Xabi Alonso named Real Madrid manager: Grading Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement tasked with besting Barcelona

Real Madrid officially mentioned Xabi Alonso as the new manager of the team on Sunday, where Alonso signed a three -year -old deal to complete his long -awaited return to a club with which he had a legendary gaming career. Alonso will be officially introduced on Monday at the club’s training field, making the job on time for their preparations for the newly extended version of the Club World Cup. His first match that is in charge, the group opener of Real Madrid will be against Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia on June 18, while competitions against Pachuca on June 22 and RB Salzburg will follow on 26 June.

The new manager succeeds Carlo Ancelotti, who officially accepted the job in Brazil earlier this month. Ancelotti’s departure to Brazil had probably been for several months, making Alonso clear for the Real Madrid lane for the most of a year.

Alonso is one of the best management talents of the sport and has really made a name for himself at Bayer Leverkusen, especially after winning the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal last season. In his almost three-year Stint in Germany, the 43-year-old Leverkusen transformed from a relegation participant to a title winner in a matter of months, a run with a semi-final run in the UEFA Europa League and a place in the final.

The new manager has a lot of history in Real Madrid, the club where he spent most of his gaming career. Alonso played 236 games for Los Blancos and won one La Liga title and one UEFA Champions League title, the last prize that came during the first Stint of Ancelotti in the club. Alonso also started his management career at Real Madrid and coached the U-14 team in 2018 while completing his licenses.

A perfect fit for a new landscape

In many ways it feels as if the sport is located in a period of management transition from coaches such as Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp are taking a break of the requirements of leading European top clubs, so that the road is cleared for the next generation of management talents to rise the ranks. Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Manchester United have all set their bets to who the following elite managers will be by hiring Arne Slot, Vincent Kompany and Ruben Amorim, and now it is Real Madrid’s turn to make their choice, probably the best young coach in the game in the game in the game in the game in the game in the game.

Many of these rising management talents have won important silverware before their major movements, as Slot did in the Netherlands with Feyenoord and Amorim in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon. Alonso runs the road under his counterparts, however, is the only one winning titles in one of Europe’s top five competitions, and this does with an attack-oriented playing style that made its Leverkusen teams one of the most entertaining sides in Europe. He also got the most from the existing talent of the team, including midfielder Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong.

That CV makes Alonso well appropriate to solve Real Madrid’s problems, although the task for him is a big one after a season in which they played in second place to Barcelona. His first priority will find a way to make an attacking group under the leadership of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior Click, although Los Blancos are plagued by problems throughout the field. Their defense was sometimes wobbly this season, partly because of a injury crisis, while their midfield might need some work now that Luka Modric will also leave the club.

Good luck from Real Madrid next season will depend on their strategy for transfer window, but Alonso has a big job for him. The pressure of his new performance will be different from everything he has previously had to deal with as a manager, but there will be a time when every young manager has to make the next step and Alonso is just as well fed as everyone else to make a leap like this one.

Figure: A