Xabi Alonso‘s Real Madrid got underway this morning with the first training session under his command. It was a session full of enthusiasm, but the new coach demanded pace and commitment from the outset. Many players are still to arrive.
Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid gets underway
Xabi Alonso has led his first training session at Real Madrid with his sights set on the Club World Cup, which begins this weekend, although the Whites will not make their debut until Wednesday next week. In fact, many players are still to join the squad as they are still on international duty or have just returned from it. Carvajal and Militao have already trained with the group, although they did not complete the entire session, as did Brahim, Alaba, Courtois and Valverde, as none of them are fully fit. Ferland Mendy, Antonio Rüdiger, Eduardo Camavinga and Endrick trained separately, following their recovery plans to overcome their injuries. Mendy and Rüdiger are expected to be available for the first game of the World Cup, but it will be touch and go.
In this first training session of the Xabi Alonso era, ten youth players accompanied the first team. They are Sergio Mestre, Fran González, Chema, Youssef, Gonzalo, Jacobo, Víctor Muñoz, Fortea, Diego Aguado, and Mario Martín. All of them have a good chance of traveling with the group to the Club World Cup, as FIFA allows a list of 35 players for the event.
Xabi Alonso’s intentions
Xabi Alonso has very clear ideas about what he wants to convey on the pitch, and he made this clear during the first session with his players. The team did ball possession exercises, but above all, they worked on movement without the ball and tactical automatisms that he wants to see on the pitch. Above all, he demands commitment, a lot of order and a high tempo from his players.
Movement without the ball and commitment are among the things that most concern the club. The team has lacked this throughout the year, both in attack and defense, revealing a broken team with gaps in attack and problems keeping a clean sheet in most games. This is a problem that Xabi Alonso wants to tackle as soon as possible, which is key if the team wants to qualify for the Club World Cup.
High expectations for Xabi Alonso
The arrival of Xabi Alonso has generated a lot of excitement at Real Madrid, both inside and outside the club. Rarely has there been such unanimity towards a new coach, who is known so well and who is expected to instill the same high standards he demonstrated on the pitch just a decade ago.
The challenge is great, especially because the demands are just around the corner. There is no time to settle in, no time to fail. The first title of the Xabi Alonso era is just around the corner, and what a title it is: the Club World Cup, which Real Madrid has taken very seriously and in which it wants to be crowned champion, as it has done in other major tournaments in the history of soccer, such as the Champions League. There will be some very tough opponents ahead, starting with their neighbors, Atlético Madrid, and ending with the current PSG, who beat Inter in the Champions League final.
The new Xabi Alonso era is underway and the fans are already looking forward to seeing the first game in just nine days.