Ever since his announcement as the next Real Madrid manager, there has been an immense amount of optimism from the fanbase towards the new Xabi Alonso era at the club.
Although Alonso is taking over for a manager who brought three Champions League titles to Real Madrid, including the historic Decima and the club’s first title win after losing Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus, there’s a pervasive sense that the Spanish international is an upgrade over Don Carlo.
Alonso brought Bayer Leverkusen to the pinnacle of German football, posting an undefeated 2023/24 season while coaching some of the biggest breakouts in European football, such as left back Alex Grimaldo and midfielder Exequiel Palacios.
And now, even before coaching a single game for Real Madrid, there’s a strong belief among Madridistas that he can work the same wonders with talents like Endrick and Arda Guler, as well as disgruntled stars who underperformed in Real’s disastrous trophyless 2024/25 season.
Real Madrid could have lost one of the world’s best players
No player came out of the 2024/25 season feeling more marginalized than Rodrygo Goes, who already began the campaign disrespected by a Spanish media that was more focused on Kylian Mbappe’s arrival than anything else.
Rodrygo would go on to have a poor 2024/25 season with just 11 goal contributions, becoming a bench player by the end of the campaign. And transfer rumors immediately swirled, with clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League keen on nabbing the 24-year-old Brazilian star.
Real Madrid were at serious risk of losing one of their best players and one of the biggest talents in European football, which would have been an early crisis point for the new manager to deal with.
But Alonso has handled things deftly, and it appears that Rodrygo isn’t interested in leaving now after having a heart-to-heart talk with the coach; he’s now working closely with the former Real Madrid midfielder, too.
Xabi Alonso is better at man-management than Carlo Ancelotti these days
According to The Athletic’s Real Madrid beat writer Mario Cortegana while appearing on Spanish journalist Inaki Angulo’s YouTube channel, Alonso has become close to Rodrygo over the past couple of weeks.
Alonso has reportedly made it his personal mission to stand by the forward, pushing him as hard as possible in training while showing him the extra love and attention that Ancelotti did not during the past year.
Rodrygo has responded in kind and after using his agents to float transfer rumors about leaving Real Madrid, the player is now more motivated than ever to succeed at Real Madrid.
Now that’s how you coach and man-manage a young, ambitious player who just wants to feel loved and pushed. Rodrygo wants to be a part of the team and know that he can be the best he can be in Madrid, rather than bench fodder or neglected and wasting away his potential at the club.
Ancelotti became very aloof and distant from players in his final season at Real Madrid. It seemed like he was phoning it in and alienating certain players like Rodrygo by not being as active.
Alonso, meanwhile, is so good at connecting with players, especially young ones, and he knows exactly what ambitious attacking stars like Rodrygo need. The coach is turning what could have been a destabilizing weakness into a strength for Real Madrid, and that could prove to be massive for the club.
The editor of A Trip to Cibeles for Real Madrid, Joe Soriano helped manage The Real Champs covering Real Madrid as a dedicated writer from 2019 to 2022, making it one of the biggest team soccer sites on the web. He currently also runs the world soccer site The Trivela Effect, the Tottenham site Hotspur HQ, and a pro wrestling site called Let Them Wrestle.