How Xabi Alonso is setting himself up as the new Klopp

Sam McGuire

• Updated: 15 Feb 2023 14:20 GMT
• 5 min read

Sometimes, you can just tell a player has what it takes to be a top-tier manager. Xabi Alonso fell into that category. The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich playmaker wasn’t ever the quickest but few players could match his guile on the pitch. Mentally, he was always a couple of steps ahead of opponents and even team-mates.

Following Alonso’s retirement in 2017, Pep Guardiola was emphatic in his response to his former midfielder’s future.

He said: “Xabi will come back soon as a manager. I bet, wherever he wants, he will become a manager and he will be good. He understands the game and has the curiosity to understand the game. He knew during the weeks what we would have to do to win the next games, to beat them. He already had the curiosity to know.”

EXCLUSIVE: Gvardiol leads Liverpool's four-man defensive shortlist

Jamie Carragher, Alonso’s former team-mate at Anfield, even floated the idea that the Basque-born maestro could return to Merseyside in the future, saying: “He will be a great manager, I think. People always talk about Stevie at Liverpool but I think there’s a chance Xabi can become manager of Liverpool in the future.”

So it will come as no surprise to either Guardiola or Carragher to see Alonso making a splash with Bayer Leverkusen.

EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd and Liverpool to battle over Paul Mitchell

Xabi already turning heads

Appointed in October following a successful spell with Real Sociedad’s B team, the 41-year-old has been in the dugout for a total of 12 Bundesliga matches, winning seven of those. Since his arrival, only Bayern Munich (28), Borussia Dortmund (25), RB Leipzig (25) and Union Berlin (25) have picked up more points than Leverkusen (22).

Now, it is too premature for him to be moving on from the BayArena, but Europe’s elite clubs will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the Alonso project. And not just because of the positive results. The performances are backed up by the underlying numbers. For example, Die Werkself have won the Expected Goals battle in four of their last five Bundesliga matches. This period included a loss to Borussia Dortmund. It was an undeserved defeat, with Bayer finishing with almost double the xG of their opponents.

Even when freak results occur, the performances are still dominant and the players remain confident.

This is much more than just a purple patch for B04.

In fact, the most impressive part of all of this is how the tactician has managed to implement a clear style and identity in such a short space of time.

Given Alonso arrived after the season was underway and he didn’t have a pre-season with the players, the level of organisation this group has under their new manager is nothing short of remarkable.