Passing Mastermind to Tactical Maestro – The Xabi Alonso Era Begins

They can be an average team and still over achieve against us in the last several years. That’s reality it’s not a joke to say this is a tricky away fixture.

Chances are, we’re not going to win by more than one goal, because the last time that happened was 9 years ago. We might do, but the likelihood is that we won’t.

 

City game will be a big one for Xabi, especially being at home.

A defeat and the knives will be out, no matter that has been done or what the project is. This club doesn’t run on a culture based football, it’s trophies that matter.

I actually expect us to beat City so it would be a massive disappointment if we didn’t.

 

Broadly speaking yeah. But Rayo are proving to be tricky over and beyond their level recently.

 

No Rudiger = Haaland Party

 

Its the league stage of the tournament.

 

What does that matter? We might aswell field the B team then if we’re not arsed. Although it was different vision last season when we couldn’t even beat Lille

 

It matters because it is completely irrelevant who we win or lose against as long as we make it out of the league stage.

The whole big teams/small teams thing is absolute bs. We need to play consistently and to the maxiumum of our ability, thats all. Last year we didnt do that, this year we do.

 

We’re not playing to the maximum of our ability so I don’t know what football you’re watching here. Far from it.

The team looks lost against teams that can actually play football and a system.

 

Youre confusing this year with the previois one. We are equal to anyone and can beat anyone out there, just as we could have beaten Liverpool. At the moment this is the maximum. The only way we can be even better is if we allow at least a year or two for Xabi to work with this team.

 

I didn't want to be that guy but I am deeply concerned. I'm okay not winning every single game and hate when other club fans act in a hyperbolic fashion. However, I'm getting a strong last-season Carlo vibe with Xabi with his complete lack of pragmatism.

We're chasing a game and your decision is to bring on Ceballos? Gonzalo and Endrick not seeing any minutes, Valverde playing right back, Valverde being run in to the ground and just a complete lack of basic tactical instructions. No man in the box, Vini hanging out wide again doing nothing, the fullbacks offering next to zero in offense and Mbappé drifting out wide just to list a few.

 

Some fans will see what they want to see, in some cases they have to, a sort of validation of a point of view

But many on this team have already won, so they should know what it means, still, Imagine wanting to give a coach of Madrid two years to get his "team" to work properly, when has that ever been the Madrid way

Xabi has a lot of work to do, i'll have patience, it's not like we are midtable, we are top so as in the past that counts for something for me, but i for one don't see the vast improvement in how the team is playing yet

 

The problem with Xabi is that he’s deployed the same tactics as Carlo.

We were doing 352 at the CWC and now back to 433 again hoping for Individual brilliance.

I just want to see us play as a team.

 

Vinny has to go. He’s just absolutely chaos and is a net negative despite his moments of individual brilliance.

 

A reminder that Xabi signed him and he’s done nothing but steal a living.

🚨 NEW: Real Madrid have signed Jesús Rueda, a new set-piece analyst. @GuillermoRai_ pic.twitter.com/MPkjy8ykJc

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) September 24, 2025

 

I dont get the 4-3-3 ,why is the 3-5-2 not used ...why is Brahim playing,where are the strikers?
Endrick and Gonzalo why are they not playing,we need goals not just to rely on Mbappe ....

Mbappe,Vinicus and Jude on the same pitch just doesnt work ,figure something out

 

Celta putting up a fight, 2-2 now. Hopefully they can get at least a point.

 

Vini, Mbappe and Jude can play together

We played with BBC plus James! People will say we won nothing that year, but we played great football, won away at Liverpool and lost the CL semis to Juve by small margins.

What we need is a manager that can deploy some tactics and discipline.

No presence in the box
Vini to wide

the entire team needs to be more compact.

 

The problem of the new coach is he was the old coach?? This is STILL carlo's fault??

 

what evidence supports that statement?

 

No they cannot.

We played our best football when Vini was out of the team.

People are really going to have to get use to this uncomfortable conversation. We are better without Vini and we need to sell him to make this team better.

 

Vini got back in the team for a reason and it wasn't because the team was playing its best football without him.

Xabi was itching to dump him on the bench but couldn't because he knew the team was better with him in the team. but with the way he has him play, it was probably better to spare him the humiliation than to have him chained to the sideline like he is now

 

Vini got back in the team, likely because people above Xabi was telling him to do so. RM managers get a limited amount of control, always have done.

5 goals in all competitions. Dreadful return.