“I understood Vinicius Jr as a player & person 10 sec after meeting him” – Xabi Alonso talks ahead of Al Hilal clash

Tonight is the big night for Real Madrid fans, as they are up for the first edition of Xabi Ball. The Spaniard will participate in an official game tonight against Al Hilal, for the first time since landing the Madrid job. Ahead of the highly anticipated game, the coach participated in a pre game press conference, as he talked on a plethora of topics.

It’s summer in the United States, and the heat levels are getting really high with games scheduled in the afternoon to satisfy European viewers. On the temperatures during game, Alonso said:

“Worried about the heat? I can’t control the heat. So no, I don’t care.”

The manager then took the bull by the horn, as he said:

“Tomorrow, the Rock & Roll starts. We will do good things, and some things won’t be so good. There’s no reason to be frustrated.”

“The thing we are NOT allowed to lack is hunger. Hunger to win, hunger to compete, our pride, our responsibility of defending the logo, our team spirit.

We have to play as a team.”

Kylian Mbappe reportedly missed yesterday’s training due to a fever. On his participation tonight, Alonso said:

 “We will see how Mbappé feels tomorrow. We will wait for him until the last minute.

When asked how he planned on using the Frenchman, he said:

 “Mbappé playing striker or winger? Mbappé is a dynamic attacker. He doesn’t have a fixed position.”

To the delight of Real Madrid fans, Alonso made a promise going into next season:

“Arda Guler AND Endrick will play more this season.”

Real Madrid’s latest signing Franco Mastantuono starred in River Plate’s 3-1 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds yesterday. On what he said to the player in convincing him to choose Madrid, the coach said:

 “I will NOT tell you what I told Franco Mastantuono, no. It’s private. Franco Mastantuono is a player for both the present and the future.

He is so mature, I was so impressed when I spoke to him. He’s very intelligent. He will be a VERY important addition to the squad.”

Alonso’s football philosophy is very clear, as it involves collective DEFENDING and aggressive PRESSING. on that, he said:

“Attackers defending? That’s FUNDAMENTAL. The team needs to defend together. There needs to be balance in attack and defense.”

 “Attackers pressing? We have 11 players on the pitch, and our idea is for all 11 players to work towards the same thing.”

“The most important thing to improve? Distance management. We will be positioned better on the pitch, and everything will work better that way. We insisted on that a lot.”

“Did I manage to set the players on the fire and motivate them? They have to show it on the pitch, if they’re on fire. Let’s see.”

Speaking of some players in his squad, Alonso said:

 “I understood Vini as a player and as a person 10 seconds after meeting him. He has a huge heart, he is passionate and he is incredible. We will use his talents in the best way possible.”

 “Jude Bellingham has the soul of a midfielder. He likes to work in build-up and also has the quality of crashing the box, but he’s a midfielder at heart.”

“I know what happened with Rodrygo at the end of the season, but I can’t say everything. It was difficult for him, but he took some time off, and now he’s very motivated. He wants to have fun.”

 “I have a fantastic relationship with Modric. I really like seeing him with the young players, he advises them really well. He’s a legendary, historical player, and we need to take advantage until the last day.”

“I’m very happy with Dani Ceballos.”

To conclude, Ceballos made a funny comment about the manager, to which he replied:

“Ceballos said I’m so excited I climb on walls in the hotel? He’s right. I’m really, really excited to get started.”