Aura alone is not enough. The problems of the catastrophic start to the season under Gerardo Seoane caught up with Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and coach successor Xabi Alonso faster than expected.
After the bitter 0: 3 (0: 1) against FC Porto, the Basque world star also suspected that his task would be more complicated. “Work. With work, work,” repeated the former midfield strategist like a mantra, how he wanted to tackle the problems.
Alonso: “We have to improve”
At first he had seemed a little helpless on the sidelines, where he had directed the great 4-0 Bundesliga debut against FC Schalke 04 on Saturday before, energetically and wildly gesticulating. Again and again his hands wandered into his trouser pockets or on his hips, his eyes were lost in thought. “At this level we can’t afford to make mistakes at crucial moments,” said Alonso, formulating a sentence that sounded like a rush given the sobering performance against the Portuguese champions: “We have to improve.”
After four matchdays, the ambitious Leverkusen team is last in Group B behind Bruges (10), Porto (6) and Atlético Madrid (4) with three miserable points. The chances of spending the winter in the European Cup are slim. “Of course it will be difficult now, no question about it,” admitted sporting director Simon Rolfes.
Anyone who believed that the presence of a former world-class player in the dressing room was enough to reveal the high potential in the squad is obviously wrong. On Wednesday it became clear that the highest opening win by a Bayer coach on Saturday only concealed deeper problems and that Schalke were simply a grateful opponent because they were not competitive. If Alonso doesn’t quickly get a certain phlegm in the team under control, Leverkusen is threatened with a really bad season.
The Bayer coach now expects a reaction
The 40-year-old indicated that he would first like to work on the attitude of his players. Unlike sports director Rolfes or central defender Jonathan, Alonso was also pleasantly honest and did not knit the legend that Bayer was the better team against the ripped-off Portuguese, but just unlucky. “We didn’t run into the rooms. We can definitely do better than that,” Alonso gave as a reason for the defeat. “We have to work professionally every day.” He can already draw conclusions about the character of his team on Saturday at Eintracht Frankfurt. “You can lose in football, it’s important to react,” said the coach.
In Jeremie Frimpong and Robert Andrich, very important players who have been suspended against Porto are coming back. It remains to be seen whether Andrich will suffice as a midfield stabilizer and also as an uncomfortable player. Seoane also failed because there are too few leading players in the squad who lead the way in difficult situations and set an example. Against Porto, Leverkusen looked like a bunch of highly talented individuals who all struggled more with themselves.
Tah, meanwhile, vehemently conveyed the impression that Alonso had made a difference in the short time since he took office a week ago. “We have already taken a lot from him: a higher intensity and tactical things. We definitely want to be more compact,” said the central defender, who now only has to show this together with his team-mates at a higher level.
