2 weeks ago
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Sergio Aguero believes former Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is in the perfect place to excel after he joined Real Madrid this summer to work under Xabi Alonso.
Real Madrid crashed out of the Club World Cup a few weeks ago, losing 4-0 to PSG in the semifinals. But Aguero thinks that Alonso will get the team — and Alexander-Arnold — playing well.
"It's vital to remember Xabi Alonso has taken the helm of Madrid very recently," Aguero, who scored 184 goals during his time in the Premier League, told Stake. "He needs time to shape the team to his vision.
"No doubt that a team like Real Madrid demands good results and quickly. But we should let Xabi develop his strategy. A single bad match at the Club World Cup's semi-finals shouldn't be cause for alarm.
"He's got great players, and Madrid will always be Madrid. I think Xabi did a great job in Germany, so I can't see why he wouldn't be successful in the present too.
"If [Alexander-Arnold] can repeat all the great things he did at Liverpool for Madrid, surely so. He's got great conditions to adapt to a new team and a new league, so time will tell."
Alexander-Arnold has been impressed with Alonso so far. The former Bayer Leverkusen boss took over from Carlo Ancelotti this summer and has been getting his ideas across.
"When he [Alonso] joins in in training, you can see he has still got high quality, which is amazing to see," Alexander-Arnold told The Athletic during the group stage of the Club World Cup.
"I grew up watching him and he has not lost any quality at all. He can still lace them up and get out there and get out there with us if he wanted to. He’s still that good.
"Obviously the way he can adapt to different teams [is impressive]. We changed the system in a short space of time [for the Juventus game] and the way he gets his messages across means it’s very clear.
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"We can understand perfectly what we need to do as individuals and as a team. Everyone’s got to get used to it. It worked, clearly, so that’s a good start but obviously we have a lot of work to do.
"It wasn’t a perfect game, but good signs. It was our best game so far as a team. It was the best game I’ve had. It seemed to click out there. We had a game plan.
"It was our aim to top the group. We are unbeaten and three goals and a clean sheet is a good confidence boost going into the round of 16."
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