The situation
Xabi Alonso was presented this Thursday as the new coach of Bayer Leverkusen. The former player of Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich inherits the position of the Swiss Gerardo Seoane, dismissed after a catastrophic start to the season that places the aspirin group in penultimate position in the Bundesliga table, and faces which will be his first stage as a coach in the elite. At the press conference at the BayArena, Xabi Alonso, accompanied by the sporting director Simon Rolfes, spoke about the following topics:
The details
Motivation : It is an honor to be here. Perhaps I have forgotten the language a little after five years abroad. Now is the time to get down to work, the project is what it is and we have the staff to tackle it. We will try to put it to the test starting on Saturday.
Debut against Schalke: It is different from my debut as a player in the Bundesliga against Schalke, although there are also similarities. I didn’t have much time to acclimatize back then either. We have many things pending. I want to meet the players and establish a relationship with them. We need a new energy, recover self-esteem. We have to be efficient to achieve what we have set out to do. I will try to help my players to put them at the level that they can be.
Decision : Always take one step after another. When I started my stage as a coach I wanted to do one thing after another. I had the opportunity to take charge of other elite teams in the past, but I didn’t think the time was right. Now if I had things clear. I feel very ambitious. I tried to walk my path as a player and now I will try it as a coach.
Bundesliga : I never stopped following her, she has continued to improve. There are different styles, but the heart of this league is one. It’s something that helped me accept this challenge. We want to play football well and I think it’s great that there are teams here that are willing to give opportunities to young coaches like me.
Team : I want to be clear about what we are capable of doing and how far we can go. It has been seen what this team can be capable of, also under the orders of Gerardo Seoane. I am grateful to him for the work he did and now he depends on us to continue improving the team and giving it the energy it needs. It is the mentality that I want to instill in my players.
Sessions : We have five or six German players and I will try to run them in German, but also in Spanish.
Goals : I believe that everything needs its time, its process. For me it was important to make my experiences as a coach. I started in the Real Madrid academy and that’s when I realized that I liked it and could evolve. Then I went to Real and now I’m here and I feel ready to perform in a team like Leverkusen.
Style : We want to play modern football. We want to be intense with and without the ball, to be active at all times. Contemporary football has become very sophisticated and many facets of the game need to be mastered. It is important to master all aspects and I will try to pass it on to my team. We have to have a winning mentality, stay strong at all times because, if you don’t, in contemporary football you get punished.