Real Madrid appoint Alonso as coach

Real Madrid have appointed Xabi Alonso as the club’s new manager on a three-year contract.

Real Madrid announced this via a statement on Sunday.

Alonso- who made 236 appearances at the LaLiga club as a player – replaces Carlo Ancelotti, who is to take charge of the Brazil national team from Monday following his last game at Real Madrid on Saturday.

Alonso, 43, announced his Bayer Leverkusen departure earlier this month after a successful two-and-a-half-year spell at the German club, having won a league and cup double last season and falling just short of a remarkable unbeaten treble with defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League final.

He will be presented as manager at an event in Madrid on Monday when he will also address the media before taking charge on June 1, ahead of the Club World Cup which starts in the United States next month.

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The Spaniard, who also played for Liverpool and Bayern Munich during a glittering career in which he also won two European Championships and a World Cup with Spain, picked up plenty of knowledge that has shaped his coaching philosophy.

Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafael Benitez, and Vicente del Bosque are among the stellar array of coaches under whom Alonso played.

Speaking about his former managers, Alonso said: “I’ve always tried to be close to them, to understand how and why they make decisions.

“You learn from that but you need to build your own personality. It’s not a copy and paste thing, this manager’s job.

“You need to build your own ideas and believe in them to be able to transmit that idea and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

The Star