Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has formed a nuclear alliance – but what did he give up? | OneFootball

Vinicius Junior trotted off to be greeted by a handshake and a slap on a back from Xabi Alonso, exactly a month after he had marched down the tunnel, screaming to high heaven that with that guy on the touchline, ‘I’m better off leaving the club’. For good measure, Alonso sought out the Brazilian for an embrace after the final whistle. Given the way the Brazilian had been making his feelings about Alonso felt, this was equivalent to the pair sitting down and shaking hands for the cameras over an international peace treaty.

‘We have to protect each other, and we have to protect the manager,’ explained newly annointed senior statesman Kylian Mbappe, without really being asked about it. Having spent the entirety of Tuesday evening’s pre-match press conference fending off a fast-bowling attack, which found elaborate and creative ways to ask him repeatedly about his relationship with the dressing room, Alonso went off-topic to answer them a day later. “The hours beforehand have been very positive and productive; they have helped us to continue growing, to cope with difficult moments, and I found the unity of the players to be very positive,” he affirmed. This time with a 4-3 win over Olympiakos giving a little more credence to the headline he was printing.

Seeing which way the wind was blowing, Fede Valverde, the other face of Real Madrid’s glowering rebels, took to social media to say that “It’s not always easy, but the technical staff and players are more united than ever.” If the images and the attacking performance were insufficient to show that something has changed in the Real Madrid camp, each of the Spanish capital’s major sports outlets and radio stations queued up to deliver their own detail of Alonso’s change in attitude, the improved atmosphere or a fresh communion.

To be clear, this is a major positive. Alonso will have a way to go before the mistrust dissipates into genuine warmth – even in Valverde’s message, there’s acknowledgement that this new-found unity is hard work. Yet the renewed vows of commitment will quieten the noise sufficiently for him to make himself heard above it, and at least in Greece, an obligatory first win in four.

Real Madrid’s manager may still be at the small talk phase with his squad, but Olympiakos got the full Vinicius range of charms. For the first time this season, Vinicius felt unstoppable. Flowing like a river down the left side, his unfortunate compatriot Rodinei was one of several players left disorientated by the rapids. Vinicius had three shots on target, six in total, two assists and a goal disallowed. This season the Brazilian has averaged three successful take-ons per game out of eight attempts, but against Olympiakos he completed eight out of his 15 attempts, also doubling his averages for shots on target or off.

Image via Stephane Mahe / Reuters

Los Blancos threatened to go nuclear after Mbappe’s seven-minute hat-trick, and if Vinicius’ goal, moments after, had not been ruled out for a tight offside, they may well have wiped the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium off the face of the earth. It was the fourth time Real Madrid have scored four or more goals this season, but the first time their attack felt truly fluid, in their best offensive showing. Arguably, it’s the first time Vinicius and Mbappe have unlocked their full potential together.

Such was the impact of levelling the Greek fortress in a 20-minute spell, the game felt over thereafter. When Ayoub El Kaabi powered in a header with nine minutes remaining, the football match bolted back into life; the Karaiskakis was in fact still standing, the noise of the Olympiakos support rushed back and their side was still in it. Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men had two more presentable chances to equalise too.

“There are two sides to it. The two up front have hurt us a lot, but also because they rest a lot when we have the ball,” said Mendilibar after the fact. “It’s the other eight who try to defend and run. When they recover the ball, they’re fresh to run, to go one-on-one… and then they’re successful with almost everything they have.”

Alonso may have succeeded in getting Vinicius and Valverde to sign a peace agreement, but the question is what did he give up in the negotiations? Olympiakos had eight shots on target and 18 in total. Los Blancos’ lack of control was just as evident in Alicante three days before, where Elche had six shots on target and 15 in total. Real Madrid have reverted to defending in their own half, and not particularly well – neither side in Piraeus could convincingly claim they were dictating play. Compare this to Alonso’s first eight games before the Madrid derby, and his methodical if somewhat prosaic approach, which resulted in an average of three shots on target and 8.4 in total.

Loosening the leash on Vinicius and Mbappe, giving them space to sate their ravenous appetites, is a perfectly legitimate approach. It’s just not the one Alonso was brought in to oversee. Best characterised by Arda Guler and Trent Alexander-Arnold, in Greece both launched a series of passes into the cavernous gaps for the frontline to hunt down. Early in Alonso’s tenure, both could be found exchanging short passes 30-40 yards from goal, with both the defence and most of the Real Madrid team in front of them.

One advocate of the former approach that comes to mind is Carlo Ancelotti. The outings against Elche and Olympiakos would not have looked out of place under the Italian. Once Dean Huijsen, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger return from injury, Alonso will hope that it looks a little less like the chaos that caused Ancelotti’s departure last year. The other stat line that stands out from Vinicius’ night – Olympiakos was the only game this season he has started without recording an interception, a tackle or being involved in a challenge.

Public declarations of a new alliance suggest that Alonso has altered his approach off the pitch. The variation in Vinicius’ with and without the ball looked very much like the first sign of a major compromise on it. Can Alonso make it compatible with the extra discipline and domination his appointment symbolised? Results will dictate whether that peace treaty holds, but his margin for error in the dressing room has been filled.