Bayer Leverkusen’s season has been spectacular since Xabi Alonso joined. Here’s a breakdown of his team, one of the most exciting and entertaining in Europe right now.
The focus on Bayer Leverkusen this season is in large part down to the man in charge. Xabi Alonso arrived in Germany at the start of October, and with the season over we can take stock of his incredible campaign. When he took over the team were in the relegation spots, they finished qualifying for the Europa League. Now we know what he did, it’s time to look at how.
There are always high expectations for coaches who were previously legends on the pitch. The option of managing is the non-retirement choice for most of those who don't want to leave football and don’t want to become a a commentator. And at times players have jumped into the role too quickly at major clubs, simply because of their legendary past on the turf. And it’s not always worked out (Lampard, Pirlo, Seedorf...) as well as it did for Guardiola at Barcelona or Zidane at Madrid.
In the case of Xabi Alonso, however, his move to coaching seems to be following the right path. From the youth set up at Madrid to the B team at Real Sociedad, where he achieved the remarkable promotion from Segunda B to Segunda. And after a season in professional football, the jump to the top flight. “I wanted to follow a timeframe I felt was natural. So I started with the kids at Madrid and that allowed me to say: "I could like this”. The next step was to go home, to Real Sociedad, with a set-up that’s almost professional, without the pressing need for results but with the ability to work with freedom and tranquility to get to know my approach, to see where I was failing and where I was not. Because you have to know yourself: how you truly are when working out what you feel. My decision to come here has a lot to do with my last spell at Bayern. German clubs have very little fear in giving opportunities to younger people. I saw it with Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim, at Gladbach, and at Dortmund too... I saw myself. It was a good fit,” he explained to Spanish newspaper El País.
Xabi Alonso took the steps necessary to make the jump to coaching in a top league
Before all this, Alonso grew up with football coach dad, then a stellar career as a midfielder, without doubt the playing position most involved in the team's collective organization. He has experience in some of the best teams in three of the four biggest leagues. And at those clubs he worked under some of the most exceptional coaches in football history.
“Where do I get my approach to work from all the coaches I’ve had? My father. It's not that I’ve studied it. I've seen it since I was born", he said in the interview in El País. What’s more, he was a pretty good student. José Morais, José Mourinho's assistant during his time in Madrid was impressed by how Xabi took on football theory: "Xabi was interested in the reasons for things. He would memorize the reports of the opponents, the two or three pages, and wanted more. He wanted a deep understanding of what was going to happen in the match. With that, Xabi was a leader in positioning, his own and that of his teammates", he told AS. Before retiring, the midfielder said he didn't know if he would become a coach because he had a list of things to do without the urgency of the world of football, but he only lasted a year away from the turf. And from those initial seeds have sprung these flowers.
Seoane's 4-2-3-1
Seoane was in the job at Bayer Leverkusen till 5 October. In total he was in charge for eight match days in the Bundesliga, one tie in the Cup and three Champions League games. He set them up in 4-2-3-1 formation, spread thinly over the pitch, leaving vast spaces. Defensive weakness was the main problem, with the team conceding 23 goals in those 12 matches.
Xabi's arrival
When Xabi took over his first desire was to make the team stronger defensively. He moved to a 3-4-3. At the same time Schick got injured. Wirtz, who would come back from a cruciate ligament injury in January, said to CBS: “We had to focus on stabilising things defensively. That was the foundation Xabi wanted to build to then be able to look at other ideas.” The team went from 13.4 shots a game against them to 10.9.
Conservative variation
Xabi’s standard approach, with Bakker as a left-back, could be changed for games where he wanted to be stronger in defence. He put Hincapié out wide and brought in another central defender. That’s how he put the team out against Roma in Rome in the Europa League semi-finals, but at home he played Bakker.
Attacking down the right
Bayer’s attack is focused on the right - in one game 76% of their attacks came down that side. Frimpong and Diaby are speed kings. “How can they stop us? To be honest I don’t know. Is it impossible? No. But we’re super fast in attack,” said Frimpong on CBS. He’s the player in the Bundesliga with the most runs on the ball (86), with Diaby third with 49. Frimpong has lost his marker 456 times, the most in the league, 70 more than the second on the list.
Wait and break fast
A common approach from Bayer is to lie deep waiting for their chance as their opponents attack. With a low block, the lines move together to create basically a 5-4-1. When they get their chance they attack fast with plenty of space to hit their rivals on the counter. The midfield double pivot, particularly with Andrich, is key to steal the ball and give the first quick pass. This is a young squad. 18 players have played over 1,000 minutes this season, with an average age of 24.5.
Diaby and Wirtz
One of Bayer’s tricks is the mobility between the lines of Wirtz and Diaby. Bakker and Frimpong out wide open up the pitch, while Wirtz and Diaby drop back to get the ball in the midfield. That creates plenty of lines for passes. Diaby is the player in the Bundesliga with the most key passes (33).
XABION XABI
“I’ve been lucky to have had really good coaches around me, the best. They’ve helped me a lot, but you have to be yourself.” (Interview in AS)
“We want to play in a dominant, intense way. I was a midfielder, so I like to control games. And we want to create a winning mentality, that’s the only way to look into the future.” (Interview in AS)
“Did I come here to be an hard core sergeant? No! I like discipline and basic professional standards, but being a bastard isn’t me. Of course if I need to play that role I can do it, and I’ll be a bastard… “ (Interview in El País)
““At Leverkusen I’m also learning to dominate the zone not so high [up the pitch] to attack in line with the quality of the players, who are so good at the transition.” (Interview in El País)
“We want to play modern football. We want to be intense with and without the ball, active at all times. We need to have a winning mentality, stay strong at all times, because, if you don’t, the way football is played right now will hurt you.” (Presentation)
OTHERS ON XABI
Hincapié
“He’s a coach who demands a lot from you, because he’s a winner. They demand the maximum because they’ve been through the ‘kiddie’ stage or these kinds of situations. For me, more than my coach, he’s my captain.” (Interview in AS)
Fernando Carro, CEO of Bayer
“He’s taught the team to control the game a bit more, it’s based more on defensive stability, playing more intelligently with less emotion, but focusing on our strengths.” (Interview in AS)
Frimpong
“Everyone knows he was a great player. Having a coach like that motivates us, because we want to be like him. When he came in we were all instantly motivated.” (Statements to UEFA)
Wirtz
“He knows how to handle himself and guide us so the team reaches its maximum potential. He’s focused on the team being mentally focused. And being physically in form.” (On CBS)
Mourinho
“His Bayer team is the best I’ve seen play on the counterattack in Europe. They’re adjusted to the players’ abilities. They’ve got five or six players who can sprint 100 metres against Jacobs. His Bayer side defend and counterattack.” (Press conference)
n today’s football, ever more constrained by immobile systems, where physicality is prized over ball skills and where the number 10 position is disappearing at light speed, Florian Wirtz (Pulheim, 2003) is a true treasure. The type of player fans pay to see, the type of player you tune into the Bundesliga in the early morning on the west coast for.
And Wirtz came back from injury just as good as when he left. “I didn’t have any doubts I’d get back to playing well. I remember being so surprised at the diagnosis (cruciate ligament). There was a lot of work to do, lots of different things to focus on, but I was always looking forward, always focused on being back on the pitch. Just giving everything to be back in my position,” he told CBS.
In simple numbers, he’s been involved in 12 goals (scoring four and setting up eight) in 24 games. But looking a little deeper you find more significant stats With him on the pitch Bayer have gone from 9.6 shots per game to 13.6. In 16 games in the Bundesliga he’s created 37 chances, with an impressive 81% success rate on passes under pressure.
The type of player you pay your ticket to see
“Some players are stylish and good,” Xabi explained talking about his number 27 in El País. “Stylish is doing beautiful things, but not necessarily efficient. Why is Messi so good? Because he knows how to give the simple pass: give the ball to the person in the best position. That’s being good, not always doing the fanciest thing. That’s what Florian does. That’s why he’s so good.”
But to understand the German better you need to watch him play. Because the stats struggle to explain the situations he’s able to get himself out of thanks to his agility; taking rivals out of the equation with a bit of genius, one or two touches or a pass, or dribble yards as if it was the easiest thing in the world. One of the best players in the world turning on a sixpence. The type of talented player rival fans can’t hate.
Hincapié
Central defender who’s happy to move up the pitch. At 21 he’s incredibly versatile being able to play in the middle, out left as well as attacking down the wing. Great at bringing the ball out. A player to built a team on. He has a problem with discipline, picking up a yellow every three games.
Tah
A big defender (6’ 5”), he stands out for his leadership and ability at bringing the ball out. Now 27 he’s one of the veterans of the team and has played over 300 games.
Andrich
A key player to bring balance to a young, attacking team. Willing to run (particularly in support of Frimpong’s regular drives up the pitch) and fight to get the ball back. The tough man all his teammates want by their side.
Frimpong
A key player in Xabi’s system. An absolute missile down the right touchline, he’s happiest playing far out wide. He’s taken on his man more times this season than anyone (122) in the Bundesliga this season. Constantly looking for the ball into space, he’s the team’s fastest option to move up the pitch.
Diaby
The French player is one of the best players playing outside Europe’s very biggest clubs. He’s scored 14 goals and set up 11 this season, a little down on last season (17 and 14 respectively) as he’s adopted a role where he links up and creates more.