Xabi Alonso opens up on Real Madrid exit and lessons learned | OneFootball

This is an exciting summer for Real Madrid as the Spanish team is going into the next season with significant changes in the team. While five new players have already been signed and some new signings are also expected in the coming weeks, the most notable change remains that of the head coach, as Jose Mourinho has taken over from Alvaro Arbeloa.

It was a similar feeling last year, when the Merengues had appointed Xabi Alonso to take over from Carlo Ancelotti. However, that experiment did not turn out to be very successful for Los Blancos, as the Spanish tactician lasted only half a season on the bench before he was dismissed in January, after the Spanish Super Cup final loss to Barcelona.

After spending the latter half of the last season without a job, Alonso joined the Premier League side Chelsea this summer, and is going to lead the Blues’ next project. As Diario AS has reported, he appeared in an interview with The Athletic, and for the first time commented on his difficult time on the Real Madrid bench.

Personally, the former midfielder revealed that he had overcome the disappointment of his failure at Madrid:

“Fortunately, I don’t have many scars in my career… Okay, I do have one scar, but it heals. Now that it has healed, I am very motivated and determined to enjoy this new chapter (at Chelsea) just as I did when I started at Madrid.”

The Spanish coach took the stint on the Merengue bench as a valuable learning experience:

“Looking back, I take both the positives and the things that did not work. I have been very self-critical, thinking about what I could have done better because things did not turn out as I had hoped. You learn from the disappointment of the things that did not go well, and you try to believe that things will get better.”

“As for the positives, there were many experiences, the adaptation I had to make, some things that worked and others that did not, both in terms of the football and the management of people. It is a mixture of everything.”

Alonso also revealed that he has used the interval between these two jobs to recharge his batteries and will be starting the next chapter in his career with renewed vigor:

“Mainly to recharge my batteries, because the energy you need as a coach… you have to be full of energy in order to pass it on to everyone else. It is very important to transmit that passion and enthusiasm for the game in every training session and every game plan. I mainly used that time for that. I did not watch much football… It was mainly about myself and reconnecting with those feelings.”

Xabi Alonso had joined Real Madrid with a lot of hope and excitement, and the way his tenure at the Merengue club ended left most of their fans frustrated. Now, they will be hoping that the coach will enjoy a lot of success in this next chapter of his career, and maybe even return to their bench at some time in the future.