{"id":1075,"date":"2025-06-26T00:40:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T00:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2025-06-26T11:17:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T11:17:23","slug":"xabi-alonso-explains-rodrygo-goes-absence-it-was-a-technical-decision-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/xabi-alonso-explains-rodrygo-goes-absence-it-was-a-technical-decision-but\/","title":{"rendered":"Xabi Alonso explains Rodrygo Goes absence \u2013 \u2018It was a technical decision, but\u2026\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has smoothed over the decision not to use Rodrygo Goes in their second game at the Club World Cup. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\/2025\/06\/24\/agent-of-real-madrid-star-has-communicated-unhappiness-to-club\">plenty of speculation around his future already<\/a>, the decision only fuelled speculation that he could be on his way out of the club this summer.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old did not feature for the final month of Real Madrid\u2019s domestic campaign, and with Alonso set to use a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 shape, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\/2025\/05\/18\/xabi-alonso-five-real-madrid-stars-exits\">fear is that Rodrygo does not have a natural place in the line-up<\/a>. In his preferred role, Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz and Victor Munoz were all used ahead of him against Pachuca. Yet Alonso declared he still considered important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe looks good to me, enthusiastic. The other day was a technical decision. He remains important and we will need him in the Club World Cup. He is a special player and he will have a significant role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udea8RUEDA DE PRENSA DE XABI ALONSO PREVIA REAL MADRID SALZBURGO\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T6DMZsvS1k0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether with the arrival of Franco Mastantuono, Rodrygo and Brahim, someone could be sold this summer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very happy with everyone, and I\u2019m counting on everyone. It\u2019s a very demanding season; we\u2019ll have 50 or 60 games. We need a squad with healthy competition. I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Positional changes in midfield<\/h2>\n<p>Against Pachuca, Fede Valverde was played as the deepest-lying midfielder, and Alonso was asked whether that was a symbolic of a more permanent shift.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have some ideas, but he\u2019s very versatile. He can play in many positions. He can play close to the wing, and in others. We have a lot of flexibility with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile Jude Bellingham has also been playing deeper than he did under Carlo Ancelotti.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"3840\" height=\"2160\" class=\"wp-image-296128 has-webp lazyload\" style=\"height:auto;max-width: 2048px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Bellingham speaks to the press in Madrid.\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Bellingham-press-scaled.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image via Getty Images \/ Goal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019ll be key. I love what he does in midfield, how he\u2019s involved in every play, and he has tremendous quality. We saw that against Pachuca. We try to stay close to him; he\u2019s very ambitious, a player who always wants to improve, to keep growing. We\u2019re eager to continue watching him grow and improve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alonso was also questioned on the work-rate of Vinicius Junior defensively, and whether it was something he needed to improve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I\u2019m clear about is that we all have to defend. All eleven on the pitch. We have to know how we want to press. Without that, it will be very difficult. Vini, Jude, Fede, Kylian, the defence\u2026 The more compact we are, the better the distances we\u2019ll have. We have to improve our distances, and we\u2019re working on it. Vini, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"989\" height=\"583\" class=\"wp-image-303173 has-webp lazyload\" style=\"height:auto;max-width: 989px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Alonso has been working his charges hard on the training ground.\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Rodrygo-Xabi-Alonso.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image via Pedro Castillo\/Real Madrid via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Process of adaptation at Real Madrid<\/h2>\n<p>There was also plenty of focus on the lack of time that Alonso has had to prepare, and how he has tackled that issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very complex process. In different phases, you have to know what to prioritise. It\u2019s not always possible to cover everything, but I try to keep the most important things in mind. At the beginning, we\u2019ll play it one way, and later it will become more fluid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most important thing is the predisposition. And I can see it. The players want to adapt to this new era, we\u2019re talking about things. And they\u2019re top class. It\u2019s easy with them; even explaining it on paper, they get it quickly. There\u2019s work to do every day, and it\u2019s important that the concepts stick in their blood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\/2025\/06\/26\/xabi-alonso-explains-rodrygo-goes-absence-it-was-a-technical-decision-but\">Xabi Alonso explains Rodrygo Goes absence &#8211; &#8216;It was a technical decision, but&#8230;&#8217;<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.football-espana.net\">Football Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has smoothed over the decision not to use Rodrygo Goes in their second game at the Club World&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1079,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions\/1079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}