Page 57 - Soccer360 Issue 107

COACH
CONTEST
XABI ALONSO
Leverkusen
Michelle Osei Bonsu takes a look at some of the personalities who will be leading the various Bundesliga teams during the 2024-25 season.
VINCENT KOMPANY
Bayern munich
The award for the most protracted search for a new manager this summer went to Bayern Munich, who were turned down
by numerous candidates before finally settling on Vincent Kompany, whose links to the job and subsequent unveiling was
a great surprise to many, having just overseen relegation from the Premier League with Burnley. The Belgian, for many years
the inspirational captain of Manchester City, had led Burnley
back to the English top-flight in exhilarating style in 2022-23,
but the Clarets never really threatened to stay up as Kompany was often criticised for refusing to show any tactical flexibility. Bayern Munich will present the biggest appointment of Vincent Kompany’s nascent managerial career. The former defender is
no stranger to the Bundesliga as he spent a couple of seasons on the books of Hamburg in the mid noughties, and has mixed results so far as a manager. Still, it’s clear that Bayern are looking to try to copy Leverkusen’s success with Xabi Alonso, during which die Werkself took a major punt on an unproven manager and it paid dividends. Speaking of Alonso, what’s next? The Spaniard was at the helm as Bayer Leverkusen completed a historic Bundesliga campaign during the 2023-24 term, and
then decided to stay amid the clamour for him to replace Jurgen Klopp at former club Liverpool. Not only did his Leverkusen finally beat Bayern Munich to the coveted Bundesliga title, but they did so without losing a single match - indeed with their only defeat
in any competition coming in the Europa League final. After such an outstanding season, expectations will be high for the former midfielder and his squad, and it will be interesting to see how die Werkself fare as they aim to successfully challenge for titles again. Another team that clearly seems to be inspired by Leverkusen’s success with a younger, untested manager, is none other than Borussia Dortmund. Fans will be quite familiar with Nuri Sahin, who both played for Dortmund’s youth academies as well as spent two spells with die Schwarzgelben from 2005 to 2011 and then again from 2014 to 2018. Sahin, who was born in Germany but played his international football for Turkey, was previously one of Edin Terzic’s assistants alongside fellow Dortmund teammate Sven Bender. With Terzic’s departure, Sahin has now replaced his former boss to become the youngest manager
in the league this season. So, with two new, young managers arriving at Bayer Leverkusen’s two main rivals, it promises to be an exciting battle between Xabi Alonso and his generational peers for this latest Bundesliga title race.
UEFA has come a long way since Real Madrid won the very first Champions League Cup in 1955
RB LEIPZIG
LAST SEASON
FINISH: 4th place RECORD: 19-8-7
MOST GOALS: Openda (24)
NURI SAHIN
Dortmund
DINO TOPPMÖLLER
Frankfurt
RB Leipzig’s unprecedented rise to the top- flight has earned them their fair share of detractors, but die Roten Bullen have done more than enough to prove that they can certainly compete with more established clubs. Since bursting onto the scene in 2016, Leipzig have never finished lower than sixth in the Bundesliga, which means that they have consistently featured in European football.
Current manager Marco Rose, who himself played for Leipzig at both youth and senior level, has - with the notable exception of Dani Olmo - been able to keep several key players, including Bayern Munich target Xavi Simons, and expectations are high that this team could potentially follow in the steps of Bayer Leverkusen to upset the odds in the Bundesliga title race this term.
KEY PLAYER
Xavi Simons
SEBASTIAN HOENESS
Stuttgart
DID YOU KNOW?
Bayern asked Pep Guardiola about Kompany before they hired him, to which Pep repsonded:
“I have the biggest admiration for his work, personality and expertise. It doesn’t matter if he got relegated with Burnley. I would love Bayern to take the best decision,”
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