Real Madrid are midway through the 2025 Club World Cup – and while the trophy chase is still unfolding, Xabi Alonso’s influence is already unmistakable.
Alonso stepped into one of football’s most high-pressure jobs with conviction, hired in late May following Carlo Ancelotti’s departure.
Even as Madrid navigate the expanded competition in the United States, Alonso’s tactical fingerprints are everywhere. A hybrid back three, new midfield structure, aggressive positional play, and above all, trust in players others had overlooked.
Here, we’ve taken a look at three players the 43-year-old has already transformed at Madrid as he gets his rebuild underway.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold arrived at Madrid this summer with silverware and pedigree. The only lingering question was how his defensive vulnerabilities would hold up in Alonso’s system.
But the Spanish tactician answered that by changing the question entirely. Instead of deploying Alexander-Arnold as a traditional full-back, Alonso has given him the freedom of the right flank as a hybrid wing-back, adopting a midfield role within a fluid 3-5-2 in possession. The result? Alexander-Arnold is now the heartbeat of Madrid’s build-up play on the right.
He’s averaging the fourth-most touches per 90 (76.63) out of all Madrid players so far at the Club World Cup and is also the team’s fourth-leading chance-creator (5). As ever, the Englishman has completed the most crosses (6), and has also been a threat in one-on-one situations, completing the fifth-most take-ons (3).
Under Alonso, Alexander-Arnold is no longer asked to be a defender who creates – he’s a creator who defends when necessary, and he’s thriving.
Fran Garcia
Fran Garcia’s return from Rayo Vallecano in 2023 came with promise, but under Ancelotti, he never truly broke into the side. At best, he was a backup behind Ferland Mendy and Eduardo Camavinga’s experiments at left-back.
But under Alonso, the narrative has shifted completely. The switch to a back three has opened up a natural wing-back role, tailor-made for Garcia’s attacking intent. Alonso has empowered him to hug the touchline and bomb forward at will, knowing the left centre-back behind him — often the newly acquired Dean Huijsen — can provide cover.
This tactical change has turned Garcia into a key structural piece, rather than a situational substitute. His Club World Cup performances have been a revelation. Central to Madrid’s wing play, the 25-year-old has taken the third-most touches of any of his team-mates (302) and has been featured in the second-most team sequences (184).
But he’s also been getting done at the opposite end, making more tackles (14), winning more duels (27), and winning possession in the defensive third (12) more times than any Madrid player at the tournament.
From fringe player to first-team regular, Garcia is now flourishing under a manager who clearly trusts him.
Gonzalo Garcia
Few outside Valdebebas knew much about Gonzalo Garcia a few months ago. A Castilla regular with decent numbers but little fanfare, Garcia was seen as unlikely to ever truly make the jump — until Xabi Alonso handed him a start at the Club World Cup.
What followed was a staggering show of goal-scoring instinct. In four appearances, he has scored three goals and an assist. Not just finishes, but clever movement and flashes of creativity in tight spaces.
Alonso’s belief in the 21-year-old forward is no accident. The two worked crossed paths during Alonso’s time observing Castilla and earning his coaching badges, and that familiarity has translated into trust.
While competition up front is fierce — Mbappe, Vinicius, and the like — Garcia has forced his way into the conversation. If he continues on this path, Madrid may have uncovered their next great homegrown forward.