Quique Sanchez Flores believes the media spotlight will be on the players, not Alonso, and will give Madrid’s new coach room to act.
Quique Sánchez Flores, speaking on Cadena Ser’s El Larguero program, offered thoughtful insight into Real Madrid’s future under Xabi Alonso. He believes Alonso will energize a team that was exposed in the Champions League and domestically against Barcelona.
“He’s methodical. As a coach, he reminds me of who he was as a player,” Sánchez Flores said. “He’s serious, sees the game before it happens, and that’s an advantage. I think he’s going to shake up the squad.”
That shake-up, according to Sánchez Flores, won’t come immediately. The short runway before the Club World Cup offers limited time for a tactical overhaul. But the groundwork is already being laid.
More importantly, Alonso may benefit from a dynamic Ancelotti didn’t have last season: the scrutiny is now centered on the players rather than the manager. “The spotlight is more on the players than on Xabi, and I think that will help his ideas take root quickly and give him momentum,” Sánchez Flores noted.
Alonso, backed by a Leverkusen campaign built on discipline and clarity, may have the right environment to reinvigorate a squad that too often drifted last season.
