Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said he would rather play football than lead the team.
The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich player led the team from the relegation zone to the top of the Bundesliga table in 13 months. After 11 rounds, Bayer is first in the standings with two points more than champions Bayern and those two teams are the only unbeaten in the Bundesliga.
Alonso is happy to participate in training, and his attractive passes and skills can be seen on social networks.
“It’s better to play,” Alonso said when asked to compare his playing and coaching careers.
Asked if he misses playing football, he said: “I shouldn’t say, but I do.”
Alonso is considered one of the most serious candidates for Real Madrid coach when Carlo Ancelotti leaves the club at the end of the season, following the expiration of his contract.
Before that, Alonso will try to remove the curse from the club that is also called “Neverkusen”, since it has never won the title, and has been vice-champion five times. Also, the club played in the Champions League final in the 2001/2002 season and was left without a trophy.
As winner of the World Cup, two European Championships, two Champions Leagues and numerous titles in England, Germany and Spain, Alonso has won more trophies than Bayer Leverkusen in its 119-year history.
The Leverkusen job is his first senior coaching job, after working in the reserve team at Real Sociedad.
“I am encouraged to set my own criteria on the field, to make independent decisions and work that way. It’s not about the players being robots, it’s not about: ‘You always have to do this, and if you don’t do it, you’ll be on the bench,'” said the 41-year-old coach.
He has worked with many great coaches for decades, such as Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Ancelotti, and draws inspiration from their examples.
“There are certain moments when I think – what happened that day, in that situation? And those experiences help me to do something, to think and to try a different approach. Now those experiences help me a lot. I don’t like to talk about my job as a coach with a lot of authority, because I don’t think I have that authority. It’s too early for that, I’m trying to listen to the coaches I respect a lot,” said Alonso.
The Spanish coach also said that he regretted not working with Jurgen Klopp, who achieved success with Liverpool.
“I would like Klopp to coach me. What he has done for the club is incredible,” added Alonso.
Regarding the tactics, Alonso said that he cultivates a style of play in which the team will have control of the ball, good passing.
“It’s not tiki-taka, no,” said Alonso, who defines the style of passing once forced by Guardiola and the Spanish national team in 2010 as “defensive possession”.
He did not want to speculate about the Bundesliga title.
“We are aware that expectations are being created, but we do not want to be part of that creation. We want to be a part of what we can do and see how well or how much we can deserve to earn that chance”, concluded Alonso’s conversation with “AP soccer”.
