Xabi Alonso’s ideas and tactical overload, needless to say, did not fit The Whites or the profiles in the locker room as well as Arbeloa’s practical approach are paying off.
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After all, the new coach has repeatedly emphasized that Real Madrid is a club built on individual brilliance and counterattacks and that changing that basic philosophy would not work.
The former manager speaks
Former Real Madrid player and coach Jorge Valdano recently expressed his surprise at the team’s sudden change and that it was unnatural for a team to show drastic improvement in such a short time under normal circumstances.
“We are not going to believe that Real Madrid’s good physical condition against Villarreal was achieved in a week of work, there is no scientific backing.” said.
When asked what was wrong at the club and how Álvaro Arbeloa had brought about such an improvement in a team that seemed lost under Xabi Alonso, he said:
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“What’s happening? I think Arbeloa is working very well with the confidence of his players, the motivation with which they played against Villarreal has been tremendous. With a total connection in the game, from minute 1 to 90.”
Real Madrid has shown improvements under Arbeloa. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
“Something that did not happen with Xabi Alonso, with Xabi they left the locker room with a long lesson learned.
“For 20 or 25 minutes it seemed like the players were responding to the coach’s commands, and then the team struggled and got distracted, and ended up having bad games.”
Valdano then praised the meringues for the performance they had against Villarreal and how they won quite comfortably even without a great contribution from Thibaut Courtois.
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“Against Villarreal it was a very rich match. It is true that they won again thanks to the goals of the best striker in the world, Mbappé, but they did not need the best goalkeeper in the world to win.”
“Real Madrid convinced a lot and is working very well on the confidence of the players.” he added.
Finally, the former Real Madrid player praised Arbeloa and questioned Alonso’s methods due to the polar difference in the quality of the team.
“If there is more commitment to Arbeloa? The players are more comfortable. I don’t know what happened with Xabi Alonso, but something happened.”
“I think Arbeloa is reading what happened well and is correcting it.” he added.
Source: SPORT