Thibaut Courtois is one of the most important Real Madrid players and has been so for the past many seasons now. He's one of those big game players you just can't bench, and he will make sure he tells you why.
He's obviously one of the fan favorites. But there's one thing that the Belgian was recently involved in that sent Real Madrid fans celebrating the way they haven't in months.
As the pictures and videos from Xabi Alonso's first Real Madrid training session floated, Real Madrid fans made a peculiar observation.
They saw that Alonso organized a special drill for the players in which they practiced build-up play, and Thibaut Courtois was noticed actively involved at the crown of it.
Real Madrid fans are absolutely loving Courtois' new role in Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid
The pictures clearly show that Courtois participated in Alonso's distinctive "building from the back" exercise, a tactic which Carlo Ancelotti did not pursue.
Under the Italian manager, goalkeeper was rarely involved in creating the game from the back, and there was very little build-up play. The majority of the strategies consisted just clearing the ball ahead so that the wingers and forwards could somehow receive it. And perhaps this will change under Alonso.
We know how much Xabi enjoys possession-based gameplay. He wants complete dominance on the pitch, and controlling and creating with the ball are two major components of his approach, which Real Madrid fans were pleased to see was being planned.
One fan wrote on X, "Xabi cooking". Another fan was visibly overjoyed and said while quoting the video, "I can’t believe my eyes. No more atrocious long balls."
Then there was another one who simply said, "We are so back!" and one who said, "Wake me up from this dream."
All of these responses are entirely valid. Over the course of many seasons, Real Madrid fans have witnessed far too much ball loss because the goalkeeper was instructed to just clear it forward rather than make passes to the nearest players, who could then construct the game forward.
On his presentation day, Xabi Alonso stated that he wants to build a team that fans would be proud of and in awe of when they see them play. And I believe he is headed in the right direction. I can't wait until his first game!