. On loan from Chelsea, he was a four-year-old when Alonso’s goal for Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan helped complete the comeback.

“I think it’s great for the club to have someone who has won everything while playing football. It’s great,” Hudson-Odoi told me Sky Sports. And he can still play. “He still has some about him, trust me. In training, you see him do a little bit. I think he can still do it.”

Alonso made an instant impression. “When he first arrived, I think you could immediately see in the first game how he wanted to play and how he wanted to push the kids and everything. He’s a very good person on the pitch and a very good manager.

“He wants to play with energy and intensity. As a striker, he just told me that I’m always a problem, make sure you cause problems for the defense. Whatever it is, just always be a threat. It’s good to have that push, to know that they have faith in you to do that.

“There are times when he will shout just to achieve his goal or you can see on the field that he shows what he wants. to help the team.”

Discovering the style of play at Leverkusen

Rediscovering the right style of play for Leverkusen is a challenge. As can be expected from a player who has had success with Spain and under Guardiola at Bayern, Alonso’s instinct is to want the ball. The team ranks fifth for possession in the Bundesliga.

But finding a pattern can be elusive in a league marked by transition and a group of players whose most obvious weapon is their speed. Although Florian Wirtz likes things complicated, Jeremie Frimpong and Moussa Diaby prefer to have space to open up.

“We have a lot of attacking power in the squad and we want to get that back,” said Rolfes. “But you have to look at that style of play in context. When you’re in a relegation position and the players aren’t used to being there, it affects your psychology.

“You have to play another way, be compact. This is the base. You can build from that. We have fast players so if we are compact and work hard, we can beat teams in transition. But of course we want to rebuild the house. It process.”

Alonso is the man tasked with rebuilding. It will take time, but only the Bundesliga’s top four have won more games in the competition since his arrival and thanks to a come-from-behind win against Monaco, the European adventure continues.

Losing 3-2 twice in four days last month shows there is still work to be done, but once it’s clicked it’s clicked. An opening 4-0 win over Schalke. A 5-0 demolition of Union Berlin that ended their five-game winning streak. Optimism remains.

Indeed, Rolfes was more confident now than when he had brought her.

“The impact is not surprising. But it’s the same with players, you make decisions but you don’t know. With players, at least you see them play. As a head coach, you have to analyze events on the field and then draw conclusions back to the coach.”

So what did he see on the field?

“Some patterns in the game. You can see that it is not only about the quality of the players, but that they have been trained. From these pieces, you create an image of the coach. Sometimes that is more difficult than with the players, but in the end you see that the image is correct.

“With Xabi, obviously.”

Vindication, then, but the realization that this is just the beginning. Rolfes was encouraged that the team “will be in the middle of everything since Xabi arrived” but his ambitions for Leverkusen extend beyond that with the help of the coach who suggests bigger things.

“We want to get as much as possible in the Europa League. In the Bundesliga, seventh place will be the first European place and we are behind. The bad start is over. You can see it in the table. But we have to focus. In the process we have to go step by step.

“It’s already a good first step. We’ll try to build on it.”

Watch Bayer Leverkusen vs Hertha Berlin live on Sky Sports Football this Sunday; kick-off 2.30pm