There is a new promising coach in Europe. Fans know him well – he is a two-time European champion and world champion Spaniard Xabi Alonso, who played at club level for Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern. More than halfway through the season, his Bayer are leading the Bundesliga and recently defeated Bayern.
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Alonso produced a historic performance with Real Sociedad’s youth team and is targeting Guardiola’s side
Alonso’s career as a player has been varied – playing in the legendary 2005 Champions League final. for Liverpool (the team got back from 0:3 against AC Milan and took the trophy), the fight for Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona (Xabi was a support player in the team that took the title away from the Catalans in the 2011/12 season), three consecutive unsuccessful Champions League semi-finals with Bayern Munich (here he already played under Guardiola), and three consecutive victories with the Spanish national team at major tournaments.
In the summer of 2017, Alonso’s career ended. He took a year-long break and then got a job as a Real Madrid youth team mentor for players under 19. However, the young specialist did not stay in Madrid for long. Even though Alonso was just starting in his new role, he did not hide his ambitions. “I have the goal of working with a top club, but I’m in no hurry to go anywhere,” he shared in 2021.
The beginning of the path with Real Sociedad B
Xabi realised he could not reach the Real Madrid head coach post through the academy, so he went to his homeland. In June 2019, he took charge of Real Sociedad B, where he signed his first professional contract in 2000.
In recent years, the club from San Sebastian has moved from the bottom of the table to the top, thanks partly to Alonso. At the end of last season, the foundation of Sociedad took fourth place in La Liga and got into the Champions League, and in the current championship is in fifth position. In 2021, Xabi led “Real Sociedad B to the second division of the Spanish championship, the team was there for the first time in 60 years. Now in the application of the main team at once, 14 pupils, which is also an achievement of Alonso. The second team of Sociedad lasted in the Segunda for only one season but was remembered for the bright attacking football – possession of the ball on average 65-70% of the time.
In March 2021, top league clubs contacted Xabi Alonso, and the Bild newspaper wrote about Borussia Mönchengladbach’s interest in the specialist. The specialist refused, explaining that he was not ready to work at the highest level. A year later, Borussia did not repeat its offer, but Alonso turned to Bayer sporting director Simon Rolfes – with the former midfielder of the German national team, Xabi, crossed on the field. “Yes, he had no head coaching experience. But I knew he would improve our team,” Rolfes recalled of Alonso’s appointment when speaking to Sky Sports.
Xabi calls Pep Guardiola his idol in coaching
In an interview with The Athletic, Alonso explained his move from Real Madrid to Barcelona in 2014 as wanting to work with the Catalan specialist. “I was curious to know his secrets. Guardiola has a kind of inexhaustible enthusiasm. The football season is long, but even at the end of it, Pep never looked tired. He was always awake and energised. That was transmitted to the players, and maybe that’s why we ran the extra few metres when we needed it most,” said Xabi.
The mentor is impressed by Guardiola’s versatile personality. For example, many people have noticed much literature on football tactics in Pep’s office. Alonso is also a bookish person, and he is not only fond of literature about his favourite sport.
