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Xabi Alonso, the Premier League and the Champions League.

Xabi Alonso was an extraordinary football player…and he is slowly, but surely turning into a very good football manager.

But things weren’t always like this for him. And Bayer Leverkusen wasn’t always placed first in the Bundesliga.

So, what changed and how did Xabi Alonso, Bayer Leverkusen and my team managed to turn their fortunes around?

The answer is quite simple.

Ever since Xabi Alonso was a football player, he was managed by brilliant football managers. Especially towards the end of his playing career.

Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. All three of them managed Xabi Alonso as a football player.

With this kind of coaches, Xabi must have inherited bits of football managerial brilliance.

Also, as a player, he was part of big, strong and tightly knit teams. Such as Liverpool 2005 or Real Madrid 2011.

He has played alongside footballing legends like Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Darko Kovacevic, Sergio Ramos, Arjen Robben and the list could go on.

With this kind of mix of strong dressing rooms and brilliant football managers, of course Xabi Alonso developed unique and strong footballing principles.

Principles he is applying today at Bayer Leverkusen.

Before his arrival, Bayer Leverkusen were shattered. Literally. The club’s identity was gone, the supporters were furious and the team was fighting to avoid relegation.

However, the Xabi Alonso’s appointment at the BayArena was quite a surprise. The club was desperate, but no one thought they were as desperate as giving control to a former player who only managed once in a topflight, at Real Sociedad, coming from Real Madrid’s youth teams.

But they did, and this match currently seems to have been done in heaven.

Both the club and Xabi Alonso had a rocky start, but he managed to lead them to a 6th place finish, thus qualifying them for European football.

The Spanish manager fields his team in a more or less unique formation, especially for Bundesliga. Taking advantage of the squad’s strengths and trying to cover the shortcomings.

Utilising the pace of his right wing back, the creativity of his midfielders and the unpredictability of his front men, Xabi Alonso has designed a tactic that, at the moment, is taking the Bundesliga by storm.

Due to his unique approach to the game, it is hard to add variety when recreating the tactic in Football Manager 2024.

But, using some of the manager’s creativity, this could be worked out.

A 3-4-2-1 formation, which can easily transform into a 2-3-5 when attacking.

A sweeper keeper on defend, to make sure that the when a ball passes the back line, the keeper is there to intervene swiftly.

A 3 men defence, formed by a ball playing defender, a central defender and a wide centre back on support.

The defence is setup like this to give width to the formation when we are building from the back and to get narrow when out of possession.

A complete wing back on attack is one of the engines of the tactic. This position is occupied by Jeremie Frimpong. And if you manage to find a player having his attributes even remotely close to Jeremie’s, you have half of this tactic completed.

The player assigned this role is thought to be going up and down the right flank, getting involved into attacks and surprising the opposition.

Of course, his presence in the attack means that his flank should be covered until he gets back into position when out of possession. Thus, the ball playing defender on defend duty. This player is the cover until the wing back returns to his position.

On the opposite flank we have a wing back on support. He does not venture as far as his wing back teammate, but he gets up there and makes his presence known when the game moment requires it.

In the centre we have to midfielders, a deep lying playmaker and a roaming playmaker. A more static and defending playmaker and a more dynamic and creative one.

Both players have as instructions to tackle harder and mark tighter, as they need to harry the opposition midfielders and delay their build-up.

The roaming playmaker is another engine of the team, recycling the ball and creating attacking opportunities for his team.

The front three is formed by two attacking midfielders and one advanced forward. One attacking midfielder is on support and the other is on attack.

Other player instructions are given to the ball playing defender to stay wider and the advanced forward to dribble more.

As mentality, positive, as the tactic is thought to control most of the matches. Of course, you can lower it to balanced if needed, against stronger opposition.

In possession, a narrow width and focusing play through the middle ensures that the team is attracting the opposition in the middle of the field before passing the ball to the flanks, to the wing backs, when needed.

Pass into space is used to make sure that the free space is sought after and utilised wisely.

Shorter passing directness and a slightly higher tempo.

Hit early crosses when possible and mixed. Plus play for set pieces.

As it can be seen, the game plan is to attract the opposition to a midfield play before utilising either the free space left open by the opposition or the flanks for quick crosses into the box. Having a tall and strong striker would help in capitalising on the chances created by the team.

In transition, counter-press and play on counter. And the ball to be rolled out to the centre backs.

Out of possession, high press and a higher defensive line. Trigger press more often, get stuck in, step up more and trap outside.

The tactic is a bit aggressive out of possession, as the aim is recovering the ball fast and utilise the momentum to counter-press.

The trap outside option is used as the 3 at the back formation must be kept narrow, as to not give out space to opposing attackers to move into.

As alluded to at the beginning of the video, this tactic has helped my team win the Premier League, the Champions League and in addition, the UEFA Super Cup and the FA Community Shield.

We were the runners-up in the FA Cup, scored the most and conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League.

Of course, there are many more surprises this tactic can bring you and it is for you to discover them.