When Xabi Alonso spurned his former club Liverpool last summer to remain at Bayer Leverkusen, it seemed he might have passed up an opportunity that was too good to ignore.
However, as Arne Slot has led Liverpool to the Premier League title, Xabi Alonso may also have benefitted from waiting for the right opportunity to arrive.
With speculation that Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti could be on his way out after a season that threatens to finish trophy-less, a former Madrid player ha been tipped for the potentially open position.
A former Real Madrid midfielder who spent five seasons at the Bernabeu, winning the Champions League and La Liga titles during his time there. The 43-year-old is still relatively inexperienced as a top-level coach but has enjoyed instant success leading the German club, sensationally winning the Bundesliga title in 2023/24 with a famous “invincible” league season while reaching the Europa League final.
Given his exceptional career as a player and the trophies he won with Real Madrid, as well as earlier in his career with Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and the Spanish national team, he would certainly seem to be a sensible candidate. Additionally, Bayer Leverkusen seem resigned to his eventual departure for certain positions, of which Real Madrid certainly qualify. So is he ready for a step up?
The Sporting News brings you all you need to know about how the former midfielder manages and how he’s performed in charge of the Bundesliga side.
MORE: The Sporting News traveled to Germany to chat with Xabi Alonso in Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso coaching style, tactics, preferred formation at Bayer Leverkusen
In his short time at Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso has largely utilised a 3-4-2-1 formation, which is overloaded to one side. In possession, this results in one wing-back dropping into the back line, while the wing-back on the opposite side pushes extremely high almost as a striker, leaving that side’s centre-back to play a full-back role.
He has a few key players at Bayer Leverkusen which are essential to this setup. It requires two exceptional attacking wing-backs, at least one possessional field general in midfield, and dual No. 10’s who slot in behind a true No. 9 up front.
23-year-old Dutch right-back Jeremie Frimpong has particularly thrived in the elevated role, becoming a true attacking force to help the team transition forward.
Alonso has organised his build-up to invite pressure to spring their attack, thereby opening up the opponent for space to play through. This is also a tactical component of rising managerial star Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton and Hove Albion — another man linked with the Liverpool job.
Once Bayer Leverkusen get forward, they look to exploit the space they’ve coaxed the opponent into conceding and use the pace of Frimpong and others to speed past the pressuring defenders and accelerate into space. Moussa Diaby was key to this approach two seasons ago before he was sold to Aston Villa for €55 million ($58.4 million). Now, Frimpong pairs with rising star Alejandro Grimaldo to great effect.
Florian Wirtz is also an integral part of this tactical approach, recovering from an ACL injury last year to boost the attack. Despite not having extreme top speed, he sprints very often and has a near-endless energy reserve, in the 82nd percentile for accelerations amongst Bundesliga wingers in 2023/24 according to ElevenStats.com and in the top five percentile for carries (99th) and carry distance (95th) according to FBRef.com.
A Leverkusen winger will drop to receive the ball, pulling his defender into a stretched position along with it. He will then lay off to a paired midfielder and immediately accelerate into the space created by his trailing defender, receiving the ball one a one-two and bypassing his defender, creating a transitional play in the process as the defensive team attempts to patch the leak.
Below, you can see the average position of the Bayern Leverkusen starters in the 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich early in the 2023/24 season. You’ll notice the very high and wide position of wing-back Frimpong (No. 30), while his counterpart on the opposite flank, Grimaldo (No. 20) is slightly further back and pinched, often invited to cut inside and shoot from outside the top of the penalty area. Consequently, the back three are also overloaded to the right to account for the space behind Frimpong bombing forward.
This overload to the right causes an unbalanced formation and confuses an opponent who must themselves adjust to the uncommon distribution. Below are Bayern Munich’s average positions from that same match, which shows how they were forced to keep Alphonso Davies (No. 19), a very attack-minded left-back, in a muted defensive position to cover for this, while their midfield was slightly shaded to the left as well.
In his 3-4-2-1, Alonso utilises a counter-press to put opponents under threat on the ball and generate turnovers high up the pitch. With this, Alonso’s Leverkusen side thrives in transitional phases, using space created by opponents either pressing or possessing to attack at pace. The press isn’t overtly aggressive or high in its positioning, but instead uses a 3-2 box in midfield to force opponents to pass the ball wide, and then springs a trap on unsuspecting full-backs.
While building from the back, Alonso will instruct a central defender to step forward into midfield, drawing opponents centrally and affording the wing-backs space out wide. Once they break the initial line of defence, Leverkusen look to play their two No. 10s who can then either drive towards goal themselves or find the wing-backs in advanced positions.
Bayern Leverkusen’s Bundesliga rank so far this season:
280 progressive passes (🥈)
266 final ⅓ passes (🥇)
134 progressive carries (🥈)
76 key passes (🥈)
54% successful take-ons (=🥇)
17 goals + assists (=🥇)
12.6 xG (🥈)Xabi Alonso’s side are flying. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BcOjojcPaU
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) September 26, 2023
Bayer Leverkusen were amongst the top teams in Europe in passing, but also remain high amongst defensive actions per opposition pass, indicating they still play a high intensity counter-press when the opponent has the ball. They rank last in crosses attempted, indicating they prefer to use their width to work the ball back centrally instead of whipping crosses into the box.
Xabi Alonso coaching career, resume, teams managed
Alonso has not been in management for long, starting his journey in the dugout in 2018 as a youth coach for Real Madrid, having retired from playing the previous year.
After a season in Madrid, he moved on to manage Real Sociedad B, where he began as a player during his football career. He spent three seasons crafting his management style there before looking for a senior professional job.
German club Bayer Leverkusen needed a new manager after a dreadful start to the 2022 season, and Alonso stepped in to help Die Werkself turn things around. He got off to a good start with a 4-0 win over Schalke, and he went on to lead Leverkusen to a sixth-place finish in the Bundesliga in 2022/23, qualifying for the Europa League in the process.
Last season, Leverkusen reached the Europa League semifinals, losing narrowly over two legs to Roma, managed by Jose Mourinho, Alonso’s former Real Madrid coach.
There was reported interest from Tottenham Hotspur in summer 2023 before Alonso signed a new contract with Leverkusen that runs until 2026. Now nearing the finish line of the 2023/24 campaign, Xabi Alonso is closing in on completing the first fully unbeaten season in top-level European football history.
Records updated as of May 1, 2024
| Team | Years | Wins | Draws | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid (youth) | 2018-2019 | — | — | — |
| Real Sociedad B | 2019-2022 | 40 | 23 | 35 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 2022-present | 55 | 18 | 10 |
Will Xabi Alonso be next Real Madrid manager?
While speculation about Xabi Alonso as a candidate for the Real Madrid position has been little more than a simmer while Carlo Ancelotti remains officially in place, there was a development in the spring which has renewed the conversation more earnestly.
Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro, who has spoken openly about his manager’s position in recent years, provided fans with an intriguing update.
Carro stated to media on April 21 that while there is no exit clause in Xabi Alonso’s contract with the club, they have a gentleman’s agreement that Bayer 04 will not stand in the way if a club he played for in the past comes calling — most notably, that includes Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich.
With Arne Slot quite secure in the Liverpool job after a successful first season, and Vincent Kompany in place at Bayern Munich at least for now, the only position that seems plausible to come open in the near future is the one in Spain.
How would Xabi Alonso fit at Real Madrid?
As a successful former player at the club, Xabi Alonso would be a natural fit for the drama and sensationalism that surrounds Real Madrid at all times.
However, from a tactical perspective, there are serious questions about how he would deploy the players currently on the books at the Bernabeu.
First and foremost, there are no players who fit the all-important wing-back role on the Real Madrid roster. While there is heavy speculation that Trent Alexander-Arnold will be signing for the club this offseason on a free transfer, and the Liverpool man would be a better fit than anyone else currently at the club, even he does not quite seem suited for that job.
Secondly, the trio of superstar forwards at Real Madrid do not seem to mesh well with Xabi Alonso’s attacking formula. All three of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, and Rodrygo prefer to attack from wide areas with pace. Thus, none of them would fit either the playmaking No. 10 role nor the true No. 9 position that the Spaniard currently prefers.
Instead, Xabi Alonso would have to force the roster into his current tactics, which feels risky, or something would have to change. Most likely, the manager would have to mold his approach to the Real Madrid roster, because neither a spending spree nor the currently established players altering their game seems likely.
There are many more twists and turns in this story yet to play out.
