Xabi Alonso: “The Club World Cup has taught me a lot about what we are and what we need to improve”
“It's the end of this season and not the start of the next. We will take positive things from this period,” added the Madrid coach.
Xabi Alonso spoke in the MetLife Stadium press room after the Club World Cup semi-final between Real Madrid and PSG. The coach said: “It was a tricky situation after the first ten minutes. PSG is a project created over time and we're just starting out. It's not only because you want to be braver that you're better. There were two harsh blows and we weren't on the pitch. We needed to relax a bit and it was a shame to concede the third before half-time. Today, we have suffered against a team that's at a good level and we're just starting this new stage. There is a lot of margin. Today it hurts and our level wasn't good enough. This match will show us things for the future to compete at a better level than today. This is as far as we've come. We fell at the penultimate hurdle and it hurts.”
“Going 2-0 down early on is a conditioning factor. We wanted to play an intense game and after that you face it in a different way. More than the distance between the two teams is the margin we have to improve. It's the end of this season and not the start of the next. We’ll take the positives from this Club World Cup period. We're leaving as a better team. It's a starting point for a better start next season. I'm talking about the team and not the players. Today, we had some shortcomings and sometimes it's good to see the mistakes so that they can be useful for the future. If we repeat the same mistake over and over again, we won't be intelligent.”
The future
“I'm leaving with certainties. This tournament has taught me many things about what we are and what we have to improve. I'm leaving with a perspective for next year, when we will recover players and there will be changes. Next season will be different, but I'll leave with clear certainties. I take all the information that this tournament has given me. We want to build a team that plays as a unit and where everyone is involved.”
The changes
“I thought we had to wait because in the second half we changed the pressing from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 with Gonzalo on the left. The analysis of the decisions will be looked at and I'm open to criticism. We're all together and this end won't mark us too much for the beginning of the next season. This will be a restart from 0 not from 98 that we have finished today.”
Modrić’s final game
“This is not the desired end, it's a bitter end, but he won't be remembered for today's game but for other great ones. He's a legend of world football and of Real Madrid. He'll be remembered for many more good things than for the 25 minutes he played today.”
His game plan and pressing
“It wasn't what we expected. It's the first defeat, but it won't be the last. Anyone who thinks they'll never lose is deluding themselves. It's what we have to do and tomorrow we start a period of rest and recharging our brains. We all need it and may it give us enough impact to get off to a good start. We can't forget today's game, but we can't let this game drag us down either.”
“We were hurt by the 2-0 and coming back from that isn't easy. We tried not to go crazy, but with the third goal it was even more difficult. It wasn't only the pressure but also the fluidity of the game. We can learn a lot from it.”
Rodrygo
“These are match decisions. The way the match was going, we needed another profile. There have been no decisions for the future. We haven't rotated too much in this Club World Cup and the context will be different in the future.”
PSG
“They've been playing together for years and they're at an incredible level. We're not the first to lose to them. It's difficult to play against them. We have to accept that they are in a very good moment.”
Reinforcements for next season
“We haven't talked about it during the Club World Cup, but from now on we're open to making improvements. We are always looking to improve and there's room for improvement.”