Ned Yu said: End Bayern's hegemony! Coach Alonso, the beginning is Wang Bang

The following article is from the Northwest Lookout Stand, written by Yu Ze

For many years, when we talk about Xavi Alonso, we will say that he is an outstanding midfield maestro, who has been in society, has been in the Reds, has been in the Royals, has been a good person, and is loved by fans everywhere he goes, with a negative rating of infinitely close to 0%. And now, "Brother Long" has added a strong stroke to his long and brilliant resume:

Running a pharmaceutical factory, Bayer Leverkusen, who was once relegated last season, set a magical record of 43 unbeaten games in all competitions this season, breaking Bayern's 11-year monopoly and winning the first Bundesliga championship in team history five rounds ahead of schedule.

Probably no one would have thought that Alonso's first experience as a senior manager would deliver such a perfect and crazy palmares. And all this just validates what he said at the beginning of his tenure: "When people talk about Xavi Alonso, I don't want to hear about what I've done. I always hope that I will be famous for what I am doing. ”

Xavi Alonso, once again, has made a name for himself in world football because of what he is doing.

Football is played by the brain

Although, I have to go against Brother Long's wishes, or go back to his playing career first. It's not about how brilliant he is or how many accolades he has, but if you know what kind of player he is, you can better understand what kind of coach he is.

Alonso was born into a footballing family in the Basque Country, and his father, Perrico Alonso, was not only a World Cup Spanish international, but also won La Liga titles at Real Sociedad and Barcelona. So, he naturally fell in love with football at a very young age, and met a good partner on the pitch and a good friend off the pitch for the next nine years on the beach: Mikel Arteta.

However, unlike the tower that was full of football from childhood to adulthood, Alonso did not make up his mind to follow only one path in Huashan. At the age of 18, he joined the Real Sociedad youth team and was also admitted to the University of the Basque Country to study engineering. Although the dual identity made this young man feel a little powerless, he still found a compromise path of "both wants": change majors and study finance.

At that time, Alonso's future direction was no less struggling back and forth between football and finance. But as he gradually made a name for himself in La Liga, it was self-evident which one to choose. So at the age of 22, he took his diploma and stuffed it into a cabinet, and then was summoned by Benitez to Liverpool.

The rest of the story doesn't need to be repeated. Anfield's Malon bag midfield iron triangle, Istanbul also has a shocking kiss, the second phase of the galaxy's delayed playmaking core, the initiator of the Muslim fast attack, Guardiola's metronome at Bayern, Robery waiting for him to serve.

In a brilliant career, the most repeatedly praised killer feature is definitely passing.

Roberto Mancini once boasted an unbeatable pinnacle on the subject: "Everyone likes Barça's passes, but they have 25 shots to bring a goal. Alonso can do the same thing with a single pass, which is why he's the perfect player for me. ”

He himself explained the reason for his love of passing and the secret of this technique: "My heroes as a child were Ronald Koeman, Redondo and Zidane. Besides, my dad used to play in midfield, even if he wasn't as good as the top three...... But he also likes to pass the ball. ”

"From the very beginning of playing in the youth team, I realised that my athleticism was not dominant, so I had to train my mind to make decisions faster on the pitch. So as a possession midfielder, I have to be risk-averse. The speed of the ball should be fast, and the speed of the ball should be fast, as for the risk of catching the ball...... Anyway, I believe that every teammate can pick it up. ”

Among the various midfield masters who are adept at passing, Alonso is also seen as having a unique advantage: he is willing to do the dirty work and can do it well.

If Alonso was mainly responsible for organising during the Liverpool period, then since the time of Real Madrid, he has taken on more responsibilities such as protecting the defensive line and balancing the attack and defence. Many fans were surprised why it seemed that one second ago he was still instigating an attack in the middle, and the next second Brother Long "teleported" horizontally to destroy the opponent's counterattack.

On the one hand, there may be a bonus of Basque ancestry. After all, there is a rumor in the industry that "if you want to fight, buy a few Basques, and they will fight to the death on the pitch at any time". And Alonso's personality is indeed stronger than many people remember, and he had a falling out with Benitez in the later period of Liverpool.

On the other hand, it is still inseparable from his football philosophy. "I've seen some shows in England where tackling is the best way to show strength and determination, sorry I can't understand. It is true that sometimes you have to make tackles, but if you tackle too often, it just means that I or my team-mates have lost our position from the start. It's going to drive me crazy because the formation and balance of the team is crucial. ”

Cruyff famously said, "Football is a sport played by the brain, and the legs are just supports." 'Whether it's Alonso's brilliant passes, or assisting in defence, it's all about that.

At the same time, he played in a central midfield position for most of his career. In the statistics of retired players becoming managers, 42% of them are midfielders, and the biggest head is the midfielder. Pep Guardiola said: "When you're a striker, the main thing you think about is scoring goals. But when you're a midfielder, you have to know what's going on on the pitch at all times and where you should be. These will give you a better understanding of the game. ”

Therefore, Alonso, who plays football with his brain, has conquered the fans of every club with his passing and defense, and can integrate tactics and learn experience under Benitez, Mourinho, Guardiola, Ancelotti and other famous coaches, so that before he retired and hung up his boots, there were media cheers in advance.

Xavi Alonso was born to be a good coach.

That tough Basque

Brother Long really didn't make people wait too long. In 2018, just one year after retiring from football, he formed the "Golden Generation of Spanish Certification" with Raul, Xavi, Valdés and Capdevilla, and won the highest professional license of UEFA.

However, contrary to everyone's expectations, his first job was to return to Real Madrid and become a general coach of the Under-14 echelon.

Isn't that a bit too low a starting point for Xavi Alonso, who feels like he's never been a club captain and isn't a traditional team leader. Although the coach has a famous aura, I am really not sure if the players will be obedient.

According to the memories of Real Madrid's young players, Alonso was more like a "teacher" than a coach that year. Another coach is responsible for the formation, and he mainly uses his player experience to help the children improve their skills and understand tactical ideas. To put it another way, Alonso is still learning how to be a good coach.

In 2019, he received an offer from his parent club Real Sociedad to coach the B team, which became the starting point for Alonso's attempt to take control of the team. In the first season, I was still experimenting with the formation of play. In the second season, he led the team to a successful promotion through the play-offs and returned to La Liga after a 60-year absence.

Showing the edge and having a well-known foundation, it will naturally attract many suitors. Borussia Monchenchen, a Bundesliga team, wanted to dig into a corner before the play-offs began, but they were shut down on the grounds that "I don't think the timing was right".

In another year, Alonso's Royal Sociedad B team can play 60%-70% of the ball in La Liga, but the average age of 21.4 years old is still difficult to compete with the old oils. The team was unfortunately relegated and Alonso moved to Bayer Leverkusen a few months later.

It's the same Bundesliga, why is the timing right this time?

Now that the media has reviewed it, they all say that the timing of Alonso's takeover of the team in October 2022 is just right. Bayer Leverkusen had a bad start to last season, diving directly into the relegation zone with five points from eight rounds, which was already at its lowest point at the time, but fortunately, the decisive change of management did not drag on until it was difficult to return. But the strength of the pharmaceutical company's lineup is there, and under normal circumstances, I dare not say how high it is, and it should not be a problem to go up. And they don't have any absolute superstars who have to tilt resources, and the "rookie" head coach can follow his own tactics.

For Alonso, it was a great opportunity to take the dip.

And the first thing Long Ge did after taking over was to form an extremely strong alliance with Rolfes, the sports director who invited him. After all, the latter has just taken office this year and urgently needs to make his mark on the team. Alonso has the full support of the management, both in the transfer market and in establishing authority within the team.

There is a very typical example of this, which happened between him and the main left-back Barker. Having played for Ajax and Grand Paris, Buck is known for his bravery, aggressive assists and quick forward movements. But this guy is easy to play football on, and he will receive red and yellow cards when his temper explodes at every turn. Second, enthusiasm follows fate, sometimes it is easy to send the ball with a random cross, and he also walks with both hands and does not chase back.

Alonso certainly couldn't bear this, and he reprimanded loudly in training. Unexpectedly, Buck not only couldn't listen, but also "overslept and forgot to train", and the angry Brother Long immediately cleared him out of the game squad. Although the two later reconciled and Buck played a lot of games, he was still disposed of by the team at a low price in the summer window.

This is actually the biggest feature of Alonso's coaching style. The TA reporter watched Leverkusen's daily training session live last season and commented: "Alonso is very, very, very strict, and he will never tolerate any player who is not doing his best and not being punctual. For a club that has allowed young players to live too comfortably, it is very important to have someone who has won numerous trophies to instil the 'no, we have to win every game'. ”

No player dares to perfunctory or refuse to carry out his tactical intentions in training and games, and no one dares to complain repeatedly when he is substituted or unavailable. Alonso quickly established absolute authority in the team, and he was able to hone his tactics with peace of mind.

He briefly experimented with SCP-4231, but the results were not satisfactory. Then fix the formation to 3421, and most of the time it will fall to the back five in order to stabilize the defense. With the confidence of the number of people at the back, and with the help of Adley, Wirtz and Moussa Diaby and other people to play a transition attack, the pharmaceutical company went all the way to the north in the Bundesliga standings and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.

However, last season's Bayer Leverkusen still had a number of structural flaws. Although the defense stabilized first, the offensive firepower was erratic. A look at their record reveals that they went seven games without a win in all competitions in their final month, adding up to a measly four goals.

To add insult to injury, the summer window could not stop the money-throwing offensive from the Premier League, and sold the striker Diaby to Villa for a high price of 55 million. What about the offense in the new season?

No matter how optimistic Leverkusen fans are, they can't imagine that such a team whose former manager called for a winger and finally rented Callum Hudson-Odoi actually paid all his old money for Alonso. Bonifes, Xhaka, Hoffman and Nathan Terra paid more than the combined income from the sale of Diaby and Buck, and also waived Grimaldo and loaned Stanišić.

What is even more unexpected is that all the new signings have seamlessly integrated into Alonso's tactical system, and the main lineup has successfully completed the industrial upgrade of all three lines.

As soon as the new season started, the pharmaceutical company immediately soared.

More important than tactics is understanding

In the past few months, world football has been full of Alonso, and countless articles or videos analyzing Leverkusen's tactics have been carried out.

For example, it is known that they continue to focus on 3421. The middle will pile up numbers to keep possession of the ball, and the wings will open up space for the two wing-backs to fly up and down. Grimaldo and Frimpong have both played a double-double of goals + assists this season, which can be called the most explosive golden wings in European football.

For example, the two wing-backs are not positioned in the same way. Grimaldo is the master of the adduction of full-backs, who can not only drop back frequently to help play the ball as a "wide midfielder", but also switch positions with Wirtz in front of him to become a "wide midfielder". Frimpong is known as a dragon on the right side, and he runs in a large space on the weak side, and is more winger than a winger.

Another example is that the whole team changes positions very frequently. In the aforementioned switch between Grimaldo and Wirtz, the left centre-back Tapsoba was almost a full-back when he stepped in, ensuring that the left flank had a numerical advantage at all times. Center Boniface is very good at turning around to catch the ball and then cutting back, at which point Hoffman can hold the ball and then plug it to him or split it to Frimpong, depending on the situation.

It's the same in defence. The back pair of Xhaka and Palacios will try to cut off the ball at the heart of the opposition's midfield, with the weak wing-backs ready to press forward to prevent him from turning forward. If the opponent's attack develops to a deeper stage, the central defender will mark the center forward one-on-one, and the full-back can switch to a back four at any time depending on the situation.

In short, Alonso's core idea is to ensure that there are people in every reasonable position, but not necessarily the players in that position. Such a tactic completely changed the situation in which Leverkusen used Wirtz to lead the team in the past, and he was absent and did not perform well. Today's teams can be seen as a multi-core system of Xhaka, Grimaldo, Wirtz and others, or simply do not need a core in the traditional sense.

Every position is important, but it's not like it's going to work without it. Therefore, after Boniface was seriously injured, Schick immediately went on top, and because of Capiille's corner overtaking, Odilon gradually played as a substitute. Whether it was the rotation or the impact of the injury, the team was able to maintain enough fighting power and did not fall behind like the previous Bayern challengers.

These things come from Alonso's style and understanding when he plays, and then he has carried it into his coaching career step by step. The official Bundesliga website has used a very exaggerated adjective, which is called: "Alonso's style has found a balance between possession and speed, which can be said to be perfect from a tactical point of view." ”

However, there is no shortage of tactically perfect managers in this circle, and some people even say that the tactics of every famous coach are theoretically perfect. What really matters is how the players can fully understand your tactics through training and how they can execute them all in the game.

That's what Alonso does best.

According to the players, Brother Long chose different guidance methods for different situations in training.

First of all, he has a huge linguistic advantage of being fluent in Spanish, German and English, and will try to use language to make every player understand what he wants. "You have the freedom to switch positions and choose how to attack, but watch everyone's position!" is said to have appeared countless times in three languages.

Secondly, for those players who are used to his tactical requirements, Alonso will tell him directly which choice is what I want, and will also show him video footage from the game to remind him of what is not good enough. Give full affirmation, but continue to be strict.

Finally, there are also many players whose playing style does not match exactly, and he will personally go off the field to guide improvements. "When you pass the ball, you have to pay attention to the posture of the upper body, the left foot first, the right foot again, you see the single knife. 'A lot of retired players are like that when they are coaches, but Alonso's goal is always to make the players understand better.

"Every time a coach is involved in tactical practice, one or two passes can increase the tempo and let us know that this is the pace he wants," said Grimaldo. Even now, there are very few people in the world who can pass the ball like him. Xhaka said: 'I think if there were statistics in training sessions, he would have run more than half of the players. ”

This is Alonso now.

He's a tough coach. Even every time you see a pharmaceutical goal on the live stream, Alonso will turn back to a serious face for a second after a brief celebration.

He also knows how to combine grace and power. When Grimaldo, Frimpong and Wirtz were unhappy for the national team, he was the first to stand up and share the pressure with the players.

He has a clear understanding of tactics, works closely with management to build the ideal squad and coaches every player by word and deed.

Who doesn't love Xavi Alonso, let alone the giants he has played for. Liverpool and Bayern Munich will both bid farewell to their current managers in the summer, and Real Madrid is also thinking about Brother Long in the distance when they look at An Fat in their hands. But just like when he led the team from the Under-14s and rejected Borussia Mönchen, Alonso has officially announced that he will stay next season.

For the understanding of football, for the future plan, he always grasps his own rhythm. No one knows what heights Alonso will ultimately reach as a manager, but we at least know ......

Having only won 5 Bundesliga runners-up in history and losing 5 finals in the last 20 years, Bayer Leverkusen, who is laughingly known as the "second oldest in 10,000 years", finally broke the hegemony of Bayern, the king of the 2023-24 season.

Xavi Alonso, on the other hand, has taken his first steps towards becoming a great coach.