Xabi Alonso's philosophy, formation and style of play

Real Madrid are getting closer to announcing Xabi Alonso as their new manager with the Spaniard confirming he'll leave Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season.

The former Spain midfielder cut his teeth at Bayer Leverkusen, leading Die Werkself to an unprecedented unbeaten domestic double, with only a final defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League denying them a treble.

It quickly elevated Alonso to one of Europe’s best young coaches, with reports that he was set to inherit the Real Madrid job from Carlo Ancelotti circulating as early as 12 months ago.

Xabi Alonso's philosophy and style of play

At Bayer Leverkusen, we've seen Alonso's side dominate the ball and be efficient in possession. His philosophy is about doing things quickly, be it getting the ball forward or winning it back.

He wants his side to control possession, but doesn't encourage passing for the sake of it, and wants his front men involved as much as possible.

Xabi Alonso formation

Alonso has deployed an unusual formation at Bayer Leverkusen, with his 3-4-2-1 system rarely seen at the world’s top clubs, and it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll stick with it at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Alonso has shown himself to be an adaptable manager, making tweaks where necessary. He’s primarily stick with a back three, but has often fielded a back four in the UEFA Champions League, using a more traditional 4-2-3-1 formation.

It may be that Alosno persists with a back three in games where he expects his side to dominate possession – which should be most games as Real Madrid boss – but the occasional away game or European tie may see Alonso switch to a back four.

Whatever formation Alonso opts for, it will likely represent a big shift from what we’ve seen under Ancelotti.

The first issue presented to Alonso is that the squad looks somewhat imbalanced and in need of reinforcements. Trent Alexander-Arnold will be perfect as a right-wing-back in Alonso’s possession-heavy system, but be it Fran Garcia or Ferland Mendy, Real need an upgrade on the other side of the pitch.

There’s also the task of getting his four star midfielders on the pitch at the same time. Bellingham will likely operate as a number 10, but there may be times when Eduardo Camavinga will be deployed as a left-back or Aurelien Tchouameni will play at centre-back. Federico Valverde’s work rate and versatility means he can play almost anywhere.

In defence, Antonio Rudiger, Lucas Vazquez and David Alaba are all in their 30s, while Eder Militao continues his recovery from a serious knee injury.

Raul Asencio looks ready to play a more prominent role at the Bernabeu, but centre-back also looks like an area to address.

When playing a back three, his wing-backs have been more like wingers, with Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo contributing to plenty of goals. Even when Alonso has played a back four, he’s often used his wing-backs as wingers, ahead of more conventional full-backs. Should he play a back four, it would allow Vinicius Jr to occupy his favoured left-wing position, with Arda Guler potentially playing on the right wing should Rodrygo be sold.

In his preferred system, Alonso has tended to play with two number 10s behind a lone front man; Bellingham would be one, and it would likely be Vinicius who’s asked to play more centrally while having the freedom to drift into his preferred left half-space.