With eight games left in the season, Bayern Leverkusen sits atop of the German Bundesliga. Having won 22 of their 26 games, drawing 4, they are currently unbeaten across all competitions, sitting 10 points clear of Bayern Munich in second for the first time in club history. If Leverkusen continues without a loss, they would be the first team in Bundesliga history to have an unbeaten season. The mastermind behind this unstoppable team is former Spanish Midfielder Xabi Alonso, who signed as the club’s manager in Oct ‘22.
Though he started as a coach for Real Sociedad’s B side, Alonso has stood out tremendously this season, leading his team to the top of the table with a club that has never won the Domestic Championship. Beating Bayern in this title race is no easy task either, as Leverkusen threatens to end Bayern’s streak of 11 consecutive domestic titles.
Coaches from Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola to Jurgen Klopp have commented on Alonso’s talents as both a player and a manager. “He reminds me of Pep Guardiola when I had him as a player. He was already a coach on the pitch” Mourinho commented back in 2010 regarding Xabi’s potential to be a future manager. Since his retirement and change of careers, Alonso’s recent performance as a manager has certainly been a standout one,
But with the spotlight on him, pundits and personalities are speculating what could be next for Alonso come April. At the same time, two of the biggest clubs in the world are set to have a position with Alonso’s name on it as contracts come to a close this season. But with Xabi focused on finishing out the season and no word from him on the matter so far, the question is where will he go next, if anywhere?
What’s Next for Xabi Alonso
Liverpool F.C.
In January, to the dismay of Liverpool fans, manager Jurgen Klopp officially announced that he would be leaving Liverpool after this season. Fans were devastated and shocked, as the manager who had rebuilt the team after years of poor form and mismanagement, now bidding the club farewell. However, fans have looked at the many possible candidates for Klopp’s replacement, and many seem to agree that Xabi Alonso is the man for the job.
As a former Red himself, Alonso could be the best option for the Liverpool side, tying into both his talent as a manager and his ties to the club from his days as a player. But would a move to the Premier League prove fruitful for both Club and Coach?
Thanks to Klopp’s diligent work at Liverpool, Xabi Alonso would be joining a club in much better shape for long-term consistency than Leverkusen. With a healthy stream of talented academy players and a relatively young squad, Liverpool is in a great position regarding their roster depth and overall quality.
Would it work out?
Having worked with a deep roster at Leverkusen, Xabi’s ability to effectively utilize both starting and bench players in his system could be critical. There are two reasons for this: One, his ability to train and develop young players has been huge for his time at Leverkusen and could work well with Liverpool’s current and future youth; Two, Liverpool’s tendency to accumulate injuries can be quite daunting, so being able to use all the talent at his disposal could work well with Liverpool’s deep roster of skilled players.
The biggest obstacle would come with a change in management, however, the only way to avoid this, to an extent, would be by replacing Klopp with one of his staff members which the team is already familiar with. That being said, the personality and flexibility we saw when he first joined Leverkusen make it seem like it won’t be an issue.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich has been more impatient and demanding of their managers recently with Julian Nagelsmann getting sacked after only three consecutive losses last season, and Thomas Tuchel already on his way out.
Football pundit Kevin Hatchard mentioned that many of the recent problems Bayern has experienced under Tuchel, in this and last season, involved inconsistent performances, and positioning that left them counter-attack-prone. “Even with moderate teams you had the feeling that Bayern could be got at,” Hartchard said regarding Tuchel’s performance with Bayern this season. Simple things like overburdening the center-backs and aggressive challenges from the midfield leave the team stretched too thin, occasionally leading to a few fatal mistakes in more important games like those in their 3-0 loss to Leverkusen in February.
Thankfully Alonso’s abilities seem to be a good fit for what the team is looking for at the moment.
Some of his success as a manager can be attributed to his meticulous approach to those key positions such as having a disciplined, no-nonsense distributor and a deep, reliable defensive midfielder. In combination with how the club has played historically, Alonso could be extremely successful given some adjustment time at Bayern.
Would it work out?
With a handful of experienced players like Muller and Kimmich and younger talents like Musiala and Tel, Alonso has an opportunity to expand on what he’s been doing at Leverkusen with guys like Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz. By utilizing those experienced players and leaders on the pitch to help keep the team composed and facilitate the younger players to perform, there’s a lot of potential for Bayern if Alonso goes that route.
Additionally, his attention toward positioning on the pitch and focus on simplicity in the defensive third could help in the areas Bayern has struggled with, while still staying in line with the culture and values the board has been so insistent upon.
Real Madrid, Manchester City, or another Season at Leverkusen?
While clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester City are all places that Xabi would surely consider, without the expressed interest of some of these clubs it’s hard to say whether these are realistic options in the future. Not simply because the teams themselves haven’t expressed interest or because Xabi expressed an interest, but because he’d be more inclined towards those teams like Bayern and Liverpool because of his time there as a player
While it wouldn’t be surprising if Xabi moved to Bayern or Liverpool, it’s not all that unlikely that he may stay at Leverkusen for another season. Especially with a secured spot in the Champions League, it’s possible Alonso may stay to see just how far he can take his team.
