Real Madrid vs Osasuna became the actual start of a new era when harsh punishment 40 defeat to Paris St-Germain followed in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup. Manager Xabi Alonso underlined that the previous season is gone, and now the aim is to improve fast and follow his tactics philosophy.
Seven years later Alonso is put in charge of youth teams and, after that, in charge of Santiago Bernabeu, learning what he could under Guardiola, Mourinho, Ancelotti, and others. According to players, who have played with him, he makes tactics almost instinctive as he simplifies the game in a way.
Madrid is also moving into a much more rigid, positional tactic. High pressing aims to cover Vinicius Jr and Mbappe, and foster team play. This is because there is the issue of having individual brilliance as well as being a disciplined team member particularly with personalities who are used to autonomy. Trying to renew his contract, Vinicius will be requested to defend more and change his game to play alongside Mbappe, whereas the role of Bellingham will be more concentrated on the strikers.
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Such new recruits as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen, Aurelien Tchouameni, Arda Guler will rearrange the Madrid formation. The attacking radius of Alexander-Arnold, the back-pass of Huijsen, the versatility of Tchouameni and the imagination in the midfield of Guler are part of the vision of Alonso.
The next match between Real Madrid and the Osasuna will become a test of the speed at which the team can be united in the time of Alonso with all tactical discipline and unity of talents.
