I agree with everything that you said. Kroos was the back bone of the midfield and defense, because players will not easily pass through the midfield to the defenders, giving them less work to handle. It's going to be somehow tough for Xabi who still need time to get a good midfielder. Barcelona has always been their rival and let's see how Madrid will manage to play Barcelona this new season without a good midfielder.
The problem is that no matter how they try to outperform Barcelona, they will only use that against them and make them fall to their toes even next season. That void in the squad is what they’ll just use to take advantage of them and make them still not prevail against them no matter how they tried. Xabi Alonso is a very talented coach and I hope he can find a way through this current situation of the whole team because without finding a solution will only make things worse for them. Xabi Alonso may have had a good time already at the FIFA club World Cup with Real Madrid but he needs to prove it very much once again when he plays in the La Liga and other top tier European competitions when it begins. That will ascertain once more that he’s the right man for the job.