The Leverkusen phenomenon
How Xabi Alonso built a ruthless success machine
By Constantin Eckner
January 4, 2024, 8:53 p.m
After a record-breaking first half of the season, Bayer Leverkusen overwintered as leaders of the Bundesliga. The Werkself’s success is based on the input of head coach Xabi Alonso and a core of top performers. But the tough test is still ahead.
Of course, Xabi Alonso can and should be happy these days about his team’s strong season so far. Bayer Leverkusen has set a new record in German professional football with 25 competitive games without defeat from the start of a season. The series took the Werkself to the top of the Bundesliga – and yet the 42-year-old head coach is not lacking in words of warning. “If our level drops just a little bit, we have no chance,” Alonso said at a recent media briefing.
During the first half of the season, 21 field players were used, with 11 of them playing over 1,100 minutes each and the remaining 10 players playing less than 350 minutes each. Alonso primarily relied on a core of top performers who could implement his footballing ideas to near perfection. These ideas included a sophisticated possession football that only very few teams in Europe’s top leagues can achieve. During his first season in Leverkusen, after Alonso took over the management of the weak Werkself in October 2022, when they were in 17th place in the Bundesliga, the Basque played primarily switch-oriented football. He initially wanted to stabilize the team and collect the necessary points to get into the top half of the table.
“We weren’t a possession team last year. We were a transition team, we were a counterattack team,” said Alonso. “That was completely different than this year. To be able to do that, to convince the players of that, that probably made me a better coach. It was my idea to develop our game.” The fact that Leverkusen were able to change their style of play so significantly during the summer break is largely thanks to the 42-year-old. In addition, some of the Werkself’s new signings immediately made an impact. Mention should be made of striker Victor Boniface, winger Álex Grimaldo, offensive all-rounder Jonas Hofmann and midfield strategist Granit Xhaka. The latter’s style of play is somewhat reminiscent of Alonso and in no way reminiscent of his time at Borussia Mönchengladbach between 2012 and 2016. In the following seven seasons, Xhaka developed into a veritable passer and game designer.
Systematic gain in space in the game structure
A game between the lines.
(Photo: Constantin Eckner)
This means that Xhaka fits perfectly into the new Leverkusen construct and fulfills a role within the team that has been a weak point in recent years. Bayer did not have such an anchor player and leader for a long time. Leverkusen’s game design usually runs through the Swiss. For Alonso’s players, it’s about always bringing the ball one line forward using the three lines, as shown in the graphic, and then letting it bounce again. As a result, Leverkusen continually gains space because the opponent usually falls back a little as soon as the ball gets from Xhaka to Florian Wirtz or Jonas Hofmann. Even after the ball is then played backwards, opponents usually remain in the deep position. As a result, Leverkusen constantly gains space without risking losing the ball in the middle third of the pitch.
At a certain point – usually after entering the front third – the game speeds up and the risk increases. But even in a high position, his team sometimes tends to act in a very controlled manner and to keep the opponent in their own penalty area with continuous passing. In these situations, Xhaka is also an essential player because he always keeps an overview thanks to his good ability to look around and knows where the next pass should go before he receives the ball. In this way, Leverkusen mostly stays in possession of the ball and reduces the risk of being countered. At 92.8 percent, the Werkself have the highest accuracy for short passes of all 18 Bundesliga teams. In addition, according to the statistics portal FBref.com, Leverkusen plays by far the most short passes – an average of 355 per game. Bayern Munich is the second team in this statistic to play just 276.6.
Creativity in the opposing penalty area
In the high areas of the pitch, the creative element of Florian Wirtz or the dribbling strength of the wingers Álex Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong increasingly come into play. Wirtz in particular is crucial for receiving the ball in the spaces between the opposing midfield and defense lines. However, these special game situations are difficult to train – and Alonso doesn’t want that. “Passing quality gives us a lot of control, especially in the first phase with the defenders and midfielders,” explained the 42-year-old. “But after that we have to change the pace. We have to get behind the midfielders. And then other things have to happen. The talent has to show itself. And these are things that you can’t train so much. This is the natural talent of the players. “
During his active time on the field, he was someone who was very methodical and thoughtful. But Alonso knew even then that all his preparatory work from midfield could only lead to goals because players like Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Milan Baros and Robert Lewandowski made the decisive breakthroughs right up front. In the first half of the season it was mainly Wirtz and goal getter Boniface.
However, Leverkusen will miss the latter in the coming weeks due to his participation in the Africa Cup of Nations (ACON). If Nigeria advances to the final knockout rounds with Boniface, the 23-year-old could not return until mid-February. Fortunately for the Werkself, Patrik Schick made an excellent return from the end of November after renewed injury problems during the first half of the season. In the final game before Christmas against VfL Bochum, the strong Czech scored a hat trick and played a decisive role in the 4-0 victory. Schick would probably still be Leverkusen’s regular striker if he hadn’t been struggling with countless injuries for a long time. That’s why Bayer 04 brought Boniface from Union Saint-Gilloise for 20.5 million euros in the first place.
Abstinence from regular players is a tough test for Alonso
However, while Schick can follow in the footsteps of his fellow striker, the situation in defense looks a little more problematic. The regulars Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) and Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast) are also at the Africa Cup in Kossounou’s home country for a while. This means that only Jonathan Tah remains from the traditional three-man chain. Piero Hincapié, who was in the starting line-up 27 times last season but has largely been stuck in the role of a supplementary player so far this season, should therefore play a more important role when the Bundesliga restarts. In addition, Robert Andrich and Bayern loanee Josip Stanišić will be options for the defense.
But now a phase begins in which Leverkusen may not be able to perform at 100 percent, which Alonso considers necessary. It will be a first serious test for the Basque coach that he will have to overcome. So far, Alonso has exuded a lot of calm and appears to have instilled a lot of self-confidence in his team. This gift from the former world-class midfielder will be even more in demand in the coming weeks.