When Xabi Alonso landed the Bayer Leverkusen job in October, it took many football fans and pundits by surprise. The World Cup-winning midfielder had no senior managerial experience on his CV, with a three-year stint at Real Sociedad B — where he gained promotion to the Segunda Division in his second season before suffering relegation back to the pits of the Spanish third tier the year after — the best he could muster.
Yet, here he was walking into a role at one of the biggest clubs in the Bundesliga. The fact that Leverkusen were in the relegation zone following just one win from their first eight games of the 2022-23 Bundesliga season under Gerardo Seoane’s guidance made it an even bigger risk for the club to take a chance on Alonso in a dire time of need, but the gamble has paid off massively.
Alonso has taken Leverkusen from 17th (second bottom) in the standings to sixth in the German top flight, winning 13 of his 23 league games in charge and losing on just four occasions. On top of that, the 41-year-old has guided Leverkusen to the semi-finals of the Europa League — the furthest the club have gone in a continental club competition since they were beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League final back in 2002.
There has been a lot made of Leverkusen’s final four Europa League clash with last year’s Conference League winners Roma, as it’s a case of student meets master with Alonso going up against his former manager at Madrid Jose Mourinho — even more so as Leverkusen are tipped to win the tie with those having a football bet and are the second overall favourites to win the entire competition behind Italian giants Juventus.
Whether or not Leverkusen go on to win Europe’s secondary club competition later this month won’t take away from the fact Alonso’s stock as a coach has risen massively in the last six months or so. Having played under the likes of Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti as well as the aforementioned Mourinho, the Spaniard has learnt from the very best and he’s rapidly dismissing the case that the majority of good players make for mediocre managers.
How much longer can Leverkusen hold on to his services though? There are already reports that Premier League clubs are sniffing around, with the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a potential landing spot for the 41-year-old this summer as the London club look for a permanent successor to Antonio Conte and someone to nail down the job after ploughing through Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Conte in recent years.
It would be a massive risk for Tottenham chief Daniel Levy to appoint someone like Alonso when they have so much work to do both on and off the pitch. But then again, you could argue that the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino in 2014 was a big risk after the Argentine spent just one year in the Premier League with Southampton, yet he oversaw a run to the club’s first Champions League final and is still a fan favourite three years after being sacked.
There is also talk of a return to the Santiago Bernabeu as current Madrid boss Ancelotti is being linked with the vacant Brazil job. The Italian has one year left on his contract with Los Blancos, however, and it seems as though he is going to see out the final 12 months. That could allow Alonso with an additional 12 months to find his feet in Germany before taking the huge leap to a job like Madrid.
Another long-term aspiration of Alonso could be a return to Anfield. Jurgen Klopp can’t stay at Liverpool forever and while many believed Steven Gerrard was using Rangers and Aston Villa as stepping stones to the Reds job, that didn’t exactly go to plan for Alonso’s former midfield partner and the Spaniard could swoop in and take the position when Klopp eventually walks away.
Categories: News
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
