Passing Mastermind to Tactical Maestro – The Xabi Alonso Era Begins

Assuming you didn’t click the link. It wasn’t me saying Guardiola and Mourinho were similar, it was your husband Xabi Alonso.

 

Nice try though , no where it says they are tactically similar. This is exactly what is meant by distorting objective assessment.

When judging philosophy and tactics in the whole thread you bring this.

 

All I heard was both Jose and Pep were leaders, had charisma, both are into the details of the game. But had different ambitions in football. Correct?

But that doesn’t even prove anything. Just generic stuff.

 

The amount of gaslighting and projection you do is astounding. I hope this is just an internet verision and not how you go about your daily life.

 

No true Scotsman argument.

Similar =/= tactically similar.

Anyway, why is your husband out there making lazy assumptions removing any objective assessments? Xabi Fuera!!!?!

 

Who?

Perez is such a terrible presi that he engineered nearly half of the team’s total UCL trophies and built a new stadium. I wonder how a better president would do? Surely if it was so easy you could name a few candidates?

The mental gymnastics people have to go through tho.

 

This is the key distinction.

Xabi is a tactical coach. That doesn't mean his tactics are like Guardiola's. Carlo is not a tactical coach but a man management coach. We need a tactical coach more than we need a man management coach right now.

No idea why its a discussion that spans pages and twists everything into semantics.

 

This forum broke him, he became the very thing that he disliked.
You can see it by how serious he'd take this. Just frustrated I guess. We've all been there, hang in there 4x4.

 

With Leverkusen, Xabi exceeded expectations in his first season, delivered a miraculous season in his second, but his third was more of a mixed bag. He clearly has the tools to succeed here, but it’s never that simple. Even Zizou couldn’t replicate the magic of his first stint during his second term.

As for his approach to the game, I don’t think it’s as clear-cut as some suggest. He’s not a rigid, possession-based coach—certainly not like Guardiola. He’s far more adaptable. He gave up possession to Bayern in some of their matchups, and I highly doubt he would’ve tried to dominate possession against Man City or Barcelona if he faced them this season. Let’s be realistic.

Is he the savior? Would winning big titles in his first season prove that? That would be amazing, no doubt—but it doesn’t diminish what Carlo Ancelotti has accomplished. The man delivered three Champions League titles and two La Ligas for us. Only Zidane has a comparable record as our coach, and when you factor in the Copas, Carlo comes out as the clear winner. He is arguably the most accomplished coach in our history. Only Munoz could be considered ahead of him.

Of course that doesn’t mean that parting ways was a mistake—sometimes change is necessary—but why would Xabi’s success mean Carlo was the villain in this story?

We won after Carlo left before. We won after Zidane. And we’ll win after Carlo again this time. That doesn’t prove that coach X was the issue, or that coach Y is the second coming of the Messiah.

 

That was the entire point of the initial argument. Xabi being adaptable prioritizing winning/results and not a rigid one system guy willing to win or lose with his 'plan A' is what makes him similar to Carlo and not Pep.

That is what this entire thing has been about.

However it was been distorted by people who just need to shit on Carlo and discredit him for whatever reason so they can't allow anything positive to be attributed without them pour out negativity

 

🚨 NEW: Real Madrid have signed two new fitness coaches for the first team in a permanent role:

• Javier Arnáiz (former performance manager of the Mexican federation)
• Ismael Fernández (Sports Science Phd)

Javier will work in the gym and Ismael in data analysis. Both… pic.twitter.com/R7KAEEHqNs

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 12, 2025

Real Madrid have signed two new fitness coaches for the first team in a permanent role:

• Javier Arnáiz (former performance manager of the Mexican federation)
• Ismael Fernández (Sports Science Phd)

Javier will work in the gym and Ismael in data analysis. Both collaborated previously with Real Madrid & have a novel method called Thermohuman.

Real Madrid also want to sign a third fitness trainer for field work. @GuillermoRai_

 

who are these "people"?

 

La intensidad de Xabi Alonso en los entrenamientos con el Real Madrid es una locura 😍 pic.twitter.com/GrfuYe1juP

— REAL MADRID FANS 🤍 (@AdriRM33) June 12, 2025

 

What extreme? Those are simple facts.

I asked you who would've delivered more success to Real Madrid other than Perez, you couldn't name one.

Here, I'll even be extremely charitable to you, you could even pick from a hypothetical owner from the other football leagues. Just give names, so we could discuss.

 

So what? Then name another president or CEO. He deserves all the criticisms you levy on him, I won't argue that, but he also gets the credit for taking the club from financial ruin to the most successful club in the 21st century hands down. Part of being a good leader is placing the right people for the right jobs. If you think he has ruined the club's image, to the point it overshadows 7 UCLs, just say who would have done better?

This just shows your logical inconsistencies when dealing opinions.

BTW let's move on since this a Xabi thread.

 

Brother 2-3 years Dagestan and forget.
"Keep your insight about me to yourself" What kind of forum would that be? Relax, it really isn't that serious.

 

Happy to see Xabi is still the same. I was relatively surprised when I watched Real Madrid live (back when he was with us) to see how much of a leader he was in that team (that included Ramos, Pepe, Ronaldo, to name a few). He was constantly coaching teammates, guiding them, adjusting minor things on the pitch, etc. He was a true midfield general and a very vocal voice on the pitch (and not in the way how every player is kind of vocal). It doesn't surprise me at all that he became a coach.