“Pep Guardiola represents my version of perfection in football,” Xabi Alonso said in April 2016.
There is plenty of evidence his two seasons under Guardiola at Bayern as a player marked him most profoundly — in the style of football he wants his teams to play, and the way he works at the training ground.
The two Spanish holding midfielders became firm friends during their two seasons together in Germany, and Guardiola had warm words when Alonso was appointed at the Bernabeu in May.
On his return to Madrid in the early summer, Alonso had the club hierarchy’s blessing to impose more discipline and improve the intensity in both training and games.
This has meant a Guardiola-like tendency to look to explain ideas in detail to players one-on-one during the week, and also to constantly adjust and organise them from the sidelines during matches.
But former Alaves assistant coach Christian Moya, who has studied each manager closely, says: “Alonso has realised, at Madrid, it’s not as easy (to control everything) as at other clubs.
“Or that he doesn’t have the same power Pep has in his teams.”