“SACK HIM NOW!, CARLO WAS BETTER!”
Many Real Madrid fans have been shouting”Xabi out!”, “Xabi fuera!”, but will sacking him be the most intelligent decision now? My answer is NO!
Concerning the Carlo Ancelloti calls, we must acknowledge that Carlo is the greatest manager in Champions League history and it will take time for anyone to match his achievements in the competition. With regards to legacy, his name should not feature in the same sentence with the young coaches like Xabi.
However, the game was beginning to catch up with Carlo. That was evident in his last seasons at Real Madrid. Football these days evolves at the speed of lightning. Carlo Ancelloti’s dominantly low block counter system could not keep up with the pace. He was clearly short of ideas already.
Xabi Alonso is a typical modern day coach whose ideas are tailored to the growth of the modern game. Under him, Real Madrid have become a lot more dynamic tactically than under Carlo. We now see a Real Madrid that takes its game to the opposition albeit there are still several lapses.
Real Madrid need to trust Xabi and strengthen the squad with a couple of quality additions. Xabi clearly needs a midfielder that can dictate the tempo of a game – that sort of player who pulls the strings like a Pedri. Jude Bellingham is such an amazing talent but he’s not that profile. Arda Guler isn’t either.
In addition, Real Madrid needs a winger that can provide 20 to 30 goals a season. At the moment, aside Mbappe, there’s clearly no one who can deliver such figures. Mbappe needs support in the scoring duties. There’ll be days he’s absent like yesterday and what happens? There’ll be days he’s present but switches off like against Celta; what happens?
I’ll like to examine Xabi when he’s got these two additions.
I must also admit the situation is being blown out of proportion. Real Madrid are 4 points behind Barca in LaLiga and are in the top 8 in the Champions League group phase. Where is the crisis actually? Anyway, that’s the pressure which comes with Real Madrid. It’s like nowhere else, or perhaps compared only to Barca.
The bottom line is that Real Madrid have improved considerably tactically under Xabi and he needs support especially with a couple of quality additions as cited above.
Ade Divine