Carlo Ancelotti has named three former Real Madrid players that he hopes will coach Los Blancos in the future, leaving out the club’s greatest goalscorer of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Italian coach named Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Raul Gonzalez as the players he wants to see take the hot seat at Real Madrid as he enters his last season with Real Madrid.
🗣️ Carlo Ancelotti: “I think younger managers give out too much information and doing that sometimes takes away the creativity from the player.”
“I maybe look at tactical awareness. I don’t tell players what do when they have the ball, it takes away the creativity.” pic.twitter.com/KQFNfrAEwb
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) September 26, 2023
Ancelotti has already announced that he will join the Brazil national team as head coach before the start of Copa América 2024 in the USA.
Talking about his successor, the veteran manager said “I think one day — for Raul [Gonzalez], for [Alvaro] Arbeloa, for Xabi Alonso — their biggest wish is to coach Real Madrid and I want that for them because I know them all, I love them all. Let’s hope that one day they can be Real Madrid coaches.”
Legendary striker, Raul is currently in charge of Real Madrid Castilla, the reserve team of Real Madrid whereas, Arbeloa is coaching the Under 19 team. Xabi Alonso is the only player among the three who is the head coach of a team in the first division.
Xabi Alonso has Carlo Ancelotti’s blessing 🤍 pic.twitter.com/LZ78RNpJMs
— GOAL (@goal) September 26, 2023
The Spanish midfielder has been impressive since taking over Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen is currently top of the Bundesliga table along with Bayern Munich after five matches, scoring 17 goals in the process.
Alonso was a youth coach in Real Madrid during the 2018/19 season for 306 days and is currently among the favorites to replace Carlo Ancelotti next summer, as per the reports from Spain. The former player played 236 matches for the club in five seasons and won six titles with the club, including the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League under Carlo Ancelotti.
Xabi Alonso’s impressive start at Bayer Leverkusen
Alonso has been sensational for Bayer Leverkusen since his appointment back in October 2022. He replaced Gerardo Seoane, who was sacked after Leverkusen slumped to 17th in the Bundesliga table.
Alonso’s impact was monumental as he led the side to a 6th-place finish from 17th, meanwhile, guiding the team to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. He shrugged off the interest from Tottenham to continue with Bayer Leverkusen for another season and has improved on his last season.
Bayer Leverkusen have been on a tear to start the season:
▪️ 7 games
▪️ 6 wins, 1 draw
▪️ 29 goals scored
▪️ 6 goals conceded
▪️ Joint top of BundesligaXabi Alonso learned from the best 🧠 pic.twitter.com/cu8JGCLtcM
— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 26, 2023
The attacking prowess of the team hasn’t suffered, even after losing Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa in the summer transfer window. Under Alonso, young players like Florian Writz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Amine Adil have improved immensely, leading the club to offer him a contract extension till 2026.
Alonso has managed 44 games for Leverkusen at the time of this report, winning 23 matches and losing only 11. He has used 34 players in his tenure and scored an impressive 98 goals with the German side.