Now We Wil See If Xabi Alonso Is Worthy Of Real Madrid

Forbes

4 days ago

09 July 2025, USA, East Rutherford: Soccer: Club World Cup, Paris Saint-Germain - Real Madrid, final ... More round, semi-final at MetLife Stadium. Madrid coach Xabi Alonso arrives at the stadium before the match. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)
When Xabi Alonso was confirmed as Real Madrid manager, a thread about him and Luka Modric started trending on social media.
It pointed out that when Alonso had left the Spanish giant as a player to join Bayern Munich, Modric was the club's key midfielder.
Following that departure, Alonso played for three more years in Germany, retired, spent another few years learning his trade as a coach, and then spent two highly successful seasons as Bayer Leverkusen manager.
This summer, the Basque coach has returned to Real Madrid as coach to find that Modric has been there the whole time, playing a key role at the club to the grand old age of 38.
The fun fact has been slightly spoilt by the Croatian's subsequent departure for AC Milan, but it nevertheless demonstrates the incredible longevity he has managed.
That said, his continued presence at the heart of the Madrid midfield was an indictment of the lack of development in the Spanish capital over the past decade.
This is not to say it's been an unsuccessful period. An incredible five Champions League trophies have been won, two in the past five years under Carlo Ancelotti's guidance.
But towards the end of last season, Real Madrid's method of assembling a team in which star power rather than team strategy was the decisive factor might be faltering.
Comprehensively beaten by a better-organized Arsenal in the Champions League, they finished second in La Liga to a Barcelona team rejuvenated by Hansi Flick's tactics.
Writing off a side with the level of talent Madrid possesses would be foolish, and it may yet prove that last season was a natural blip after much success.
However, Alonso's appointment indicates that the club's hierarchy feels a more tactics-heavy manager is required.
MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 16: Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid reacts during the UEFA Champions League ... More 2024/25 Quarter Final Second Leg match between Real Madrid C.F. and Arsenal FC at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on April 16, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by)
The Basque coach might have a strong Madridista heritage, but he is most certainly not in the mould of previous club legends like Zinedine Zidane, whose mastery was more in mentality than formation.
Alonso's coaching career has been turbocharged by his impressive tactical nous, which was the driving factor in the success of a Bayer Leverkusen side substantially less well-resourced than its rivals.
However, the early signs from Alonso's Madrid were not good.
Battered 0-4 by Paris Saint-Germain at the Club World Cup, players afterwards admitted the team failed to follow their manager's instructions.
"We didn't manage to apply the manager's plan," said Thibaut Courtois after the game.
"We couldn't press like them; from my point of view, we always arrived a little late, everyone out of position and that's how they beat you. We weren't close to them."
PSG notably achieved Champions League glory last season by abandoning the galactico star-driven approach that Real has mastered.
So it was interesting that Xabi Alonso praised the PSG long-term plan in his postgame analysis.
"They have been building for two years, and we are just starting, so we will take time," he said.
"We will have to learn from today, but the feeling at the moment is not the best.
"We need a proper break. This is not the beginning of next year; this is just the end of this season. After just three weeks here, I think we can take positives. We will take lessons from today."
"Our new era is just beginning; there is still a lot of margin, lots of things we have to do better.
"Today hurts, we have to be self-critical, but this shows us things.
"We will take things from this match and from this World Cup. We leave here a better team, even if it is hard to say that right now. It can be a starting point for us, a way of beginning next season better.
"Today is the end of this season, not the start of next. This competition has told me a lot of things about what we are and what we have to improve.
"I leave here with many certainties. We will start from zero in August, when 2025-26 begins. Not from the 95th minute of today, but from zero."
Alonso's plans for his Real Madrid side are unclear at this stage.
But Ismael Garcia Gomez, a Spanish coach who works as Galatasaray's assistant, believes Alonso will try to introduce a much more disciplined approach.
"I expect more tactical discipline and much more control of games," he told The Independent.
"The challenge is, of course, not only to win, but to impose a style that Madrid have never historically had. It's more like Antonio Conte, or Barcelona, or Manchester City.
"Alonso will want a style that everyone knows, to say 'this is Real Madrid'."
A more rigid tactical approach has not worked at Real before now, and this is often attributed to the same critique of the Galactico-led PSG: that stars are too ego-driven to listen to instructions.
Former Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder is among the first to suggest that this will be Alonso's main challenge at his old club.
"Xabi is very intelligent. You could see that when we played together," he told Spanish outlet Marca.
"I think he'll do well at Real Madrid. He knows the club, the pressure and has fresh ideas. I believe in him after what he did at Bayer Leverkusen.
"The only issue could be if egos are not managed well.
"Great players need structure and sacrifice. If they play for the team, not for themselves, they can be unstoppable. But it's up to the coach to make it work."
'Making it work' is crucial for Alonso, but when the season starts, we will soon know if he has a plan worthy of the famous team.