Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen

On 17/05/2024 0

Recreating Bundesliga's surprise of 2023/24

Introduction

After having played with some of the greatest managers (Guardiola, Mourinho, Ancellotti, etc...), the Spanish playmaker's coaching career was eagerly awaited. Actually embarked in a ferocious race for the BundesLiga's title with the Bayer Leverkusen, let's have a look on how it works, and then how to implement it in eFootball.

Friendly disclaimer: it would be incredibly long to describe all tactical variations of a team, as managers perpetually adapt to current situations and oppositions. Furthermore, it's also impossible to transcript them exactly in a videogame (yet?) such as eFootball. Please accept some of the analysis and implementation will be a necessary simplification to capture the essence of this team. I also mention at the end of the article the two best and visuals sources that helped me come with that recreation.

How do Bayer Leverkusen play ?

One of the particularity of this team is its flexibility. First, the build-up is greatly depending on the opposition pressing line. The base formation, a 3-4-3, is designed to play from defense, against one or two pressing players. The 3 CBs can move the ball forward to 2 deep midfielders.

If more players are pressing, one of the wide midfielders will drop and create a 4+2 against the first pressing line :

In term of attack, Xabi Alonso follows one the Guardiola's core principle: having an attacker between each defenders spaces. Against an usual four-at-the-back, that means committing 5 players in attack. But again, flexibility is essential to Leverkusen. If the two wingers are in charge of stretching the play, the front 3 is highly permutating and even dropping deep to help the midfield.

In defense, after an initial pressing following the ball loss, the team have 5 defenders and the midfield remains central and compact in 4-2-2-1:

How to implement it in eFootball?

In a videogame, it's difficult (or impossible) to recreate such dynamic shapes depending on the situation. To achieve it, we'll use the sub-tactic. If you do not know, you can prepare a sub-tactic and activate it in-game only with a button, without going through the pause menu. In our team, we'll prepare two tactics: one with a build-up of 3+2, and one with a build-up of 4+2. However, we want in both tactics to get the same defensive shape and to commit 5 players in attack. This way, I'll just have a look at the opposition in the pre-game menu and decide if I'll activate the sub-tactic (named Defensive tactic by default in eFootball) when the whistle starts the game.

Build-up:

In both formation, we'll play with the Orchestrators as Defensive Midfielders. By selecting Orchestrators, I want to make sure they roam horizontally to make themselves availables for the defenders. Any other playstyle will either make them go two high on the pitch or not roaming enough.

Formation A: We'll have 3 CBs, 1 LMF and 1 RMF:

Formation B: We'll have 2 CBs, 1 Offensive Fullback, 1 Defensive Fullback and 1 RMF.

If in reality both wingers can drop to help the CBs, we are limited in eFootball and have to chose the winger that will become a fullback. In this precise case I chose my left winger to drop as IRL, Grimaldo tends to it more than Frimpong.

Please note we rely on the AI for the Offensive Fullback movement. We expect him to be available during build-up AND to join the attack in the final third. If it's not optimal from a tactical point of view, it still works as intended in this tactic. For information, one of its triggers is when the ball goes on his side of the pitch, as you can see below. There is no Individual Instruction given.

Attack:

Xabi's front 3 is very versatile. To recreate that, my two offensive midfielders will be AMF Creative Playmakers. As the Orchestrators, this role ensure they will roam a lot. They will drop deep to form a 3 men midfield or make runs behind the defense.

For the striker, if I originally used an SS Creative Playmaker or a CF Deep-Lying Forward to embrace the permuation and versitality of the front three, I eventually went with a CF Goal Poacher. The reason is that against an high defensive line, I need a player that make a lot of runs behind the defense to penetrate it.

This aspect of the tactic is the most customizable one, and I recommend you to experiment with different type of strikers. Also, the question regarding the Creative Playmakers is: should you play them as AMF or SS? The main consequence of this decision is in the defensive shape.

Defensive Shape:

Unfortunately, the exact defensive shapes of Leverkusen are not doable in eFootball. The reason is that the game only set up 3 lines of defense (Defense, Midfield, Attack), so we cannot have a compact 5-2-2-1. The question is then: do we want a 5-4-1 or 5-2-3 ? The anwser depends on what you want, your own way to play the game, and of course the opposition.

For the defensive line, we'll give the Individual Instruction Deep Line to the wingers in Formation A, and only to the winger in Formation B.

If you want a pressing line (the attacking line of defense) of 3, you should set your Creative Playmakers as SS. Otherwise, leave them as AMF. In your choice, take into account that the higher on the pitch they are, the easier it is to exploit your counter attacks.

Tactical Recap

Xabi Alonso relying on short passes and flexibility, I use the Possession Playstyle.

Please note that several players do not have recommended profiles, such as the CB or the GK. This is those positions are not essential for playing this tactic. You can either vary the profile or use the one you prefer. However, it's important to note that the CB becoming a RB Defensive Fullback should be able to play both positions, just as the wingers joining the defense should be proficient in defense.

In the same way, if your left winger should be an Offensive Fullback, the playstyle of your right winger is less important. Due to the Possession Playstyle, he'll remain wide despite his playstyle.

Conclusion

This dynamic tactic ensure you'll get enough players to have a secure build-up, while keeping a good attacking shape (3-2-5) and a solid defense. It's a solid team with good results, at least for me.

What I most like about it is that you actually have to take into account the opposition. Rather than a "plug and play" tactic, you need to at least peak at the other team for your build-up. And depending on how it's going, you have more than one string in your bow with how you organize your front three. That's why I recommend to have different profile of AMF/SS/CF on the bench. The last inputs you can vary is your defensive shape, regarding how much risk you accept to get better counters.