🔗 Share this article

“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso insisted, maybe protesting a little too much. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the morning before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for another instalment of a very modern classic. “I’m looking forward to what’s coming and that starts tomorrow, [an opportunity] to turn round the anger. In our heads, there’s only City. In football, for better or worse, things change quickly”. Failure and things could change immediately, and for good: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Dismal Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, urgent meetings carried on, the club’s board drawing their own conclusions after a mere one victory in five league games. Their analyses were different and while severe measures are being postponed, forbearance is running out, the names of candidates already in the public domain. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso stated in the press conference

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” one of the squad's leaders said. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Swift Descent After Early Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a crisis is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even draws will not do, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Sold as a systems coach, exactly what they needed after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was counter-cultural at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they established a five-point lead at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was silence.

Frictions Brought to the Surface

Within the dressing room, the verdict was obvious: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here if he would do that again, Alonso answered: “The intent behind that question eludes me. When a situation on the pitch demands a choice, I make it.” Strains had been brought to the surface, a disconnect between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had voiced his discontent openly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A common complaint began to emerge about all the instructions, the video analysis, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to repair cracks or at least mask the problems, to restore tranquility. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some compromise had been reached; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. A thawing of relations was staged when Vinícius embraced the 44-year-old as he departed. Two days off followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and bad luck, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: a lack of style, a deficient mentality, no structure.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to redirect attention to the match, which he did with nearly each answer. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the complete roster was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “The culture of Real Madrid is well-known to us; it's the reason for its status as the world's premier club. Adaptation, continuous learning, and player communication are key. There will be highs and lows. Meeting challenges with drive and a positive mindset is the only route to improvement.”

It was when he was asked if he felt by himself that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he replied: “Communication [with the hierarchy] is constant, and it comes from confidence, unity and affection. We’re all together in this. We’re mentally ready to face everything that comes: the team is united, convinced that we can win tomorrow, no one has any doubts about that. It is the Champions League. We are at the Bernabéu. The atmosphere will be special. That creates a different energy, including in the players.”