Nobody can say where the path of Bayer Leverkusen and its new coach Xabi Alonso will lead in the coming weeks; this season has gotten too crazy. It was immediately noticeable at the premiere that the Basque was gaining in style for the Bundesliga: He wore white sneakers, tight black pants and a casual black sweater that didn’t have to be thick because the sky was on Alonso’s Bundesliga coaching debut announced rain and the sun shone like spring on the actors. The background on souvenir photos after the safe 4:0 (2:0) against Schalke 04 looked appropriately cheerful.
One could also guess that the Spaniard, who embodied world class as a midfielder at Real Madrid, Liverpool and FC Bayern, would coach the way he played: with short, deliberate steps and actions in which words replace the balls and he meticulously respects the boundaries of the coaching zone. He would often use hand signals to direct his players further forward, and at almost every lengthy break he would call a pro to instruct him; After his predecessor Gerardo Seoane was on leave, Alonso only had two days to get to know his team. He had to have a few names written down.
One of the reasons why you had the opportunity to watch Xabi Alonso so closely on Saturday was that the game initially lived up to the announcement that it was a duel between the league’s most prominent problem children. After all, Bayer had two mini-chances early on through Moussa Diaby. Schalke 04, on the other hand, largely refused to play and threw the ball forward almost every chance they got, but like last time against Augsburg (2:3) they were out of luck. Apparently there was a higher power at play here that didn’t want anyone to be rewarded for this idea of football.
“There are some things we can improve,” announces Alonso
Perhaps the controversial Schalke coach Frank Kramer wanted to kidnap a point from the unsettled factory club in this way. But after 25 minutes, Leverkusen began to attack more purposefully, preferably down the right flank, where speedster Jeremie Frimpong kept fooling his opponent Mohr with glee. (Trainer Kramer waited until halftime before making a change.) Only the flanks were regularly unusable.
“I’m satisfied, but there’s a lot that we can improve,” Alonso later said in a unique, completely unpredictable mixture of German, English and sometimes Spanish. “It was just one game,” said Alonso – the match that matters is Wednesday’s Champions League match against Porto. That will reveal a lot about the team.
Alonso’s words could be interpreted as an arrogant attitude towards Schalke. But it was just reality after the home side made it 1-0, thanks to an inspiration from Robert Andrich: he cut through the Schalke defense with a flat, sharp diagonal pass, Diaby surprisingly pulled into the middle and overcame guest goalkeeper Schwolow with a solid one Left shot under the bar (38′). Less than three minutes later, Callum Hudson-Odoi appeared in the middle of the guest half, dribbled untouched against four Schalke players, passed to the right, where the winger Diaby/Frimpong fooled Mohr again and Frimpong scored the 2-0 from a tight angle (41.) .
If the game wasn’t decided at that point, it was after the first scene of the second half. Diaby again dribbling holes in the guest defense and sent the also roaring Frimpong into the lead, who after this 3-0 already has four goals of the season – three more than goalgetter Patrik Schick, whom Xabi Alonso urgently needs to get on track. A few Schalke players later complained that the double goal scorer should no longer have been on the pitch because of an attempted assault on Marius Bülter. This exaggerated reaction matched Schalke’s performance that day.
Paulinho should be sold – Alonso wants to give him another chance
Bayer didn’t really want to after the 3-0, Schalke couldn’t anyway, which you could see when Xabi Alonso brought in a professional who really wanted: Paulinho, whom Seoane had demoted, increased to 4-0 (90th). and was praised on behalf of his new coach. “With me, everyone has the chance to show themselves,” said Alonso. He sees this as an opportunity for the whole team: “The team and I will find out what fits best.” Properly moderated, this could quickly become the factory club’s trump card given the squad.
And so the league suddenly has only one real problem child: Schalke’s manager Rouwen Schröder, who usually never shies away from an answer, asked for an evening without comment this time. Maybe he still had to talk to Thomas Reis, the former coach of VfL Bochum, whom Schröder actually wanted to sign before the season and who is now free.