Xabi Alonso wants to fix the pressing. That damn pressing. It’s one of his top priorities. On his first day—early last Monday—he opened his agenda and gathered his staff to decide where to stick the scalpel. There wasn’t much time, so choices had to be made.

There would be just five training sessions before the trip to the USA—just enough time to tighten a screw. But which ones? That was the question. After several hours of meetings, there was white smoke: pressing. It wasn’t the only issue, but it was the most urgent.

It’s probably been the biggest headache of the season. “We’re not a balanced team, but we have a lot of quality up front,” was Ancelotti’s diagnosis near the end of the campaign, right after scraping into the Copa del Rey final. You can’t change a comma in that statement. That’s what Real Madrid has been: disorganized but dripping with talent. And that has to change. Because talent wins games—but disorganization makes it fleeting. That’s not the way.

Xabi Alonso wants order. But he needs time—and he doesn’t have much. So, for these first few days, the decision has been to focus on pressing. With nuance. He’s not asking for a very high press, but for a medium one. Press aggressively when the ball crosses into the final third. But do it with structure. Rehearsals have already started and will continue in the U.S., with the full squad available. The plan, as reported, is to iron out the flaws during the group stage. The opponents, on paper, allow for some breathing room. For now.

Madrid won’t be a team that just drops deep without the ball. They’ll attack around the 70% mark of the field. But it has to be done right. “We haven’t been compact all season,” Carletto admitted, visibly shaken in the heart of the Emirates. A night that pierced their Achilles’ heel. Madrid tried to press up front—but did it poorly, exposing themselves over and over. It was the clearest example of chaos.

Xabi wants this to be one of the first things to change. If you’re going to press in a medium block, do it right. And if you can’t—don’t. It’s better not to do it at all than to do it badly. But you have to try. You have to work on it. And that’s not all—attitude. What a word. What a key.

These days, he’s been drilling it into the squad: he wants players who bite. And he wants it to show in one specific action—biting immediately after losing the ball. Let those first seconds after possession is lost be full of teeth. He wants to see that hunger. Whether the ball is recovered or not is secondary. But try.

That’s something every player already carries—in their head, in their game. In his first training session, with 21 players present (though only 15 trained, and 10 were youth players), he was clear: he promised to give 200%, in exchange for 200% from each one. His part, for now, is more than visible. He’s giving everything. Maximizing every minute of every session. With drills to speed up transitions, nonstop demands for intensity—and yes, a constant focus on pressing.

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Those are his three commandments on the tablets of law: 1. Press. 2. Intensity. 3. Compactness. Objective: become a cohesive unit. Finally. Fix that damn pressing.

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