Xabi Alonso's challenges at Bayer Leverkusen

A great news surprises us today on planet soccer Xabi Alonso assumes the responsibility of coach of Bayer Leverkusen. Many of us hope that Xabi will help this traditional German team to get out of the bad moment that right now is in the relegation zone.

In his presentation as Bayer Leverkusen's new coach, he said that he takes on a great project with great goals and that he arrives with great motivation to work for them. Xabi Alonso, who knows the Bundesliga well from his time as a player at Bayern (2014-17), began today's press conference by asking journalists not to ask questions too quickly, because in five years he has forgotten some of his German, which he hopes to recover and fine-tune.

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Throughout the press conference he alternated between German and English, sometimes in the same answer. "It is important for me to be here, maybe I have forgotten some of my German in the last five years, but I will try my best," he said. "It's a great club that has a great project. The team is good and we have big goals," he said. Xabi Alonso takes over at a Leverkusen in crisis, which is second last in the standings, leading to the sacking of his predecessor Gerardo Seoane. For that reason, he was asked whether he believes his job will be focused on the fight against relegation.

https://twitter.com/bayer04_es/status/1578202635999404032?s=20&t=fDoIgO5BYTmtD-TfgJb9Cg

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During his extensive career on the pitch, Xabi Alonso has learned from the best coaches in the world. Luis Aragones, Vicente del Bosque, Rafa Benitez, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Mauricio Pellegrini all coached a midfielder who shone with Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern and the Spanish national team as a World Champion. After his adventure with Sanse (promotion to the second division and relegation), Xabi has joined Bayer Leverkusen with a contract until 2024.

https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1577704500290326529?s=20&t=ISa6Gt45E1eTGp9YxqIKTg

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With a bad start in the Bundesliga for Leverkusen under Gerardo Seoane, Bayer have won one game, drawn two and lost five. They are second to last in the table and have yet to win in the league at home (one draw and three defeats). Their first goal is to save the team... and the second is to get closer to Europe and the Champions League. They are 10 points behind fourth place. And they don't have the Cup wild card. Elversberg in the Third Division (4-3) eliminated them at the first hurdle. Therefore, one of Xabi Alonso's priorities is to save Leverkusen and bring them closer to Europe.

After three matchdays of the group stage, Leverkusen is still in the red zone to reach the round of 16 of the Champions League. With Brugge slipping away at the top (nine points out of a possible nine), Xabi Alonso's new team has three points from Porto and Atletico Madrid. Their 2-0 win against Simeone's side 'cushioned' their defeats to the Belgians (1-0) and Portuguese (2-0). They have two home games left (Porto and Brugge) and one away (Atletico). Passing the round is possible.

Last season, Leverkusen finished third in the Bundesliga and reached the round of 16 of the Champions League thanks to the good level of several of its players. Schick was outstanding with 24 goals (second only to Lewandowski (35), Diaby was an earthquake on the left wing with 17 goals and 14 assists, and Wirtz pulled the strings with 10 goals and 14 assists? until he broke down.
This season with Bellarabi also on a bad run and lesson problems, neither Patrik Schick nor Amine Adli are responding. Schick has three goals and Diaby one and two assists which are making the difference, Leverkusen is falling. And newcomers Hlozek and Hudson-Odoi are adapting. Xabi Alonso has to recover and integrate everyone. It is key to his success. So in his strategy it's up to him to recover the level of Schick, Diaby? while waiting for Wirtz

With the motivation to lead one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It is time to get down to work on this project where he has a very talented squad and a fusion of various styles. In his early debut with Schalke 04, Xabi will have to get used to the atmosphere and will have to exchange more with the players, establishing new energies in the player-coach relationship and work on the team's self-esteem to put it in the place where it deserves to be.

Let's hope for the best from Xabi Alonso who as a player always gave his best on the field in a sporting and human way. I hope he knows how to educate his players the way he played and learned from the classic coaches he had throughout his career. Let's hope to enjoy his talent this time from the bench of this World Champion.