Xabi Alonso’s knowledge of German is a little rusty. But what can be said since Thursday afternoon: They are still in such a quality that it should only be a matter of time before he regains security. At the end of his three-year spell as a Bayern Munich midfielder, he definitely had that, when he expressed himself in Goethe’s language.
He only had to pause at one word when Alonso was introduced as the new coach of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. “Descent…what?” he asked uncertainly when he hadn’t quite understood a question. The good old relegation battle was meant!
You can forgive him: He never had to include this word in his active vocabulary, neither at Real Sociedad San Sebastián, his home club, nor at Liverpool FC and certainly not at Real Madrid or FC Bayern, until 2017, the last station of his career lined with the most glorious titles.
But now he’s also getting to know that: When Alonso, 40, celebrates his debut as Bundesliga coach on Saturday against FC Schalke 04 as the successor to Gerardo Seoane, who was on leave on Wednesday, he will be in charge of a team that is second to last in the table. A team that needs five points from eight games to get out of the morass of the relegation zone. From realms where one would not have expected Alonso.
It is well known in the industry that he has been on the bill for a number of big clubs as the coach of the future; In the past, representatives of Real Madrid or Liverpool are said to have constantly winked, according to the motto: We haven’t forgotten you. He could have easily started as a coach in a big league after the end of his career. Just as an example: a long time ago, former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said he could imagine seeing Alonso as a coach in Munich. But he went a different, well thought-out path.
“Leadership comes first – football knowledge and tactics come second,” says Alonso
Only after being youth coach at Real Madrid for a year did he know for sure that he wanted to be a coach, Alonso said on Thursday; Only then did he intensify his training and accept the job at “SanSe”, Real Sociedad’s second team. “I wanted to get to know myself as a coach first,” he explained. Now he dares to jump into the front row. “I have the feeling that now is the right moment.”
He has no lack of education, his career has been shaped by famous football teachers. He played under coaches like Rafa Benítez, José Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Manuel Pellegrini and Carlo Ancelotti, under Vicente Del Bosque and Luis Aragonés he became world and European champion with Spain. What did he learn from them?
In 2008 Xabi Alonso played for Liverpool FC – and there also against Michael Ballack, then Chelsea FC.
(Foto: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
“That the main task is that the players have to follow you,” said Alonso: “They have to believe in what you tell them. You have to feed them: They have to get the feeling that they are getting better with your coaching. They need to know that you are there to help them – with your knowledge, your leadership, your motivation. Leadership comes first – football knowledge and tactics come second.”
Which doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a clear idea of how his team should play. On the contrary. He wants to play modern football. And that means “that we are dominant, show activity and intensity with and without the ball, have good ball control, are dynamic, urgent and hungry for goals”. All of this must be expressed in 95 minutes of concentration: “If you switch off after 80 minutes, you’re dead.”
Sports director Simon Rolfes, who had contacted the Basque long before Alonso’s predecessor Seoane was suspended, listened to these remarks like a symphony; they fit perfectly with the “philosophy” of Leverkusen. Rolfes reported that he only heard positive reactions from the team. For the young players in particular, “it’s a great opportunity to learn from someone who has played at the highest level.”
Alonso thus acquired a distinguished reputation. Some of the questions that came to him on Thursday sounded as if he might be jeopardizing his reputation with the commitment, it doesn’t seem to matter to him. “If you are shy about taking risks, you will never achieve anything,” said Alonso, because “nothing is certain, not in life, even less so in football. And if you don’t try, you’ll never succeed.” It remains to be seen where this imaginary arrival point lies; He will give his players “my motivation, my hunger, my closeness”. He comes “with fresh energy.”
Only after the first game on Saturday, followed by a Champions League appearance against FC Porto on Wednesday, will he know more about what his new team needs. Although he has of course followed the Bundesliga in recent years, it is always something different to look the players in the eye.
It is no coincidence that he returned to Germany. He loves the professionalism of the Bundesliga, the calm and seriousness of Germany. “The Bundesliga gets better every year. There are great coaches – including young coaches, because in the Bundesliga the clubs are not afraid to give young coaches a chance,” he said, adding: Coaches like him.
