Stars like Álex Grimaldo and Granit Xhaka joined Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen last summer. However, Futmo takes a look at a player who was there before Xabi Alonso's appointment in Jeremie Frimpong.
How did Xabi Alonso's appointment influence Jeremie Frimpong?
Xabi Alonso joined Bayer Leverkusen in October 2022. Before his appointment, Jeremie Frimpong had spent one season at Bayer Leverkusen after joining from Celtic for €11 million in 2021.
With one goal and six assists during this first season in the Bundesliga, these stats are very impressive but still a world away from his current stat line this season.
Under Gerardo Seoane during the start of the 2022-23 season, Frimpong had only registered two goals with both coming against Mainz in August.
An instant success under Alonso's new system, two of his eight league goals for the season came in the Spanish coach's first outing in a 4:0 smashing of Schalke.
Right Midfielder: A Positional Change
With the appointment of the new manager came a positional change, Jeremie Frimpong played as a right-midfielder nineteen times in the Bundesliga under Alonso whereas he started all of the first three games in the season as a right back under Seoane.
Also under Seoane, Frimpong had mostly been playing in a four-back defensive system (4-2-3-1) whereas Xabi Alonso often elected for the 3-4-3 formation during his first season in charge of "Die Werkself".
This formation allows Frimpong to push forward and contribute more in an attacking sense as there will always be cover from the defenders. Under Seoane, there was much more of a defensive focus on man-to-man marking and tracking back.
Xabi Alonso's playing style allows Jeremie Frimpong to utilize his pace to great effect: he can run forward and make great runs without having to worry that his team would concede.
Following a season of much individual success mostly thanks to the managerial change, Jeremie Frimpong registered eight goals and seven assists in the 22-23 Bundesliga season.
2023-24 Bundesliga Season: A step above the rest
In May 2023, Xabi Alonso gained the last piece of his Bayer Leverkusen defensive puzzle: Álex Grimaldo. The Spaniard joined Bayer Leverkusen on a free transfer for four years from Benfica.
To begin the 2023-24 season, Xabi Alonso made perhaps his most effective tactical change to date in implementing the 3-4-2-1 formation.
The reason why?
Xabi Alonso gained key midfielders in Jonas Hofmann and Granit Xhaka in the summer to help him play the formation with two holding midfielders.
Together with Álex Grimaldo, Jeremie Frimpong and the Spaniard have managed a staggering 31 goal contributions in the Bundesliga.
With their pace and precision in passing, Alonso has given two of the quickest and most technically gifted wing-backs in the world the license to ping balls into the box following quick runs into crossing positions.
With the new usage of two holding midfielders, one of the defensive midfielders are able to drop back to create a back four and ensure the defence against any potential counter attacks.
What's Next?
Bayer Leverkusen play 1. FC Köln on Sunday in a highly-anticipated derby clash at the RheinEnergieStadion. The match preview will be covered on Futmo.
Match Result
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