Appointment
Every fairy-tale must start somewhere, and at Leverkusen for Alonso, that was in 17th place after eight matchdays. Taking the reins from now Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach Gerardo Seoane, the Spaniard announced in his first press conference: “I feel I can play an important role here and have an impact on the team, that I can improve the team and myself. I’m really happy to be here. Now I just want to get to work.”
Improvement undoubtedly followed. Alonso kicked off with a 4-0 victory over Schalke and, while he had to wait another seven games for his next victory in the dugout, the Werkself were soon climbing up the Bundesliga table rather than just straining their necks and looking up above.
Building up steam
Alonso’s playing days and stints under hugely successful head coaches such as Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho allowed him to build up enormous tactical insight. However, one of the first things he reimplemented upon his arrival was a sense of self-belief in his players. After all, despite their league position, he hadn’t inherited a squad of relegation fodder; they had finished third in the campaign prior.
