Xabi Alonso is finally starting his coaching career at Bayer Leverkusen. Why does everyone love him?

Bayer has a new coach - Xabi Alonso has suddenly become. The ex-star of Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bavaria received the first serious position.

Alonso retired in 2017 and was not yet sure that he would remain in football: To become a coach, you need to undergo serious training. But Xabi nevertheless went through training in 2019, he coached the youth team of Sociedad, and in 2022 he left and immediately received an invitation from the club in the top 5 leagues.

The contract with Bayer is designed for two and a half years until the summer 2024. Experience is not more important than level. Xabi Alonso has been our first choice from the start and we are delighted to have him with us, said Bayer director Simon Rolfes.

The Leverkusen club got off to a poor start with Gerardo Seoane in charge with just two wins in 12 matches of the season, one of them in the Champions 1win-ozbekiston.com League over Atlético. In the championship, in general, they scored only 5 points and are in 17th place. So the resignation of the coach is quite natural.

Why did they choose Xabi Alonso?

He  ; prefers to play in a dominant and dynamic manner, which suits our style of play and our players perfectly. He's a leader and has great references, explains Rolfes.

Habi could already be in Germany in the spring of 2021, he almost agreed on a contract with Monchengladbach Borussia. As a result, Alonso decided not to rush and remained the coach of the second team of Real Sociedad: I want to continue developing with my current team. We have big plans for this season. Being able to help my players take the last step is a great pleasure for me.

During a presentation at Bayer, he explained his decision: As a coach, I had to go through a certain process to get better. So I started with the youth at Real Madrid and then at Real Sociedad, those were important steps. Now it's time to lead a big club.

What is he playing?

Alonso I have been working with system trainers for a long time. This fact did not become decisive and did not force Xabi to promote a specific style of play. He mixed the best sides of each style.

Alonso's style is similar to the tiki-taka played by Xabi himself. At the same time, she is more dynamic and aggressive in terms of pressing. The ball moves faster across the field. ESPN analyst David Cartlidge explained in detail the full-backs are high, and the central ones constantly make penetrating passes.

At the same time, Xabi himself denies having a certain style and repels the qualities of the players: Do I have my own style? games? No. I only care about how my players feel during the match and what we talk about after it. If everything is good for me, but the players have problems, then all my ideas are useless. I have to change and adapt.