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Real Madrid beat Real Betis 5-1 this weekend but the situation at the Bernabeu remains unstable
Fabio Capello questioned Xabi Alonso’s approach Real Madrid and suggested he didn’t tailor his philosophy to the players at his disposal.
Capello, who won La Liga in each of his two spells in charge at the Bernabeu, watched from afar as Alonso struggled to implement the high-pressure, high-energy play that was so successful at Bayer Leverkusen.
Madrid are second in the Spanish elite, four points behind their great rival Barcelona.halfway through the domestic season.
Capello, speaking to Marca, said Alonso would have to tweak his ideas to get the best out of the team.
The Italian said: “I always say you have to make wine with the grapes you have. If you want to make champagne but you don’t have champagne grapes, you’re not going to make champagne… When you come to a new place, you have to know where you’re going to work.”
Real Madrid player never pressed, says Capello
Madrid’s problems appear to stem from some players’ refusal to apply pressure, but Capello insists this is nothing new.
“These players have never pressed, ever, and they are not going to,” he added. “With [former boss Carlo] Ancelotti, they didn’t press either. It’s one thing to go back and put yourself in an area where they help the team, but do you really want them to put pressure on? They don’t have that ability, they can’t do it.
“We are talking about players who, when they have the ball, hurt the opponent, and when the team does not have it, they have to come back, but not to put pressure.
“Today it seems that everything is about pressing. Then there are individual cases in which a player if he doesn’t press, okay, he doesn’t press, but when we have the ball he has to do something good, something different, and that’s when we have to demand things from him. If he doesn’t work 100% without the ball, let him do it at least 70%. When you have players who do the difference, you need to think about that too.”
“A negative leader can be a major problem”
It has been reported that Alonso’s methods are not supported by several Madrid players, while the former Spain international has also had to deal with a fallout with star winger Vinicius Jr.
Capello said: “Everywhere you go, there’s something different. And the more stars there are, the harder it is, because they also have their leadership, and you have to get them to put that leadership in favor of the team, not just in their own favor.
“The hardest thing is having a negative leader, because that can be a major problem.”
Ancelotti appeared to find the right balance before leaving Madrid to face the Brazil national team ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
“Carlo is ‘the teacher,’” Capello said of his fellow Italian. “He was my player and I know him very well. He has natural leadership: he looks lazy but he’s not lazy, he looks calm but when it’s time to say things clearly to the team, he tells them. He knows how to have the team on his side.”
