Xabi Alonso has admitted Real Madrid was exposed on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s flank in Wednesday’s win over Juventus, and implied he has not been overly impressed by ex-Liverpool’s man start to life at Los Blancos.
Real progressed to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup on Tuesday courtesy of a 1-0 win over Juventus. It was a scrappy performance from the 15-time European champions, particularly in the first half as Juve created several dangerous openings on the break.
But Real exerted more control in the second period and found a decisive goal via Gonzalo Garcia, who is enjoying something in a breakthrough tournament in the US. The youngster’s winner was supplied by Alexander-Arnold’s cross into the box, which was headed home confidently.
It was the 26-year-old’s first assist for his new club in what was a mixed performance. Deployed once again in a right wing-back role, Alexander-Arnold was caught out of position on a few occasions, with Andrea Cambiaso and Kenan Yildiz creating several openings down the Real right.
It’s a new experience for the England international, who has played the majority of his career on the right of a back four, and he is still clearly adapting. Speaking after the match, Alonso said he expects Alexander-Arnold’s performance levels to improve.
“We were caught out by Yildiz's position in the middle. Everything takes time, but I have faith in him,” claimed the former Liverpool and Real midfielder.
“He's a reliable full-back and so is [Dani] Carvajal. We will improve from the collective side to the individual and not the other way around.”
Kenan Yildiz
Trent Alexander-Arnold struggled to contain the lively Kenan Yildiz.
It’s not just the defense that is clearly still adapting to Alonso’s system, one he perfected at Bayer Leverkusen.
Vinicius Junior played in a more central position but didn’t look comfortable in the win over Juve.
“He can do both: inside and outside,” said Alonso. “The second part of the first half was good and so was the second half.
Trent Alexander-Arnold crosses the ball.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross was headed home by Gonzalo Garcia
“The space was on the outside and when we insisted on playing on the inside they were able to come out on the counter. We gave him width and for that we needed him on the outside.
“He interpreted it well. The other day he gave us a lot of space on the inside. Juventus were quite deep and the space was more on the outside than on the inside.”
Real faces Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals on Saturday and the winner of that tie will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the last four of the competition.
Alexander-Arnold has started all four games for Real at the Club World Cup, completing the full 90 minutes in each of the last two.