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Xabi Alonso has reportedly warned five Real Madrid players about their future at the club after the FIFA Club World Cup. He wants to see more from Rodrygo, Raúl Asencio, and Fran García, while also asking Andriy Lunin and Ferland Mendy to earn their place.
According to MARCA, Alonso is keen on making his Real Madrid work hard in every game and does not want players who are unwilling to help each other on the pitch. He wants everyone to give it their all on the pitch and is reluctant to give leeway to any player.
Rodrygo started the first match of Alonso's era at Real Madrid, but has since played just 30 minutes in five matches. He did not come off the bench against Pachuca, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain. The manager stated after the semifinal loss against PSG that he only picked players who were suitable for his tactics in the game.
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Asencio made far too many errors at the back in the tournament. He was sent off after just seven minutes against Pachuca, while his mistake helped PSG take the lead in the semifinal.
Garcia played all the matches at left-back, but now faces competition from Álvaro Carreras. Los Blancos have re-signed the Benfica star, and he is likely to be the #1 choice for the Spaniard at Santiago Bernabeu.
Lunin did not play at the Club World Cup, while Mendy was not in the squad due to an injury. Both players have also been warned that their place in the squad is not secure if they fail to step up.
Xabi Alonso wants to see improvements at Real Madrid after FIFA Club World Cup loss
Xabi Alonso spoke to the media after the semifinal loss to PSG and said that he wanted to see more from his players. He claimed that the focus should be on getting better once they are back in pre-season training. He said (via SPORTbible):
"Today it hurts and our level wasn't good enough. 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. 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."
Real Madrid requested that their LaLiga opener be postponed by a day to give the players an extra day's rest. However, Javier Tebas has denied the request and asked them to face Osasuna on August 19.
