"With big spending and expectations comes angst. You make a marquee move, but fall behind your biggest rival. You're used to winning every title, but the rest of the league catches up. You're used to zooming through promotion pushes, but suddenly realize everyone around you is better (and richer) than you. Your newfound riches buy success, and then they don't. Your run of great transfer signings ends, and you don't know why."
"Not long, apparently! Injuries and experimentation have led Alonso to already start 19 different players in seven matches, and he's gotten only 275 combined minutes from Alexander-Arnold, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga and Antonio Rüdiger. Alonso has played primarily with four defenders at the back -- though he broke out a 3-4-2-1 in Tuesday's 4-1 thumping of Levante -- and he's had to lean more on young attackers like Mastantuono (18) and Arda Güler (20) more than he might have expected."
Big spending and high expectations produced offseason angst for several clubs and one league entering 2025-26. Nine entities — Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, the Bundesliga, Wrexham, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Juventus and AC Milan — experienced more angst than excitement early in the season. Real Madrid manager Alonso has experimented heavily, starting 19 different players in seven matches and allocating only 275 combined minutes to Alexander-Arnold, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga and Antonio Rüdiger. Alonso has mostly used four defenders, briefly tried a 3-4-2-1 in a 4-1 win over Levante, and relied more on young attackers Mastantuono (18) and Arda Güler (20). Despite rotation and injuries, Real Madrid maintained a strong start.
Read at ESPN.com
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