When Xabi Alonso was announced as the next Real Madrid manager, a number of changes were expected to take place after the end of the Carlo Ancelotti regime.
Changes in philosophy, tactics and squad were all expected under the new management as Alonso and his staff look to shape the new generation of Real Madrid for the future.
We have already seen Xabi Alonso begin to shape the squad to perfectly suit his system by bringing in several new pieces like Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold, both of whom are expected to be key pieces for many years at Los Blancos.
Another major change expected from Xabi Alonso was a change in philosophy and playing style. In the dying days under Carlo Ancelotti, the team seemed to lose their way under the Italian. The football became slow and uninspired at times, which is drastically different from how the team was playing when Ancelotti returned to the club back in 2021.
We all knew how exciting Xabi Alonso's style was during his Bayer Leverkusen days, and fans were over the moon at the prospect of him bringing that style to the Bernabeu. There's no doubt been some rocky times in the early days for Xabi Alonso as he tries to fully implement his system at Real Madrid, but after Real's dominant victory over Athletic Club, we now have a clear vision as to how he wants to set up his team going forward.
Xabi Alonso and his men got back to winning ways midweek with a dominant 3-0 win over Athletic Club, but more important than the win is just how strongly the team played together as a team, with Xabi Alonso seemingly finding his preferred setup of a 4-3-3 in attack and dropping into a 4-4-2 in defense.
This setup seemed to get the best out of every player on the pitch, as this was the most unified Real have looked since their El Clásico victory at the end of October. Xabi Alonso set up with a front three of Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Fede Valverde, with the Uruguayan dropping back into the midfield in defense.
This setup played perfectly to the strengths of players like Kylian Mbappe, allowing him to make darting runs behind defenders with Trent Alexander-Arnold playing beautiful long balls over the top. It also allowed the midfield three of Bellingham, Tchouameni, and Camavinga all to play to their strengths both on and off the ball.
With all the rumored pressure on Xabi Alonso after the recent stretch of poor results, finding his perfect system is the first step to getting Real back to where they were before all the dropped points. Los Blancos sit just one point behind league leaders Barcelona, so now every game becomes a must-win if they hope to get their hands back on the La Liga title.
Xabi Alonso and his men return to the Bernabeu to face off against Celta Vigo this weekend before a massive clash with Manchester City in the Champions League next week.