How good was Xabi Alonso?

[giorno]

Pepe wasn’t that good (wasn’t at his usual level) in the 13/14 CL campaign and he almost cost Madrid in the 2nd leg against Dortmund.

Alonso wasn’t as key as the other players you mentioned but it’s hard for any player to top the contributions of Ronaldo and Ramos that season. Modric was just a superior midfielder in general.

However, they did sorely miss Alonso in the final when he was suspended and almost lost the match if not for the last minute equaliser. So he was still a very key player.

Pepe was good in 13/14 honestly, and I'd say our player of the season was Angel Di Maria

But yeah, Xabi was a key player for us. Though the fact we replaced him with Kroos and got better doesn't speak strongly in his favour

 

[MrEleson]

Pepe was good in 13/14 honestly, and I'd say our player of the season was Angel Di Maria

But yeah, Xabi was a key player for us. Though the fact we replaced him with Kroos and got better doesn't speak strongly in his favour

Pepe was generally solid in 13/14 but his diabolical display vs. Dortmund away took him down a notch in terms of his importance relative to the other key players mentioned for me.

Also, you guys got better in general in the following seasons because of a combination of reasons but in hindsight, Alonso would’ve been pivotal for you the year he left with Modric out for pretty much the whole campaign which derailed your season.

 

[acnumber9]

Only on a Utd forum would you see him compared to Carrick.

Liverpool had all the best players, United had all the trophies.

 

[Infordin]

But yeah, Xabi was a key player for us. Though the fact we replaced him with Kroos and got better doesn't speak strongly in his favour

This is a bit more debatable.

I still think that Real Madrid 2013-14 is the most spectacular version of Real Madrid that I have ever seen. The speed of your counter attacks was unbelievable. You destroyed Bayern (while your wins in 2017 and 2018 were more luck dependent). Real Madrid’s 2014 Champions League is the most emphatic CL trophy they won in the last decade.

Likewise, with Alonso in midfield, you scored 100 points in the league, which you never managed with Kroos.

I think that Kroos is better than Alonso at playing the Kroos role, while Casemiro is better than Alonso at playing the Casemiro role, but Alonso was capable of playing both the Kroos and Casemiro role to a very high level. He was almost like Kroos and Casemiro roled into one player.