Xabi Alonso has been named as Real Madrid’s new manager in what has been the worst kept secret in the game.
The former Real and Liverpool midfielder has signed a three-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen as Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement after announcing this month that he would leave this summer.
The second season of Ancelotti’s at Madrid is unavoidable, if bittersweet.
Finally, the much-anticipated transition occurs: the young pretender is returning to the Bernabeu and the Italian legend leaves to take over Brazil.
It is symbolic to switch from the club’s most prestigious coach to a management rising star. It marks the beginning of a fascinating new era and the end of a long one.
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Alonso has a huge job at Real Madrid.
Alonso is being watched by former Madrid midfielder Florentino Perez, who is now looking to take the lead in the long run.
Due to his success at Leverkusen, the 43-year-old has become more well-known, and Real thinks he has the emotional intelligence and tactical acumen to lead a generational transition.
In his first full year as a senior club manager, he helped Leverkusen win the German Cup and the Bundesliga title without losing a game.
But Alonso has a lot to do at Real.
With the Brazilian set to sign a longer contract, he will inherit a team that is in flux and needs Vinicius Jr.’s direction.
Alonso will also need to integrate young people like Endrick and Arda Guler, transition from the veteran race, and start awarding championships right away.
He will also have to navigate a media environment, a fan base that demands instant success, and a boardroom that wants to have influence.
Alonso has the tactical acumen, but there is a Madrid where talent alone cannot guarantee survival.
A campaign without a trophy serves as justification for the club’s decision to end the Ancelotti era after winning La Liga and the Champions League last year.
However, you can’t deny how significant his contribution to the club is.
In two eras of success, stability, and a quiet revolution, the club won 15 trophies, more than any manager in its history.
Tensions and fracturings kept increasing.
The club was deteriorating when Ancelotti made a second-guess move to Madrid in 2021 following Zinedine Zidane’s unanticipated resignation.
The stadium’s redevelopment was in its early stages, the squad was thin, and there was a noticeable lack of direction. Ancelotti’s work produced a remarkable resurgence, along with calm, clarity, credibility, and clarity.
After the departures of key players Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos, few believed it possible given the structural limitations, but they did so in his first season back.
Due to mounting stadium costs and financial pressure, important aspects of the squad remained unaddressed. Madrid came out in favor of man-management, tactical pragmatism, and individual supremacy.
However, that same success stoked the seeds of a future conflict because Toni Kroos and other players who left, in particular, were not effectively replaced.
Perez anticipated that the team would make a significant advance when Mbappe finally left Paris St-Germain last summer.
However, fractures were already forming inside the changing area, not just tactically.
Perez, who was always so deeply involved, started to express his frustration more out loud behind closed doors over physical preparation and discipline.
Despite meetings between the manager and them to turn things around and Ancelotti’s management of emerging talent, disdainful comments were released from the directors’ box.
Concerns were raised about Guler’s cautious handling, and Endrick’s prospects for success were questioned.
One of Ancelotti’s most challenging changing rooms was managed.
The team lost coherence on the field. Once unbalanced by Ancelotti’s steady hand, the dressing room began to sag. Some players grew tired of his hands-off approach, while others began to listen to him.
The conflict between Vinicius and Mbappe was perhaps the most destabilizing aspect. Both wanted to represent the team.
Vinicius believed he had earned the most attention because Mbappe preferred to play centrally. The on-pitch dynamic was powerful despite the absence of any open conflicts. They didn’t search for one another during difficult times. Staff and team members could tell the tension from the inside.
Ancelotti, who is typically known for managing egos, struggled to admit that it was one of his most difficult changing rooms to manage.
Pre-game media briefings occasionally became brief and irksome, with Ancelotti feeling he was not receiving the club’s support he believed he deserved.
In January, he requested right-back Kyle Walker to cover Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao’s long-term injuries, but it was turned down.
The 65-year-old maintained a sense of respect on the outside. He repeated, “I’ll stay at Madrid until the club no longer wants me.”
That echoed loyalty, to fans. However, Perez perceived pressure as a pressure.
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