I want everyone to defend: Alonso

New Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso warned his team’s stars including Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday that they must all pitch in defensively.  Last season under Carlo Ancelotti Los Blancos failed to win a major trophy and the Italian was at times exasperated with his forward line’s unwillingness to work hard enough for the sake of the team as a whole.

Xabi Alonso

“What I am certain of is that we need and want everyone to defend — the 11 players on the pitch have to be involved defensively,” Alonso said. “They have to get close together, they have to know how we want to press, and without that, things will be very complicated. Vinicius, Jude [Bellingham], Fede [Valverde], Kylian [Mbappe], those up front [need to defend],” he added.

Ancelotti said last season that he was not concerned if Mbappe pressed or not and wanted the striker to focus on goalscoring.  The 26-year-old promptly justified his coach’s faith in him, scoring 43 goals across all competitions in his first season at the Santiago Bernabeu after his move from PSG. The French star is currently dealing with a stomach bug and has missed the team’s first two games at the Club World Cup. However, Alonso is hopeful that Mbappe will be available for the knockout rounds which begin on Saturday.

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