On a recent episode of El Larguero, Spanish journalists Ramon Besa and Manuel Jabois reflected on Real Madrid\u2019s changes under Xabi Alonso. The focus of the conversation was on Madrid\u2019s progress\u2014and how different the team is beginning to look.<\/p>\n
A Clearer Identity Under Xabi Alonso<\/p>\n
Jabois was impressed by the cohesion on display against Salzburg, noting how Real Madrid looked far more like a finished product than at any point in the recent past.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw an extraordinary prototype of what Madrid could look like cruising at full speed next season,\u201d said Jabois. \u201cWhat stood out to me was their ambition and defensive commitment. When they were up 0\u20132, Salzburg had a counterattack and everyone sprinted back. That change in character is decisive. These are mostly the same players, and they haven\u2019t forgotten how to play football. Xabi Alonso has made it clear: either everyone defends, or you won\u2019t last long here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xabi\u2019s tactical innovation hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cMadrid played much better than even the second game against Pachuca,\u201d Jabois added. \u201cAnd they did it with a completely new tactic\u2014three central defenders, something we haven\u2019t seen in years. Yet the team looked incredibly fluid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fran Garcia was also singled out for praise.<\/p>\n
\u201cFew Madrid fans expected Fran Garcia to look like a starter after the last two seasons, but in these matches, he\u2019s playing with more agility, more confidence, and more decisiveness than we\u2019ve seen from him before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besa, too, recognized the shift\u2014especially in the structure behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMadrid fans are eager to see the team succeed,\u201d said Besa. \u201cAfter last season, which was difficult to manage, people got tired of seeing the same faces and same issues. What we\u2019re seeing now is a coach with a clear game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued, emphasizing the importance of buy-in:<\/p>\n
\u201cXabi Alonso talks about the \u2018ethic of effort\u2019 rather than the \u2018culture of effort.\u2019 That\u2019s what he wants the players to represent. The best sign for Madrid is that the players are buying into his message. To win, you need to start by building a team\u2014not just managing individual players. Last year we heard more about player management than team-building. Now it feels like Madrid are finally building a team again\u2014and that\u2019s always a healthy place to start.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the more promising signs of this new Madrid is the emergence of Gonzalo Garcia from the youth ranks. Both journalist commented on his recent performances and step up for the first team: <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very rare to see youth players feature in important official matches like this,\u201d said Jabois. \u201cNormally, that position is filled by a senior player being shifted around. But Xabi came in, studied who was performing in the reserves, and this kid was scoring tons of goals\u2014and more importantly, bringing something different to Madrid\u2019s attack: sticking to defenders and pressing hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jabois highlighted Gonzalo\u2019s work rate:<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday, he recovered multiple balls. The goal came off a rebound, but it was also a second-ball situation, and he stayed with the play. He\u2019s quick, and Madrid\u2019s academy players are often judged too quickly\u2014if they don\u2019t shine in ten minutes, they\u2019re back on the bench. But Gonzalo\u2019s shown flashes, and now he\u2019s fully breaking out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Madrid\u2019s reliance on the market in times of crisis has often stifled youth development, but Jabois believes Xabi might be the type of coach to break that pattern.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery few coaches have had the guts to do what Valdano did,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes courage and conviction, and that\u2019s the best thing Xabi can bring to Madrid right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a recent episode of El Larguero, Spanish journalists Ramon Besa and Manuel Jabois reflected on Real Madrid\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[24688,24686,16380,24689,381,204,1412,1622,24687,5036,5035,635,5824,7629,24685,8659,1409,221,62,4058,448,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-28741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-are","9":"tag-besa","10":"tag-best","11":"tag-buying","12":"tag-for","13":"tag-front-page","14":"tag-in","15":"tag-is","16":"tag-look","17":"tag-madrid","18":"tag-managing","19":"tag-new","20":"tag-on","21":"tag-players","22":"tag-ramon","23":"tag-real","24":"tag-sign","25":"tag-soccer","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-that","28":"tag-the","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114775692771181144","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}