Xabi Alonso: Bayer Leverkusen never stood for one thing – mentality

FLorian Wirtz didn’t give the impression that he was at odds with himself. “Of course” he would have “desired a better starting position,” said the exceptional talent from Bayer 04 Leverkusen. But even so, he is certain that the Werkself’s journey through Europe is not yet over. “I’m sure we’ll win the second leg,” said the 19-year-old after the 1-1 (0-0) first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday evening. Wirtz was asked what makes him so confident. His answer was full of self-confidence: “Because we have a really great team, because our quality and fighting spirit are rewarded. Each of us wants to do it.”

Leverkusen have been playing in the Bundesliga for almost 44 years. There have been ups and downs, always a certain envy because of the financing from the Bayer group. There was ridicule for just missing out on titles (“Vizekusen”), but also praise for cultivated football and the development of talent. However, there is one thing that Leverkusen never stood for: mentality.

This season, however, is different. Even if the team struggled with the defensively strong Belgians – no other German team is currently working as purposefully on their further development as Bayer’s. She has been undefeated for ten competitive games. What was beyond imagination after a completely botched start to the Bundesliga season with five defeats in a row and eight games without a win now seems realistic again: With a win on Sunday at VfL Wolfsburg (7.30 p.m., DAZN and in the WELT live ticker) the currently sixth in the table could improve its starting position in the fight for the Champions League places again.

Alonso relied on proven means

Thanks to this, there are no two opinions, especially Xabi Alsonso. On October 5, the Basque followed the Swiss Gerardo Seoane. At that time, Bayer was penultimate. Then things went up. Alsonso’s approach was by no means revolutionary. The 41-year-old, who after a successful adult career only coached Real Sociedad San Sebastián’s second team, resorted to methods that many coaches would probably have chosen in comparable situations.

He stabilized the defense – also with handles in the tactical moth box. He pulled a midfielder into defense and almost had him play a kind of libero. In this way he gave the insecure team security. “You don’t have to play spectacularly,” he said. Alsonso urged players to play what they do best: on the counterattack. Thus, the burden of responsibility felt under Seoane, whose style was more possession-oriented, was significantly lessened. In addition, it was possible to compensate for the fact that goalscorer Patrick Schick was absent almost continuously due to persistent groin problems.

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Instead, other professionals showed their qualities. Fast wingers Jeremie Frimpong, Moussa Diaby (right) and Amine Adli (left) became Bayer’s greatest weapons. Frenchman Adli, 22, scored five competitive goals and six assists. Dutchman Frimpong, 22, has eight goals and nine assists. Diaby, who even made it into France’s World Cup squad, has 13 goals and nine assists. The 23-year-old has become one of the most sought-after transfer targets in Europe. Manchester United have already signaled their interest.

What Alonso initially referred to as “damage limitation” has long since become more entertaining, attacking football. In the past few weeks, the team has made another leap: Wirtz, who was out of action until the World Cup break due to a cruciate ligament tear, is getting in better and better shape. Thanks to his passes, Bayer is now even more difficult to calculate for the opponents. The technician saved at least one point against Saint-Gilles – and hope for the semi-finals.

Alonso brought the enthusiasm back to Leverkusen

The fans are excited. That was noticeable on Thursday after the final whistle, when the team was greeted with much applause. It’s been a long time since Leverkusen presented themselves as enthusiastically and hopefully as they are now. The arrival of the team bus at the BayArena before the game was already a spectacle: it was welcomed by thousands of fans.

Fernando Carro especially enjoys the positive atmosphere. The Spaniard, who has been managing director of Bayer 04 Fußball GmbH for almost five years, was already prepared to have to sell players next summer. “We need to generate transfer earnings. Especially depending on whether we play internationally or not,” he said at the end of last year – when another participation in the European Cup was supposedly illusory. The fact that this now looks different could expand his scope and at least mean a better negotiating position – if, as expected, the top clubs make representations about Diaby or Wirtz.

The Leverkusen team owe this above all to Alsonso, who, in his first major head coaching position, shows what several prominent coaches and officials had always suspected. José Mourinho, who coached Alonso in Madrid, said that the then world-class midfielder was already “thinking like a coach”.

“I bet he will be a coach wherever he wants,” Pep Guardiola said a few years later about Alonso – when he was his player at Bayern. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern’s former CEO, recently stated that he had unsuccessfully tried to bring him to Munich as an assistant coach a few years ago. “I always wished that one day he would become a coach,” said Rummenigge.

Alonso enjoys authority in the dressing room

Meanwhile, Xabi Alonso is well on the way to doing his journeyman’s play. He has the aura of having won pretty much everything as a player: he became Spanish and German champion, won the Champions League with Liverpool and Real Madrid and won the World Cup and two European Championships with Spain. That gives him authority in the dressing room.

But he doesn’t rest on that. In Leverkusen, he stands out because he works constantly – with the team and then, after team training, often with individual players. He wants to make every professional better. If there is still time, Xabi Alsonso tries to improve his German, which is already passable on the right. The latter, he recently revealed to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, is still the hardest for him. He is skeptical that he will ever be able to use “der, die, das” correctly.