Seoane released in Leverkussen, Alonso takes over

No one was more surprised when the second coaching dismissal of the current Bundesliga season was finally officially confirmed at the end of a long day full of rumors and breaking news. “Bayer 04 Leverkusen has parted ways with head coach Gerardo Seoane,” the club announced on Wednesday evening at 6:45 p.m.

It’s a tragic breakup. Because actually almost everything was right in the cooperation between the factory club and the 43-year-old from Lucerne. “We are convinced of him, the coach has a great connection to the team and we want to get out of the situation together,” said defender Jonathan Tah on Tuesday evening. He said it following the 2-0 Champions League defeat in Porto. This defeat sealed Seoane’s exit after just over a season in the Bundesliga.

After the defeat in Porto, it was clear for a long time that the players needed some new impetus that brightened the increasingly gloomy mood, that gave the professionals back the joy of everyday life. The Spaniard Xabi Alonso is now taking on this task.

The regret in the parting words of sports director Simon Rolfes is nevertheless credible. “Unfortunately, we have strayed from the road to success,” said Rolfes: “The early exit from the DFB Cup, but in particular the current Bundesliga placement, which is far below our expectations, made the change of coach absolutely necessary from our point of view.”

Maybe Seoane was being too lenient with the team

Personally and professionally there was not much to complain about Seoane. Nobody scored more points in the second half of last season than Leverkusen under this head coach. At the end of the summer break, club boss Fernando Carro even quietly expressed ambitions for the championship. But then a negative dynamic developed, in the rapidity of which Seoane found no effective countermeasures. Perhaps he was too lenient with this team, which has hardly changed in terms of personnel compared to last year.

Just last week, Seoane had reminded that his team, apart from “two or three games”, almost always performed properly. Leverkusen also played really well in the first half hour against Porto. But after a missed penalty by Patrik Schick shortly before the break, the mentally unstable ensemble collapsed.

Seoane was no longer able to shake up the team, which had been weakened by the many failures and seemed increasingly drained of energy. The now eight defeats in twelve competitive games of the most expensive squad in the history of the Leverkusen club have left their mark.

One of Seoane’s weaknesses is that he works less with the player’s emotions than with information about strategies, tactics and systems. But what Leverkusen need now is dedication and resilience. However, entrusting this difficult task to Alonso, who is still very inexperienced as a coach and whose coaching career has been rather lackluster so far, is a risk.

The 40-year-old Alonso worked for almost a year in the Real Madrid youth academy in the 2018/2019 season, after which he coached the reserves of Real Sociedad San Sebastian in the third Spanish division for three years. The fact that no club from the Primera Division has signed the world and two-time European champions does not necessarily speak for his suitability as a top coach.