When Xabi Alonso spurned his former club Liverpool last summer to remain at Bayer Leverkusen, it seemed he might have passed up an opportunity that was too good to ignore.

However, as Arne Slot has led Liverpool to the Premier League title, Xabi Alonso may also have benefitted from waiting for the right opportunity to arrive.

With speculation that Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti could be on his way out after a season that threatens to finish trophy-less, a former Madrid player ha been tipped for the potentially open position.

A former Real Madrid midfielder who spent five seasons at the Bernabeu, winning the Champions League and La Liga titles during his time there. The 43-year-old is still relatively inexperienced as a top-level coach but has enjoyed instant success leading the German club, sensationally winning the Bundesliga title in 2023/24 with a famous "invincible" league season while reaching the Europa League final.

Given his exceptional career as a player and the trophies he won with Real Madrid, as well as earlier in his career with Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and the Spanish national team, he would certainly seem to be a sensible candidate. Additionally, Bayer Leverkusen seem resigned to his eventual departure for certain positions, of which Real Madrid certainly qualify. So is he ready for a step up?

The Sporting News brings you all you need to know about how the former midfielder manages and how he's performed in charge of the Bundesliga side.

MORE: The Sporting News traveled to Germany to chat with Xabi Alonso in Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso coaching style, tactics, preferred formation at Bayer Leverkusen

In his short time at Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso has largely utilised a 3-4-2-1 formation, which is overloaded to one side. In possession, this results in one wing-back dropping into the back line, while the wing-back on the opposite side pushes extremely high almost as a striker, leaving that side's centre-back to play a full-back role.

He has a few key players at Bayer Leverkusen which are essential to this setup. It requires two exceptional attacking wing-backs, at least one possessional field general in midfield, and dual No. 10's who slot in behind a true No. 9 up front.

23-year-old Dutch right-back Jeremie Frimpong has particularly thrived in the elevated role, becoming a true attacking force to help the team transition forward.

Eleven Stats

Alonso has organised his build-up to invite pressure to spring their attack, thereby opening up the opponent for space to play through. This is also a tactical component of rising managerial star Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton and Hove Albion — another man linked with the Liverpool job.

Once Bayer Leverkusen get forward, they look to exploit the space they've coaxed the opponent into conceding and use the pace of Frimpong and others to speed past the pressuring defenders and accelerate into space. Moussa Diaby was key to this approach two seasons ago before he was sold to Aston Villa for €55 million ($58.4 million). Now, Frimpong pairs with rising star Alejandro Grimaldo to great effect.

Florian Wirtz is also an integral part of this tactical approach, recovering from an ACL injury last year to boost the attack. Despite not having extreme top speed, he sprints very often and has a near-endless energy reserve, in the 82nd percentile for accelerations amongst Bundesliga wingers in 2023/24 according to ElevenStats.com and in the top five percentile for carries (99th) and carry distance (95th) according to FBRef.com.

A Leverkusen winger will drop to receive the ball, pulling his defender into a stretched position along with it. He will then lay off to a paired midfielder and immediately accelerate into the space created by his trailing defender, receiving the ball one a one-two and bypassing his defender, creating a transitional play in the process as the defensive team attempts to patch the leak.

Below, you can see the average position of the Bayern Leverkusen starters in the 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich early in the 2023/24 season. You'll notice the very high and wide position of wing-back Frimpong (No. 30), while his counterpart on the opposite flank, Grimaldo (No. 20) is slightly further back and pinched, often invited to cut inside and shoot from outside the top of the penalty area. Consequently, the back three are also overloaded to the right to account for the space behind Frimpong bombing forward.

Opta Stats

This overload to the right causes an unbalanced formation and confuses an opponent who must themselves adjust to the uncommon distribution. Below are Bayern Munich's average positions from that same match, which shows how they were forced to keep Alphonso Davies (No. 19), a very attack-minded left-back, in a muted defensive position to cover for this, while their midfield was slightly shaded to the left as well.

Opta Stats

In his 3-4-2-1, Alonso utilises a counter-press to put opponents under threat on the ball and generate turnovers high up the pitch. With this, Alonso's Leverkusen side thrives in transitional phases, using space created by opponents either pressing or possessing to attack at pace. The press isn't overtly aggressive or high in its positioning, but instead uses a 3-2 box in midfield to force opponents to pass the ball wide, and then springs a trap on unsuspecting full-backs.

While building from the back, Alonso will instruct a central defender to step forward into midfield, drawing opponents centrally and affording the wing-backs space out wide. Once they break the initial line of defence, Leverkusen look to play their two No. 10s who can then either drive towards goal themselves or find the wing-backs in advanced positions.

Bayern Leverkusen’s Bundesliga rank so far this season:

280 progressive passes (