On the wrong foot and under suspicion: Xabi Alonso has his two biggest enemies at home.

Vicente del Bosque commented on this at the end of the first edition of the Espiga Sports Awards , in which the Villanueva del Pardillo Town Council recognized his Sporting Career with an audience on their feet. "Xabi Alonso is very intelligent, but we have to give him time," said the former Spanish national team coach about the new Real Madrid manager. A signing that has come about in atypical circumstances due to the Club World Cup , FIFA's latest invention that Florentino Pérez does not hesitate to claim as his own.

Del Bosque knows the Bernabéu dugout well. For the better, not in vain, he won two La Liga titles and two European Cups there , but also for the worse, as the non-renewal of his contract after the president publicly promised him one not only meant he had to leave through the back door, but it was also closed on him on his way out, and he decided to throw away the key. Being a world and European champion with Spain helped him get over that thorn in his side. Although not enough to overcome being thrown out of what he considers his home .

Xabi Alonso has a very different profile to Del Bosque , but his enemies will be the same . The first is time, common to all coaches, although at Real Madrid there isn't even time to say good morning. Thus, after a handful of training sessions, the 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal provoked comments in the media such as " new era, same old problems" , "Madrid was still Madrid, even though the coach has changed" or "a team as declining as Ancelotti's last one" , "sluggish, slow and predictable".

Even worse was the reaction of many Real Madrid fans, who perhaps thought Alonso could magically change the dynamics of a team that, in case anyone has forgotten, is coming off a season in which it was thrashed by a Barça side that won the League, the Cup, and the Super Cup . It also lost in the Champions League quarterfinals to an Arsenal side that beat it in both the first and second legs.

And, most importantly for the future, with some shortcomings in Xabi's game that, as a great central midfielder that he was , knows better than anyone, and it's the first thing he'll have to address, even if he does it against the grain. At Real Madrid, the needs of the bench don't always coincide with the desires of the box, which is why Alonso has already begun to test what he has, in case the squad ends up staying as it is.

The Club World Cup confuses Florentino

It's worth remembering that it was their own president who, before the match against Pachuca , said, "Like every year when a new season starts, we're prepared to face the different competitions." Although the Club World Cup wasn't far removed from the summer tours that Florentino liked to do so much, especially in countries where, coincidentally, his construction company had interests, no, it's not the start of a new season, but the end of the current one .

As reported in this newspaper , the president of Real Madrid wanted Solari to take over the team in the United States , to avoid the "hassle" for Xabi Alonso. However, what's done is done. "Indeed, we have a new coach, new players and we're in a new competition as beautiful as it is." the Club World Cup, for which many people have fought," insisted Florentino Pérez on DAZN .

Neither the dates, at the end of a very long season, with no time to rest and jeopardizing preparations for the next one. Nor the schedules, some of them hellish for the players due to the heat. Nor the opponents, some with a low level of skill and others, like the South Americans, extra motivated. The Club World Cup being played in the United States is a hoax, even though Florentino Pérez claims to be "sure it will be a success," seeing his long-awaited Super League reflected in it.

Alonso will never behave like Mourinho

Returning to Vicente del Bosque, when Xabi Alonso decided to leave the Spanish national team, with which he played 114 matches, scored 16 goals and won the Euro-World Cup-Euro Cup , the coach from Salamanca did not hesitate to praise him. "He leaves us a fantastic legacy. He has been a great professional. The coaching staff and I hold him in great esteem and I can only say that his behavior throughout this time has been impeccable."

Although some may want to draw similarities with Mourinho , let no one doubt that Xabi Alonso will maintain the same line as a coach that he had as a footballer, although now he is more exposed to criticism, and in a club where the figure of the coach does not prevail. Therefore, and here comes the second enemy , the question is whether Florentino will let him be the good coach that he has proven to be: First, in the second team of Real Madrid , which he also promoted to the Second Division, and then at Leverkusen , where he won three titles.

"We want Real Madrid fans to be proud and say 'that's my Real Madrid!'" said Xabi at his presentation, to make his intentions clear. Although his president, the same one who opened the door through which Del Bosque, Hierro, Casillas and Raúl left, only cares about winning. And in this Club World Cup, more than the title, it's the huge amount of money that FIFA will pay the champion . Thanks, of course, to the generous contribution from Saudi Arabia . Money that won't be black, but it will be shady.