When Xabi Alonso was announced as Carlo Ancelotti's successor this summer, he arrived with high expectations off the back of what he did in his time with Bayer Leverkusen. He is expected by many to be the man to lead the next generation of Real Madrid to loads of success just as past Real Madrid managers have done.
And so far, things have been going in favor of the Spaniard. There had been a few blips like the 5-2 loss to Atletico and the 1-0 loss to Liverpool, but other than that, it has been a strong display for the new Real Madrid manager. Xabi Alonso has the squad playing like completely different players than the ones we saw last season in the dying days of the Carlo Ancelotti regime.
However, despite the overwhelmingly strong start by Xabi Alonso, many choose to focus on the negatives instead of the positives and have been quite critical of the new manager, questioning if he's really the right man or if Real Madrid made a mistake with their appointment.
While many have been quick to criticize the new manager, many former Real Madrid players have backed the manager 100% since his appointment this summer, and Xabi Alonso just got the seal of approval from one of Real's greatest ever players.
Xabi Alonso just got a seal of approval Real Madrid fans will love
From TheMadridZone on X, Karim Benzema was full of nothing but praise for the new manager, even saying how he would want to play in the Spaniard's system.
Benzema went on to say: "Xabi Alonso? His style as a coach is EXACTLY what I love: high pressing, vertical passing... I remember when he was my teammate, and now as a coach, he's still the same. He's only been at Real Madrid for 6 months, and he's doing excellent work."
The Frenchman played under numerous managers during his time at Real Madrid, so his opinion on managers wouldn't be something to take lightly. When someone like him is full of praise for a manager, you know it's the real deal.
The two arrived at Real Madrid during the same summer transfer window in 2009 and were teammates for five years until Xabi Alonso departed in 2014. Benzema has always been someone to have Xabi Alonso's back and in a time of somewhat unwarranted, overly harsh media criticism, Benzema is once again their to backup his former teammate.