The new face of Real Madrid will begin to take shape tomorrow . Two weeks after settling in as Carlo Ancelotti's successor, Xabi Alonso is preparing to take charge of his first match at the Club World Cup, facing Al-Hilal this Wednesday (9 p.m. French time) . The Merengues are obviously the big favorites in this clash, but more than the opponent or the prestige of the competition, the new coach will give a little insight into how he wants his team to play and with which players. " Tomorrow, the rock and roll begins ," he promises.
The daily pressure of the Spanish club is already on the shoulders of the former midfielder, having already been confronted with the hot topics of the moment in the press conference on the eve of the match. There is the case of Mbappé, whose presence tomorrow is uncertain due to a fever . " He is a dynamic striker, not a positional striker, not a penalty area striker. The idea is not to have fixed players. Because Kylian is not a reference nine but a nine who scores a lot of goals ," says the new coach.
Xabi Alonso on Rodrygo: " I know the end of the season was not easy for him "
Jude Bellingham will also need to find a place . He played in support of the striker during his first season, but has been operating in a more withdrawn role in recent months with the arrival of Mbappé. " He has the ability to cover a lot of ground, but he has to start from the right position," analyzes Xabi Alonso. " He has the soul of a midfielder, he likes to create and he has the ability to finish. We have talked about the starting point, but he is very attentive." He should be a starter tomorrow evening against the Saudis, probably in the same capacity as Vinicius Junior .
" He's passionate, emotional, and I love being by his side. Now we have to find the best position for him. But he has a big heart. That's what caught my attention these first few days. " An even more sensitive point is the future of Rodrygo, whose name is being mentioned repeatedly by Arsenal . " I know the end of the season wasn't easy for him. He took time for himself, to recharge his batteries. From the first moment, we spoke... and I can see that he's looking forward to it. He's a player with enormous qualities, we shared things and it's time to put them into practice. "
A balance to be found
The fact remains that with this plethora of stars, it will be necessary to find the right formula, something Carlo Ancelotti never managed to find this year, where he had achieved the perfect balance before the signing of Kylian Mbappé. " It is essential that there is balance, commitment and that everyone is involved. I want a united team, that will make our task easier. I am sure that on the last day of the tournament, we will be a better team than the one we started with. We will have corrected things. The starting point is
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