This was it. The start of the Xabi Alonso-as-coach story, where one of the most natural schemers in a midfield would prove himself as adroit and successful with the backdrop of the touchline. If there was any assumption that his former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard would be a certain type of manager based on his assurance as a player, that perhaps goes double for Alonso on the back of three seasons of displaying his philosophy at Real Sociedad’s B team.
The view for a while has been that Alonso is so cerebral that he should be on an inexorable path to familiar ground at the top, with an eventual return to Bayern Munich earmarked by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge back in 2020 (“he will be a coach who may be of interest to Bayern at some point in the future”) and reflagged since his arrival at Bayer Leverkusen.
