EXCLUSIVE: Bayer Leverkusen's Head of Coaching on Xabi Alonso and his stunning impact

"We are enjoying the moment, but we don't celebrate anything yet," says Bordinggaard who is only too aware of the club's history. Not least the 2001/02 season where they came second in three tournaments.

"Out of respect for the fans and that history, we are staying calm, but of course, we enjoy the excellent work the coaching staff and the players are doing"

Speaking of the coaching staff, with huge clubs like Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Liverpool sniffing around for a new manager, Xabi Alonso (42) has quickly become the hottest property in the world of football right now. But can Leverkusen keep hold of him?

"Everyone at the club is hoping we can, obviously. This particular group of players and coaching staff still has so much to achieve," says Bordinggaard who formed part of the group which set up a string of pointers as to how Bayer Leverkusen should play their football.

"Once you've defined which style of play you'd like to practice, it is easier to pick the right manager and we were convinced we had the right man for the job in Xabi Alonso."

Wise words from Bielsa

While it looks like a masterstroke now, Xabi Alonso perhaps wasn't the obvious choice. His only experience as a manager at the time was at the helm of Real Sociedad B who ended up being relegated. Leverkusen was also facing relegation as a serious threat after a season which had derailed but didn't waver when the opportunity of hiring Alonso arose.

"Marcelo Bielsa once said; 'don't show a manager's results, show me how he works'," Bordinggaard says with a wry smile, signalling an obvious satisfaction over how well the appointment of Alonso turned out.

As we sit enjoying a coffee, the Bundesliga table shows 21 wins and no defeats after the first 25 rounds for Bayer Leverkusen. That amounts to 67 points which is 30 points better off than at the exact same time the previous season. Did a wizard come in and swing a magic wand?

"The foundation of what we are seeing now was established 4-5 years ago. We sat down and made a plan of how we thought we needed to play to be able to compete at the level we wanted," Bordinggaard explains and the level was top four in Germany and top 16 in Europe.

"Doing that homework makes it easier to target which coaches and players you need and we are seeing the fruition of that work this season."

Their recent 21st Bundesliga win equalled their previous club record, set in the infamous 01/02 season. It is also the same amount of wins which brought Bayern Munich the title last season. And there are still nine rounds to go.

"Naturally, it is unusual that we still haven't lost but that only serves as a big credit to the coaching staff and the players.

"The work they put in every single day in training and in the matches. Nothing is left to chance, but it is also a big credit to the scouting."

Alonso can change games

One of the players scouted was Alejandro Grimaldo, who signed from Benfica before the season and has proved a massive success. Scoring and setting up goals in abundance, the 28-year-old Spaniard recently stated in an interview with The Athletic that he'd loved to have had a coach like Alonso when he was 20. How about Bordinggaard himself, who won four caps for the Danish national side?

"No doubt about it. To have a manager with such a strong and fundamental understanding of football and the logic of the game as Alonso has, is a privilege for any player. Just look at our squad and how the players have developed since he came in.

"You often hear coaches or managers saying, 'I don't have the players to do this and that', well, then it is your job to teach them. That has been a big part of the success we've had so far this season. All the players have evolved during Xabi's time at the helm.

"He has such a clear and well-defined football philosophy and he is capable of putting it into action during training each day.

"We've also seen several examples of how he is able to change things during games where we've had problems. He did it in the first game against Bayern, he also did it when we played RB Leipzig away to name a couple of examples. I am not sure how many managers are actually capable of that."

The aforementioned Grimaldo also stated how he had offers to join clubs from LaLiga, Premier League and Serie A, but his choice was "clear once Xabi called me." A nice but surprising side-effect of having Alonso in your ranks or was it something the club took into their calculation?

"It is an element you figure into the equation. When you hire a coach at that level, he might be able to convince top players that here is a project worth considering being an integral part of. You don't have to have been a former top player to be capable of that, but it certainly helps."

Hitting it off with Simon Rolfes

Bordinggard himself has been part of Bayer Leverkusen for five years and joined on a permanent contract three years ago having met Sporting Director Simon Rolfes when they both completed UEFA's 'Executive Master for International Players'

"We hit it off from day one and when he took over at Leverkusen, he asked to drop by from time to time as an observer. Then Covid hit and he asked me to be part of a group tasked with defining where are Leverkusen as a club, where would we like to be and how do we get there.

"From there, we defined what kind of football we needed to play to be able to compete continuously at a high level both in the Bundesliga and internationally. That is what we've subsequently tried to implement," Bordinggaard tells of the background to the current success experienced by the club established in 1904 by workers at the Bayer group.

"We wanted to change our style of play from being physically oriented to a more possession-based and you see how much we dominate games these days. Not just with physique and intensity, which we saw obviously wasn't enough. We needed more football in the team, so to speak, and we've succeeded in that."

They sure have, but what sets Bayer Leverkusen apart from other German clubs who've had similar or even better opportunities of doing likewise?

"I think we've been able to clearly identify what sort of challenges we have if we want to compete at the highest level. We've been able to develop and implement a strategy and the club has trusted the process which is never a given.

"I am sure there are a lot of fine strategies lying about in various clubs which have never been implemented because football is what it is. Two or three defeats create enormous pressure from the outside which again has an effect on the inside. Then decisions are based on the current situation and not on a well-defined strategy." 

At Bayer Leverkusen, the strategy is doing a fantastic job right now and while remaining only cautiously optimistic internally at the club, from the outside it sure has the look of the title waiting at the end of the rainbow. A title which would finally eliminate the nickname 'Neverkusen' for good.