Leverkusen were a mediocre team. Last season we did not see a better performance than Leverkusen. The team was at the sixth place in the points table. And the performance was also very poor. The team probably won 14 matches. But this season, Leverkusen has performed well. Did not lose a single match in the Bundesliga. And all this is possible because of Xabi Alonso.
In the previous seasons, Leverkusen usually finished in the top 6. They are the team from Bundesliga that quite often played in Europa league. But sometimes they could finish in the top 3 and played in UCL. However, they never won Bundesliga trophy, they didn't target to compete for the title. Sure, in this season Leverkusen performed very incredible, no team in Bundesliga can defeat Leverkusen. Even in DFB Pokal, Leverkusen can keep wining every match until the final round and win the trophy of DFB Pokal. It is fantastic, Xabi Alonso changes Leverkusen to be a winning team. Unfortunately, they missed 1 match, they were defeated in final match of Europa league and they failed to win the trophy.
Everyone must admit that the effect of Xabi Alonso is real, Xabi is amazing. But Xabi Alonso should still get a lesson from the result of Europa league final match. In some matches, it looks like Xabi Alonso using not a proper starting-lineup. This should be avoided in the next season, specifically for the crucial matches.
It's true that Leverkusen's players worked hard. Also Xabi Alonso's match strategy was excellent. And because of Alonso's match strategy, Leverkusen team was able to maintain the winning streak. Xabi Alonso is undoubtedly the best coach this year.
Every player must work hard, it is the responsibility of every player in a football team. However, I can appreciate Leverkusen players, they could understand well the tactics or strategy implemented by Xabi Alonso. They also want to force themselves to play in a higher level, so they can be more competitive. Besides Xavi has a smart idea for the team, the spirit among the players also has a big role to make them be a stronger team in this season.