These observations — where I look atReal Madrid’s history, its players on loan, Castilla, tactical tidbits, and other relevant thoughts — are now a regular thing. All previous editions can be foundhere.
Dignity, class, grace — all traits I’d use to describe Real Madrid’s last three managers: Zinedine Zidane, Carlo Ancelotti, and now Xabi Alonso. The club’s coaching appointments in the last few years, generally, have been calm and collected, much like the managers themselves.
When Alonso took the podium at Valdebebas this week in his Real Madrid presentation, it felt right. He sat there and answered the questions with charm; always praising everyone but himself — showing ultimate respect to one of his mentors (Ancelotti), the president, and legends like Luka Modric. Alonso, like Ancelotti and Zidane, brings calm and respect to the club.
It is a prerequisite to being a manager here: one must carry the values of Madridismo. To show class, show respect, and bring good to the image of the club with every step. There is a lot of pressure, a lot of spotlight. If one thing goes wrong, it will get magnified. Navigating these inevitable moments is important.
Having that ‘aura’ is one step of the way, but it doesn’t mean anything unless it’s accompanied by winning. Alonso knows that. Big tests will come. Even if things go perfectly at the start, eventually the ship will hit turbulence.
But for now, we kick things off with a honeymoon phase, with a very ‘feel good’ presentation for Alonso, in a week where things just ‘felt right’. Alonso is home. There was nothing unnatural about his coaching selection. He is one and the same with the club, intertwined with white blood. As the video montage of Alonso’s Real Madrid memories popped up on the screen on Monday, so did Alonso’s live reaction — his smile uncontrollable, peaking at that historic moment when the montage showed Xabi Alonso, in a suit, jumping down from the stands in Lisbon in 2014 to celebrate Gareth Bale’s header against Atletico Madrid.
It has been an emotional week at Real Madrid. Amid a season to forget, at least it closed with some celebratory notes: Carlo Ancelotti, Luka Modric, and Lucas Vazquez were all given celebratory tributes. Toni Kroos embraced Modric after the Croatian was given a guard of honour. Xabi Alonso returned. The club has already signed Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen. Kylian Mbappe won the Pichichi and the Golden Boot. This is not a club that boasts imaginary trophies, but it is a club that has recognized the significance of honouring legends, and it is a club that has reacted appropriately to building the next era.
Now comes the interesting part: How Alonso makes this all tick. Real Madrid signed, for him, a ball-playing right-back and ball-playing center-back. Alvaro Carreras could be signed in the next few days. Carreras is not elite, but is a solid two-way wing-back given the current left-back market, and, as one professional scout at a top European club told me this week, is “a good balance to Trent Alexander-Arnold on the other side.”
Alonso will bring a brand of football the Bernabeu hasn’t seen in years. He is less conservative, more daring, but not naive enough to assume he doesn’t need tactical versatility. Some may see the Vinicius - Mbappe pairing as a problem. He sees it as an opportunity.
“It’s a blessing to have Vini and Mbappé, and we have to get the most out of them,” Alonso said in his first Real Madrid press conference. “I do have ideas…. When there’s that communication about what we want, it will work properly.”
Very few have provided tangible solutions to how Vinicius and Mbappe can thrive together, with many I speak to in media circles believing the two are simply not compatible. This is where I have always disagreed. That they didn’t click to their full capacity comes down to several factors, none of which are permanent. For one, Mbappe did his part in adapting to a central position, which is not surprising given how he’s linked up with players like Barcola and Neymar in the past. Vinicius, for his part, got the left-wing role he prefers.
Part of this is that neither Vinicius nor Mbappe found form at the same time. Vinicius started the season hot, and was a source of offensive creation for Mbappe early in the fall. Mbappe struggled to find his feet and finish the chances his Brazilian teammate conjured. Mbappe turned his season around and found his lethal self; Vinicius struggled to hit stride, and ultimately fell victim to poor decision-making and over-thinking as he aimed to escape his funk. Ancelotti was unlucky in that sense — he is a master of unlocking potential, but there was only so much he could do.
But chalking up the Vinicius-Mbappe issues to bad luck and poor form is also overly-simplistic. There are things that Alonso can implement. For one, Vinicius and Mbappe can be unleashed with higher volumes of transition attacks, supported by relentless overloads from full-backs and runners in the box. The best players in the world should have the ball at their feet as much as possible. Was Jude Bellingham misused? Will Fede Valverde drive the ball forward now, unchained from more rigid defensive duties?
Unlocking offense starts with better defense and better build-up. Alonso’s scheme is filled with pressing triggers and traps. They provoke opponents to come out and leave space in behind. More space in transition should open up.
People underestimate how much new guidance can unlock a team’s full potential. Alonso took a Leverkusen team, treading water in the Bundesliga’s relegation conveyor belt, and lifted the team to a league title and a Europa League final. They punched well above their weight. Now Alonso gets to manage a team with four Ballon D’or level players and reinforcements. Players were frustrated with their roles under Ancelotti over the past season. Ancelotti, one of the greatest managers in the sport’s history, led an era only he could navigate. But eventually influence wanes and fresh ideas need to arrive. Alonso can pump oxygen into the team with a different structure and a different way of viewing the game.
WATCH: Alvaro Carreras Scouting Report On YouTube; PLUS: Reaction To Xabi Alonso’s Presentation
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“I’ve analyzed how the team played, how the players are, and I’m using it to inform my own idea,” Alonso said. “As coaches, we depend on the players, and I think they’re top-notch. The challenge is to build a team, unleash the potential of these players, and for us all to come together. If we all come together, we’ll have a very powerful force.
“I want the team to convey emotion and energy, play ambitiously, and connect with the fans. The symbiosis we seek is essential for a good start to the season. I like to improve each player’s potential to fit the pieces together.
“The idea of an ambitious and active game, that knows how to take the initiative... we have players for that.
Alonso still kept his cards inside his pocket — not revealing much. If we’re to go by his tactics at Leverkusen, then we have some inclination of what to expect: more control, a higher line, and a more pro-active approach in creating a high volume of chances. The scheme will be more proactive, less reactive. These are truths that should manifest itself regardless of whether or not Alonso uses three or four at the back. The formation and personnel will be less predictable, but the overall theme of proactivity, control, and exploiting space through strategic pressing triggers and passing triangles will be apparent.
Alonso likes to build through the middle while the wingers stretch the field off the ball — with the ultimate plan to hit the attacking players with outlet passes where they can break lines more efficiently and with purpose. Those principles should be visible next season, but there are still question marks over the personnel, defined roles, and how the stars are used.
Will Carreras slot in as the team’s first choice left-back? Will Bellingham play the Florian Wirtz role? Where does that leave Arda Güler, and possibly Nico Paz? How does Rodrygo — if he stays — fit? How far back does Brahim Diaz fall? Will Bellingham drop deeper into a double pivot to accommodate the above players, fulfilling Alonso’s words that the Englishman is a midfielder? How does that affect Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga, not to mention Dani Ceballos and possibly even Angelo Stiller? Will Tchouameni and Mendy play into a center-back role in a three-man back line? Why play three at the back at all if it means benching one of the midfielders?
This author doesn’t have answers, only questions — and anyone claiming they know how Alonso will line-up is dishonest. It’s very possible that Alonso himself doesn’t know yet, and if he does, he may change things once he see everyone up close. The roster is still not closed, neither will all the key players be available until the start of next season, and, in Bellingham’s case, later in Autumn.
(One note on Bellingham: I’m very interested to see where he fits in Alonso’s scheme. A lot of discussion over the past couple years on “replacing Kroos” and “replacing Modric”. It’s impossible. Players like that appear once every 50 years. The discussion then shifts to replacing their respective profiles. Is there anyone on the market? Stiller is one such profile, but I do wonder, and worry, what that means for roster spots for players like Camavinga. I also wonder if Alonso sees Bellingham filling in for Modric and Kroos through a different role than we saw Bellingham under Ancelotti. Bellingham covers as much ground defensively as peak Modric did, and has ability to control tempo. We often forget that he is a natural 8, and we only forget that because he is also a natural 10.)
One of the most interesting questions: How do you employ an efficient, consistent, collective press spear-headed by Mbappe?
One slight misconception to clear up: Alonso is not that aggressive of a coach when it comes to pressing. Bayer Leverkusen allowed 12ish passes per defensive action in the Bundesliga over the past two seasons — just above average, and one more than Real Madrid. Alonso likes to control games, but his build-up scheme is possession-based and focused on pulling defensive schemes through on-ball puppeteering. But he is not hell-bent on hounding aggressively.
WATCH: How Does Trent Alexander-Arnold Fit At Real Madrid?
WATCH: How Does Dean Huijsen Fit At Real Madrid?
Which in some ways may make the question above redundant. All things point to Alonso fully understanding that the weapons he has at Real Madrid are different than the ones he had at Bayer Leverkusen. Not every problem requires the same solution. The greatest managers recognize that different cards are dealt in different situations. Copy-and-pasting schemes will only get you so far. The questions that are being asked of Alonso now are not the same questions that were being asked of him in Germany.
After all this theorizing, the only thing left to do is sit back and watch, and hopefully enjoy the show. There is a lot of talent in the squad. Alonso holds a lot of promise. The roster is deep, and Alonso likes to rotate and get all his players involved to keep everyone fresh and ready. This should be fun.