On the first day of the Club World Cup, it was an unexpected and uncomfortable stumbling block at the premiere of Xabi Alonso as coach of Real Madrid. On the one hand, he opened more unknowns about those expected about the future of the team in the competition, even more urgencies than those already handled by a permanent demand. “After the tie, we need to win,” said the coach in this Sunday’s game against Pachuca in Charlotte (21.00, Dazn and Telecinco) “We want to play well, make a good game, and we want to win this competition so short. We want to leave a good feeling, make a more complete game with and without ball.”
On the other hand, the first small initial stumble revived the debate on the possible need for a player with the greatest ability to organize from the center of the field. Alonso wants to postpone that conversation at this point in the calendar: “We are at the time of the Club World Cup and we are not thinking so much about the phase of improving the current staff,” he said. “I think with those we have we can play. We can have a dominant midfield. We have to work, repeat it, feel it, and I think that with different profiles it can be achieved.”
On Wednesday at the Hard Rock the player who approached that figure capable of directing the game was Arda Güler, who changed the game when he entered after the break. Xabi sees him in that role of creator: “He needs to be close to the ball. It is special. The more the ball touches, the better he plays and the better the team plays. He had an impact on the second part, when he was closer to the ball,” he explained.
For the second day of the World Cup, Xabi can already count on Antonio Rüdiger, who entered the call, already with the medical discharge after his knee. The one who is not yet recovered after, who believes that he can already participate in the last game, on Thursday against Salzburg.
