Outside Write (Chris Lee) ⚽️Quick taster of this Sunday’s podcast with @[email protected]
We’re discussing the lesser-known history of Real Madrid ahead of the release of Miguel’s new book this spring.
Sub/catch up wherever you get your podcasts…
#laliga #realmadrid #RMCF
Henry Winter 🤖Xabi Alonso Discovered Real Madrid Is the Impossible Job for All But Two People. Wrote this for Sports Illustrated recently, updated to take in his dismissal today @[email protected] @[email protected] #RMCF https://www.si.com/soccer/xabi-alonso-real-madrid-impossible-job-all-but-two-people
Xabi Alonso Discovered Real Madrid Is the Impossible Job for All But Two People
With just 34 games under his belt, the Spaniard’s time at the Bernabéu has come to an abrupt end. But given that’s only the eighth shortest tenure of Florentino Pérez’s presidency, it should perhaps be no surprise at all.
Jude Bellingham standing up for Xabi Alonso, still some support for a besieged head coach within Bernabeu, but it's tense. Background issues that Alonso faces at #RMCF, inc squad imbalance and injuries, long shadows and large expectations, compounded by subsequent defeat to #MCFC
https://sportsbots.xyz/users/henrywinter/statuses/1998804564171272398
Xabi Alonso trying to manage under pressure. Sports Illustrated Column @[email protected] @[email protected] #RMCF https://www.si.com/soccer/xabi-alonso-real-madrid-impossible-job-two-people
Telegraph Football 🤖The biggest rift appears to be with Vinícius, who is at a contract impasse with the club and a free agent in 2027.
Find out more from @[email protected] ⬇️
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/12/10/inside-xabi-alonso-rift-real-madrid-celebrity-footballers/
Jude Bellingham getting the headlines and the love for his performance in El Clasico. One goal, one assist. One of the best players in the world. Needs to be in the England team at No 10, playing killer passes and storming the area. Morgan Rogers playing well but Bellingham a level above, a big-game player. Keeps delivering in El Clasico.
As for those debating his attitude, Bellingham’s a winner. England need that mindset. Best players tend to have an edge. Occasionally it goes over the top, and officials deserve more respect (Frau Tuchel has a point) but Bellingham’s still young, only 22. And he is a team player. 54 assists at Dortmund/Real. Voted England’s Player of the Year by fans. They see what he brings to their team. Goals, assists, ambition, hope.
World Cup’s going to be tough. Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal etc. England will need their most fearless, game-changing players, those who don’t lose possession in the heat, those with total belief to progress deep into the tournament.
England with Bellingham will be more feared by opponents than without. A front 6 of Anderson, Rice; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; and Kane offers plenty: ball-winners, playmakers, fliers and finishers. And an elite edge. #RMCF #ENG
Here we go again, the old English habit of writing off a flair player, focusing on a few negatives rather than the many positives a player can bring. Trent Alexander-Arnold is the latest to be targeted. He still has to tighten his defensive game, of course, and will work on that at Real Madrid, but in all this sad pile-on let’s not forget he is one of the best attacking right-backs in the world.
Alexander-Arnold is one of the best passers over distance to play for England in years (probably since Scholes, Beckham and Gerrard). He will be needed against defensive opponents when England want to break quickly with one of his raking passes.
He shouldn’t be written off with England - at only 26 - just because Tuchel is currently looking elsewhere at right-back against Andorra and Serbia - while emphasising he is still “a big fan of Trent”. He’s still acclimatising at Real and competing for a place with a club legend in Dani Carvajal.
It’s undeniably a tough time for him but Trent’s tough. He has the talent and determination to do well. He has a rare technical gift in that right foot. Jurgen Klopp always saw that, backed him and picked him.
It’s also worth remembering that Alexander-Arnold doesn’t currently have Jude Bellingham in the team, the Real player who best knows his passing intentions (with England, too). English football should be proud to have produced two players now at Real Madrid.
Alexander-Arnold just has to seize the opportunity - when it next comes and it will come - to remind everyone of his ability. And the folly of writing him off. #ENG #RMCF
Good to see Trent Alexander-Arnold receiving appreciation and respect for doing Trent things: delivering a perfect cross for a striker to score (Real Madrid’s very promising, 21-year-old centre-forward Gonzalo Garcia against Juventus in the Club World Cup). It’s a reminder of why Real sought Trent's services, and paid an £8.4m fee to get him in early.
One touch does not a season make, though. Trent still has to work more on the defensive side of his game, particularly on concentration. But it's a strong start. And people should really be wishing Trent well at Real: if he prospers it will enhance further the reputation and value of English footballers abroad, endorse the quality of coaching in English academies, and make him even more of a rounded force for the national team in a World Cup year. #RMCF #FIFACWC
