Real Madrid has begun a new era and Xabi Alonso is the conductor responsible for leading the team back to the top of European and world football. During preparations for the World Cup, players in the dressing room commented on the big differences between training under the previous coach and the new one. But now, the Tolosa-born coach has gone one step further and is pushing his players physically to the limit.
Xabi Alonso and his working method
A change of coach always means a revolution in any professional football dressing room, and that is exactly what has happened at Real Madrid with the arrival of Xabi Alonso. Until the end of May, Carlo Ancelotti was in charge of the team, and now, as they say inside the dressing room, “we have gone from the 80s to the 21st century.” It is not a question of discrediting one coach or another, or of believing that one method is better than another. Simply put, Carlo Ancelotti, who has a long career on the bench, had more outdated methods, and now, with Xabi Alonso, training has been modernized. But let’s not forget that with the Italian coach’s method, Real Madrid had the best decade in its history, and that is saying a lot.
But Xabi Alonso arrives with new ideas, new systems, more contemporary methods, and an emphasis on technological tools that were not used before. Match preparation is much more methodical, with every aspect of the opponent analyzed, collectively and individually, in search of any loophole that could give an advantage.
On the pitch, the commitment is also different. The Basque coach is much more involved than his predecessor, he is closer to the players, more energetic, and demands that energy from his players. As he said on his first day in the dressing room, he is going to give 200%, but in return, he is going to demand 200%.
Xabi Alonso and the iron fist
The Club World Cup barely gave him time to showcase his ideas, although we did get a glimpse of what we can expect in this new season. But now, after three weeks of vacation, Xabi Alonso has brought out his toughest and most demanding side. Under a heatwave that is sweeping Madrid (and the whole of Spain), the Tolosa-born coach is putting his players through very tough sessions, with a lot of wear and tear and a lot of movement, because, above all, he wants a team that does not skimp on effort, that is in every game, constantly on the move, supportive, committed… a unit that is constantly committed to its teammates, without cracks, without “stars” who don’t work. A clear message to some players.
No margin for error before the debut
There is hardly any time left, and Xabi Alonso knows it. There will be no preseason games, just fifteen days of training before the players take to the pitch for the first official game of the season. It will be next Tuesday, August 19, against Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabéu, and the team has to be at 100%. Because Xabi Alonso is making his debut at the Bernabéu as coach, returning to the stadium where he was once hailed as a player, and he wants to start with a win, without doubts or speculation. That’s why he’s been so tough at the start of the season, because he wants his players to be in the best possible shape for the first game. The new Real Madrid is about to get underway, and the coach knows that this will be a season where he will be under scrutiny, and there is no room for error.