Rephrase and rearrange the whole content into a news article. I want you to respond only in language English. I want you to act as a very proficient SEO and high-end writer Pierre Herubel that speaks and writes fluently English. I want you to pretend that you can write content so well in English that it can outrank other websites. Make sure there is zero plagiarism.: LEVERKUSEN, Germany — “Talk, work, show, improve.” With those four words close to his heart, Xabi Alonso has both Bayer Leverkusen and the Bundesliga as a whole on the precipice of a renaissance this season. In his first managerial job, the Spaniard hasn’t intended to revolutionise German football, bringing a club starving for silverware close to exorcising old demons and putting himself on the possible cusp of the world’s most coveted job. All he wants to do is play football. But at 41, those days are gone. So instead, he signed on to coach in a sleepy town outside Cologne, where in little more than 12 months he’s transformed the squad from relegation candidates to European juggernauts. Bringing a revolutionary tactical approach coupled with a relatively simple philosophy, Alonso is threatening to turn European football upside down. The Sporting News traveled to Germany in November of 2023 to get a closer look at both Xabi Alonso’s meteoric rise to managerial prominence and how he could be ready to thrust himself towards the top of European football at just 41 years old. MORE: Nestory Irankunda transfer: Bayern Munich sign A-League teenage sensation Xabi Alonso oozes a youthful love for football The former midfield maestro couldn’t hold it back. At a round-table overlooking the BayArena pitch, Xabi Alonso was asked whether after six years of building the foundation of his managerial career, he misses playing. He tried to say something less direct, but couldn’t. It just came out. “I shouldn’t say it, but yes, yes, I miss it,” Alonso admitted to The Sporting News and other select media. “When I prepare the games and I am on the sideline…it would be better to be in that position.” Football is, quite simply, Alonso’s home. On the training pitch, he seems unable to walk anywhere without a ball at his feet, like a teenager might require a fidget toy to stay focused. And going even a step further, he often dons a colored pinny and joins the drills himself, coaching from the very heart of the exercise. His itch for endless doses of football was evident as he admitted that while a desire to win in any way possible is necessary in this high-pressure environment, he gets the most personal satisfaction from seeing the everyday process pay off. “Mostly the process,” Alonso said when asked what he preferred. “Sure you want to win, but if you win with a good performance, and you do what we have prepared to do, it feels better for sure. At the end our results…I’m not gonna say I prefer to to play well and lose, I know that is stupid. But if you deserve [the results] in the way you want them to, it feels better.” A love for that process may feel simple to the man himself, but to others, it is perceived as a rabid attention to detail. That has stuck with many of the players, including Granit Xhaka who said after the recent victory over Union Berlin that he appreciates that “Xabi is showing us many many small details on the pitch. For me, that’s something special.” Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen have an identical record after 11 games this season as Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich did in 2015/16. Bayern went on to win the league that season: 🏟️ 11 games ✅ 10 wins 🤝 1 draw ❌ 0 defeats 🔢 31 points 🥇 1st in the table Incredible work. 👏 pic.twitter.com/97bSvMDjdH — Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) November 15, 2023 Xabi Alonso translates playing success to managerial career Xabi Alonso was a special player — and he knows it. He had to know the question was coming, as it’s most certainly not the first time he’s been asked, yet it still produced an unmistakeable smile that he was useless to hold back. “Are you still the best passer on the pitch?” He just couldn’t help it. “Yes,” Alonso muttered as he tried unsuccessfully to swallow the smile. He immediately clarified that Bayer Leverkusen boast “many good ones,” and the stats can easily support that follow-up claim, but his split second of involuntary honesty betrayed Alonso’s unending love of the game. It is this deep devotion — and, by proxy, understanding — of football that allows him to transfer his title-winning abilities on the pitch to his new role on the touchline. Many at the club believe his illustrious career as a central midfielder contribute to his success as a manager. “In the midfield, you’re always a connector between the offense and defense, you’re the connector and rhythm,” said Leverkusen managing director Simon Rolfes, who says defenders or attackers only focus on their portion of the overall system, but true central midfielders must learn it all. “At the end, every player has to perform with his qualities: his passing, his running, dribbling, shooting goals…if you understand the game or what to do as a player within the bigger picture, that does not mean that you understand the big picture. There’s brilliant guys on the pitch, understanding their piece of puzzle in an amazing way, unbelievable. But to see the whole picture and to understand all pieces and put them in the right way together, it’s a different story.” ”It’s too early” Xabi Alonso says his Bayer Leverkusen side are aware of their current league position but insists it’s too early to think about the Bundesliga title yet… 👀 pic.twitter.com/b36M8DURSu — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 15, 2023 Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro pointed out the exact same feature. “The position he played was a key position in the game itself. He was always a very intelligent player who understood the game and knew what the game needed. He was almost a little bit of a coach as a player already. Carro explained how while identifying their next coach a year ago, he and Rolfes split up the job, with Rolfes scrutinizing Alonso’s football approach and Carro focused on the intangibles of man management. “A coach is a big leader, you not only have to understand football but understand people and leadership, and you have to understand what a dressing room needs.” That was evident from the start, and it still bleeds through now. “For me, the priority is to get the commitment and involvement from the players,” Alonso said. “And with that, we will start getting a football idea, doing the next steps. But I think that first you need to persuade the players, you need to convince them that we can play good football.” Alonso believes results are the biggest way to get through to players, as it was when he was on the pitch. “When I see the things that we are training and the things we were preparing, they made us win games. So that was a straight impact. We do this, it works. I convince you easier. If I tell you something and it doesn’t work, it’s gonna be more difficult to convince you.” By that measure, the players shouldn’t need any more convincing. They are one of just three clubs from Europe’s top five leagues who have yet to be beaten in any competition this season, and their 34 goals across the first 11 Bundesliga matches of the season are the second-most of any Big 5 European team, two more than defending treble winners Manchester City who have played an extra game. Yet his training philosophy is quite simple. “Talk, work, show, improve,” is what Alonso said he tells his players. “Do collective training, individual training. I don’t know if it’s a technique. I don’t know if there’s a name of the technique. It’s just face to face conversation.” MORE: What Liverpool could expect if Xabi Alonso replaces Jurgen Klopp as Reds manager Xabi Alonso tactics, talent have transformed Bayer Leverkusen Xabi Alonso may yearn for the days of pinging jaw-dropping passes around Anfield or the Bernabeu. But instead of allowing his obsession and love to tear him down after the end of his playing career, Alonso has, as Michael Caine famously advised, used the difficulty. Having…
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