Arsenal fan already reckoning he's a shoe in for Liverpool.
Xabi Alonso: Bayer Leverkusen INVINCIBLES double-winning manager
- Thread starter horsechoker
- Start date
I think that's only partly true. This summer, we brought a few players in that are crucial to our current style and were rather atypical profiles for us until now. We replaced the physically strong and dynamic Bakker with the small, agile and technical Grimaldo, the direct and lightning fast Diaby with the intelligent pass and go type Hofmann and the heroball midfielder Demirbay with Xhaka who so far has 0 goals and 0 assists this season since he is almost completely focused on ball retention and progression. I agree on the defense alone though. Tapsoba, Tah and Kossounou are phenomenal fits for Xabi's ideas.
Will Barca be looking for a manager? He's Basque too rather than Catalan.
Can see him flopping at Liverpool tbh
Still don’t understand why people would want him so early. Yes, it’s going fantastically but he’d be better off to develop a bit more in the Bundesliga before taking one of the biggest jobs in football.
If Alonso moved in the summer to take over Liverpool or Barca or whatever, I would not expect him to succeed.
If Alonso moved in the summer to take over Liverpool or Barca or whatever, I would not expect him to succeed.
Xabi Alonso
Either a lot of posters here are on a wind up or the name Alonso is censored for some reason.
Edit: It is censored. Wow.
As for today's game, cannot say I am surprised. I wrote multiple times that I believe Bayern are being repeatedly bailed out by individual quality of their players. Was about time for them to be found out.
Edit: It is censored. Wow.
As for today's game, cannot say I am surprised. I wrote multiple times that I believe Bayern are being repeatedly bailed out by individual quality of their players. Was about time for them to be found out.
Pep Guardiola is my idol
Difference in me thinking it will happen to them certain it will happen.
Why is his name censored?
I haven't watched much of Bundesliga this season but what kind of football do they play? Is it like the current Liverpool team with high pressing, counter attacking and good wingers and full backs or are they more possession based team like Ten Hag tried to implement but couldn't with the current players?
Alonso
Mainly possession-oriented
90% of the time, it is rather Guardiola than Klopp. But today for instance, Bayern had more possession and we played very direct. That is very uncommon, though.They surely will as Xavi was rumoured to be nearing the sack before he announced he was leaving but I don't see why anyone would go there. Barcelona has a mental sports media, a demanding fanbase, loads of financial problems and are governed by people who are trying to solve their problems by mortgaging their future.
No top manager should want to be there right now. It's probably a bigger career killer than United.
Facistcafe.net
The most noticeable thing to me today was they basically played 5-3-2 without the ball and 4-3-1-2 with it by virtue of Grimaldo being given 2 roles (he wasn't a touchline wingback purely, was fairly central like an LM when they had the ball in the first half especially with Hincapie a 90s style non-overlapping LB in possession).
It did not look very Klopp-like at all, but they certainly looked well managed. I've never seen Grimaldo that confident against top opposition. If Adli had been a bit sharper it could have been 4 or 5 nil really, though they did finish all their big chances, and they completely nullified everything Bayern tried to do.
I agree with your post, but what I'm saying is that those three CBs (Tapsoba, Tah, Kossounou) along with Xhaka has made a big difference to how the Spanish coach wants to play in a high risk approach. Players like Grimaldo are absolutely thriving because they have a strong platform behind them and can be utilised primarily as attackers first and defenders second. And that is only possible with a strong core of players who are adept at controlling larger spaces against the opponent's transition/counter attacking game. Tapsoba, Tah, Kossounou and Xhaka etc provide the pace, power and athleticism which helps Leverkusen control the defensive transition better than most teams in the Bundesliga. And if you swapped say two of your starting CBs with Maguire and Lindelof, then the Spanish coach's tactics will not be as effective as they're currently imo. And that is simply due to how capable Leverkusen's backline is at winning defensive duels in a front footed approach where defending the channel in 1v1 situations is a must against fast attackers.
I hope Leverkusen win the league.
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Someone added a filter to prevent anyone from bringing up full-back Alonso in the Greenwood thread.
It seems that the filter has now been edited to apply to that thread only.
He won't ever manage them, if anything he will take Real Madrid or Real Sociedad if he feels like it.
Doubt it will ever happen but that could be an intriguing option.
He is an exciting coach but I do think that Bayer are in their strongest period in a long time. Wirtz is arguably the best player in the Bundesliga, Tah and Tapsoba have been linked to big moves over the past few years, Frimpong is probably the next right back to get a big move and Palacios was fairly hyped up before he went there.
However I do think it takes a good coach to bring it all together and play a role in their developmental process. Will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
However I do think it takes a good coach to bring it all together and play a role in their developmental process. Will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
I've always liked Alonso, a pure class act totally out of character for the typical Liverpool player.
Ahh come on Bayern do your thing. I want to see the Liverpool recruiting system given an actual challenge.
Let’s hope his love for Liverpool is overrated as their transition from Klopp to Alonso will be a downgrade but still be a good one.
Alonso is very flexible wich is understandable from his background as a player. He played the majority of his career for coaches that prefer fast and direct football and are very tight at the back with good organisation - Benitez, Mourinho even Ancelotti.. at the same time his spanish DNA will be always possession oriented and that is what makes him very intriguing prospect. Balancing these ideas and making them his own will define his career, imho..Mainly possession-oriented
They sacked a manager who was falling a part. Would they have been able to sack Rodgers if he was coming off slippy G season.
if he had Maguire and Lindelof instead of Kossounou and Tapsoba, his team would play differently
Correct.
I have watched them and they have some really good players but overall feeling is that they are having their year. Football or tactics are nothing extraordinary. Everything is just falling right and it is post in or bar in instead of out. They remind me of Leicester when they won the league .
They are neither playing like Liverpool or ManCity. It is something in between. With that said, it would be nice if they won the league.
So... get Rolfes, not Alonso?
If he had Maguire and Lindelof then pesky Velma would have ripped the mask off his face to reveal a smiling but annoyed Ole.
Been watching their games for a while now and it looks so well-drilled in both directions, they don't concede space but also dominate going forward. Their wingbacks are unbelievable for their system, with Grimaldo being possibly the signing of the season and Wirtz is just a spectacular talent, who might be among the 10 best midfielders in the world right now. Hard to find a better team and group of players in Europe right now.
More like don't read too much into how leverkusen play to project how a different team wouldSo... get Rolfes, not Alonso?
They are playing far better than Leicester did and are dealing with a much better team in a title race. The Premier League was embarrassingly weak in 2016.
They've not lost in 30 games and don't play anywhere near the style of football Leceister did. They're worlds apart.
Exactly. Just looked it up, Leicester won the PL with 81 points in 38 matches. Bayer is on track to 89 points in 34 matches and Bayern for 81 in 34 (which would be their strongest season since 2019/20 and absolutely not a weak season, unlike the PL top teams in 2015/16). Still an incredible story what Leicester did, but they didn't dominate the league in any way close to what Leverkusen is doing right now.
Why the "Á" in Alonso in the thread title?
What Leicester did will be better than Leverkusen, Leicester were almost relegated, somehow they went on a mini run to save their PL status and next season they got 81 points which itself is an incredible achievement.
Promotion from championship, saved from relegation in last few games and then PL title. That's amazing.
Leverkusen were always around top half, CL-Europa place team.
You'd have to be insane (or Mourinho) to join Barca right now in the state they're in. Smart managers will avoid that job for a few years.
There are still a lot of unknowns about Alonso, but it's worth pointing out his performances at Leverkusen (while on a different scale) are not a one-off, he's been there for a couple of seasons performing well, and also turned heads at Sociedad. I think he's the real deal and my only hope for Liverpool not getting him is that someone at Madrid has whispered in his ear that he's 12 months away from being named their next manager.
I predict him to be like Ole. Joins Pool due to affinity with the club, did well at the start but the squad needs to be refreshed therefore not winning anything. Then he signs new players that eventually become his own demise. Pool holding on for too long because he is one of their own.
@rimaldo how u doin there mate do u like Xabi Alonso?