Xabi Alonso Asks for Patience After Real Madrid’s Draw in the Club World Cup
Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid’s coach, has asked for patience after the 1-1 draw against Al Hilal in the opening match of the Club World Cup. The coach emphasized that implementing the desired changes will take time. Madrid faced difficulties in the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. Gonzalo García put the team ahead in the 34th minute. Rúben Neves equalized for Al Hilal from the penalty spot. In added time, Madrid had the opportunity to win with another penalty, but goalkeeper Yassine Bounou stopped Federico Valverde’s shot.Alonso, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti, only led his first training session on June 9 before traveling to the United States for the tournament.The second half was much better than the first. We lacked many things in the first part, we didn’t have balance. We’ve talked about that.
Xabi Alonso
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois commented that Alonso seeks to implement his style of play, a different way of defending and attacking. “We were with Ancelotti for four years, we have some ‘automatisms’ and we have to change them to what the new coach wants. That doesn’t happen in four days. We are trying, we are watching videos, talking a lot, and it will improve. We will learn a lot from this first match,” added Courtois. Madrid did not have Kylian Mbappé, who suffered from a fever this week. Alonso couldn’t confirm if Mbappé would be available for the next match against Pachuca on Sunday.I knew it would take time. There are things we have to change. We will have to correct them and we will continue to do so. Everything takes time, we have had nine days and some players have only had three training sessions. It is demanding, we are in a competition, but we want to learn, and what we want to do will take time.
Xabi Alonso
