Xabi Alonso - The reason behind Real Madrid's reversal of fortunes

Xabi Alonso key to Real Madrid’s revival this season

Going into Sunday’s game against Barcelona, Real Madrid find themselves at the top of the table and 4 points clear of their Clasico rivals. With all the recent spotlight on Barca’s roller-coaster form, it is very easy to forget that the Los Blancos themselves were written off as a title contender, as early as the month of November. Six points off the pace at the end of Round 11 at the end of October, there seemed to be serious concerns about Real’s title aspirations. Then returned Xabi Alonso.

Having missed the start of the season after fracturing a metatarsal,an aging Alonso’s place in Real’s starting line-up was a major doubt, especially with the arrival of his protégé Illarramendi in the summer. How much Real missed him was conspicuous only 3 months into the season. Real were conceding goals at a rate of 1.27 goals per game.One can only wonder how irked Carlo Ancelotti must have been with his defence, as Italian a manager as he is!

On Xabi Alonso’s return against Sevilla, he watched on from the bench as Real gave away 3 goals in sixty frantic minutes at the Bernabeu, having managed to hit 5 themselves. Xabi came on in the 63rd minute to stabilise his team and see the team through without conceding any more. Real won the game 7-3.

Check out the table below:

Real’s stats in La Liga 2013-14	Points won per game	Goals Conceded	Goals Scored
Without Alonso	2.27	1.27	2.18
With Alonso	2.65	0.70	2.94

What a player like Xabi Alonso gives a footballing side is difficult to put down in pure numbers or statistics, and when done so can often be a gross injustice.To illustrate the same, Xabi has scored just once in his last two seasons and has a total of two assists in this season’s 24 appearances.

Alonso is a true leader of men. His ability to manipulate the flow of the game is well known. He is as much at ease when spraying 60 yard diagonals as when being the metronomical figure at the heart of Spanish national team’s tiki-taka style of football.

However, his tactical dexterity and leadership skills have been often overlooked. He has been the lynchpin of tactically superlative teams built by three master tacticians – Rafael Benitez, Jose Mourinho and now Carlo Ancelotti. He has the adroitness to maintain his team’s defensive shape at all times and lead them in transition from defence to attack in a flash.

Strategy can compensate for talent but talent cannot compensate for strategy. Alonso is the perfect embodiment of that. I have often considered him to be a textbook footballer in terms of technique and positioning. A purely technical player with no discernible innate talent other than tactical discipline and a remarkable application of his mind.

Alonso’s return has been pivotal to Real Madrid’s fortunes this season. Since his return Real has almost halved their goals conceded ratio from 1.27 to 0.70. Also significant is that the team has scored more goals per game in his presence(2.94) than in his absence(2.18).

It was no wonder that Real acted so swiftly in renewing Xabi Alonso’s contract this January, tying him till 2016. Some like former Real Madrid and Spain winger Jose Amavisca, consider Alonso to be as important as Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid. While Ronaldo continues to receive all the plaudits and deservedly so, his team mates and manager will still look to Xabi Alonso to lead them to a 33rd La Liga championship and more importantly, the much coveted, the much cherished- la decima – the UEFA Champions League for the tenth time in their history.