Trent Alexander-Arnold on ‘amazing' Real Madrid welcome and Alonso help – ‘Winning trophies is what we do'

New York Times

5 hours ago

Trent Alexander-Arnold has praised the Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso and his new team-mates for 'going out of their way' to make him feel welcome after his summer move from Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold joined up with Real Madrid for the FIFA Club World Cup and enjoyed his most accomplished performance yet for the Spanish side during Thursday evening's 3-0 win over RB Salzburg. The result means Madrid topped their group and they now play Juventus in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
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The England international agreed to join as a free agent, although Madrid paid €10million (£8.4m; $11.4m) to sign him before his contract expired on June 30, meaning he could begin his new career at this summer's tournament.
Speaking to reporters after the game, the 26-year-old discussed how Alonso's one-on-one guidance is helping him overcome the language barrier, how the coach could 'still lace up' based on his performances in training and how afternoon matches in the United States have left 'overheating' and struggling to 'think straight'.
Alexander-Arnold, who spent his entire career with Liverpool prior to his emotional departure this summer, was asked to describe his first impressions at his new club. He said he had been expecting a more 'intimidating' environment when stepping into the Real Madrid changing room.
He said: 'Every player is impressing me. From when I played against Real Madrid, (I knew) all the players are world class. But just the way the lads are; when you come in, you expect it to be very intimidating, you don't know what to expect. But it was very warm, very welcoming, they made me feel at home straight away, which was amazing. It allows me to play as well as I can and today coming into the game, I was confident to go and perform.
'The settlement period now is done and it's about kicking on and being the best player that I can be and giving the best for the team and helping the team win as many games as possible starting with this competition.'
Alexander-Arnold spoke in Spanish during his unveiling earlier this month but said learning the language is his biggest challenge when asked to describe the differences between playing for Madrid and Liverpool. 'Of course speaking and being a part of the conversation is harder. You work hard to try and understand what people are saying and be a part of it,' he said. 'But the manager speaks to me a lot individually to make sure I understand everything that gets said. The meetings are in Spanish so he goes out his way and the staff go out the way to make sure I understand the game plan. So there's differences but it's just football.'
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While Alexander-Arnold is adapting to life with Madrid, the challenge of this tournament taking place amid soaring temperatures in the United States is proving more testing. The win over Salzburg benefited from being a 9pm kick local time and a rainstorm which followed a heatwave this week in Philadelphia.
For Madrid, it was their first night game of the tournament having played against Al-Hilal and Pachuca in the middle of the afternoon in the humidity and heat of Miami and Charlotte. Tuesday's clash against Juventus will be a 3pm ET kick-off at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The semi-finals and final of the competition are also scheduled for 3pm ET kick-offs.
'Today was cool, obviously we had the rain,' he said. 'It felt a little bit more like home and a bit more normal. Whereas when you play at 3pm it's ridiculously hot and the pitches are dry, you're overheating and you can't really think straight. But today felt a lot more normal. We were able to perform the way that we wanted to for the first time and get a really good win.'
Match 49: June 28, 12pm ET
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Match 50: June 28, 4pm ET
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
Match 53: June 30, 3pm ET
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
Match 54: June 30, 9pm ET
Camping World Stadium, Orlando
Match 51: June 29, 12pm ET
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Match 52: June 29, 4pm ET
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
Match 55: July 1, 3pm ET
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
Match 56: July 1, 9pm ET
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Match 58: July 4, 9pm ET
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Match 57: July 4, 3pm ET
Camping World Stadium, Orlando
Match 59: July 5, 12pm ET
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Match 60: July 5, 4pm ET
MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
Match 61: July 8, 3pm ET
MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
Match 62: July 9, 3pm ET
MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
Match 63: July 13, 3pm ET
MetLife Stadium, New Jersey
As for Madrid's chance in the tournament, Alexander-Arnold says they are confident heading into the knockout stages.
'The history of this club shows that we win trophies and that's what we do. It's part of the DNA of the club. That's our aim and ambition and that's what we want to do as a team,' he said.
As for Alonso, the coach trialled a system that operates with three at the back against Salzburg, which mirrored aspects of his set up at previous club Bayer Leverkusen.
Alexander-Arnold said: 'Everyone's got to get used to it. It worked, clearly, so that's a good start but obviously we have a lot of work to do. It wasn't a perfect game, but good signs. It was our best game so far as a team. It was the best game I've had. It seemed to click out there. We had a game plan. It was our aim to top the group. We are unbeaten and three goals and a clean sheet is a good confidence boost going into the round of 16. '
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As for his first impressions of Alonso, who he used to watch from the terraces at Anfield, Alexander-Arnold said: 'Obviously the way he can adapt to different teams (is impressive). We changed the system in a short space of time (for today) and the way he gets his messages across means it's very clear and we can understand perfectly what we need to do as individuals and as a team.
'When he joins in in training, you can see he's still got high, high quality, which is amazing. I grew up watching him, and he's not lost any quality at all. He could still lace them up and get out there with us if he wanted to, he's still that good.'