Real Madrid News
Real Madrid new signing tipped to bounce back after disappointing debut – ‘There’s no doubt’
Real Madrid new signings Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold made their debuts for the club this week, starting in the FIFA Club World Cup clash against Al-Hilal.
While Huijsen enjoyed a solid outing, Alexander-Arnold did not have the most memorable of debuts as he was unable to make a big impact going forward and was, at times, caught out in defence.
Alan Shearer backs Alexander-Arnold to turn it around
However, former Premier League striker and legend Alan Shearer has backed Alexander-Arnold to produce a strong reaction and bounce back after the disappointing debut.
“I think it’s clearly going to take time to get used to a new manager, new sort of ideas, what he wants to do,” the all-time Premier League top scorer said on The Rest is Football podcast (h/t METRO).
“Obviously, Trent is going to take time to understand and to get used to his surroundings, that’s only normal. But he’ll have bigger and better days than that.”
Continuing, he added: “I think he’ll be pleased that it’s out of the way. He may be disappointed that he didn’t do so well, the team didn’t do so well, didn’t get the right result. It’ll get better there’s no doubt.”
Shearer has doubts about Madrid winning CWC
However, Shearer did express doubts about whether Real Madrid can go all the way and win the FIFA Club World Cup, following the 1-1 draw against Al-Hilal.
“They obviously want to do well and go deep into the tournament and win this tournament,” he said.
“Whether they will have enough to win it, whether he [Alonso] will have enough time to get his ideas across to win it is another thing. I suspect maybe not.”
Talking about the biggest challenge that lies ahead for Xabi Alonso, Shearer noted: “But they’ve hired him for how successful he’s been.
“One of the big things that he has to get across is how he can manage the big superstars, the big egos at one of if not the biggest football club in the world.”
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
