It's been two days since Real Madrid suffered a devastating loss to rivals Atletico Madrid, going down 5-2 at the Metropolitano Stadium. The media and analysts are still dissecting the performance under head coach Xabi Alonso, with a range of differing opinions.
Journalist Paco González analyzed the match on the program 'El Partidazo de COPE' and gave further thoughts on Los Blancos' loss to their city rivals. He named three players who underperformed, possibly due to not being fully fit.
For me, Carreras is hurt , but above all because he and all of Madrid were defensively overwhelmed with the ball. With the ball, he was also a headache for Madrid. And the midfield: Bellingham and Valverde
Paco González
Jude Bellingham
IMAGO / SOPA Images
Bellingham has just come back from injury and has played just over 30 minutes in two games. It was a big ask for him to start such a high-intensity game with not much match fitness. Fede Valverde is coming off a season of playing over 50 games and has continued to feature in every game this season. Alvaro Carreras has started every game this season as well.
Alonso needs to find a way to rest these players without weakening the team too much. Alonso will have another two transfer windows next season, and he has said it's a building process to take the club back to where they should be.
Xabi Alonso Compared to Carlo Ancelotti of Last Season
Xabi Alonso
IMAGO / Le Pictorium
Paco González has also criticized Alonso's decisions in the game, or lack thereof. He compared his game decision to that of Carlo Ancelotti during his final season with the club.
Although the intensity, courage and desire have to be put in by the player, I think that during the game he didn't look for remedies. It was a bit like Ancelotti , a rather conservative thing, waiting for the stripes to take the game away from him since they had taken the lead in two sporadic actions. And he ended up bringing on Gonzalo for three minutes, which was also very Ancelotti-like. I thought he was going to reorganize himself in a different way, to put on three central defenders. He lacked being Xabi Alonso . He was a bit conservative.
Paco González
It's only the start of Xabi Alonso's career at Real Madrid, and despite winning seven games from seven before the defeat, criticism has already come. I'm sure he expected that, being the coach of the biggest club in the world.
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