Madrid was saved by a penalty kick, but I have to admit that it's not easy to adapt quickly when you have to combine the habits of old players with new players and the new style of coach Xabi. So, give them time to understand each other. Madrid fans out there are surely impatient to see their team play as expected.
They are not only being impatient, they are also being biased in their assessment of that game. They are quick to blame everyone including the coach but forgot the fact that Osasuna played a defensive game that make it difficult for Real Madrid to penetrate. Moreover, Alonso is testing and evaluating the effectiveness of his tactics and strategies in order to know where there's lapses. The only way to assess his tactics is through game playing and he'll definitely improve his tactics and correct all grey areas.
Things are just getting started and this is a completely different team compared to last season. What matters at the moment is the point and they secured it absolutely.
Yeah you may be right that the coach is just testing his tactics if it's a good one to use for the season or if he needs to change or add something to it, so let's just hope he's trying to find a good tactics he can use for the season if this is not the case then Real Madrid is in a big problem because this season may be their worst season than last season, they have all the good players they need in order to play very well so I really don't know what the coach is really doing however let just say his checking the tactics to see if is a good one or not.
But with this first match I really don't think Real Madrid can lift the la Liga title because Barcelona is more informed than them and if they should meet Barcelona again Barcelona will win them except they improve, if you check how Barcelona played their first match you can tell that this club is really determine and very informed to lift as many title as they can.