Xabi Alonso Struggles for His Position in Latest Edition of Modern Fixture

“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach insisted, perhaps asserting a little too much. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the eve before Pep Guardiola's side return to the Santiago Bernabéu for a new instalment of a contemporary rivalry. “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”. A defeat and things could change immediately, and definitively: this moment is an obligation, too.

Emergency Discussions After Dismal Loss at the Bernabéu

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Late into the night, urgent meetings carried on, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were not the same and while radical changes are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of potential replacements already in the public domain. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso commented

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” the French midfielder said. “If we lost 2-0 to Celta, there’s a problem that’s on us: it’s not the coach’s fault.”

A Rapid Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, 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 tactical disciplinarian, the ideal solution after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was a cultural shock at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a letter a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. From the club's leadership, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Tensions Coming to Light

Behind the scenes, the verdict was obvious: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would make the same call, Alonso replied: “I don’t know what that question is for. If I see in the moment that I have to take a decision on the pitch, I do.” Strains had been laid bare, a rift between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to slip out about all the orders, the video analysis, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least paper over the issues, to bring calm. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Rapprochement was displayed when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta overcame them and so it unravels again.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be denied, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, no structure.

The Manager: The Simplest Fix

But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to bring it back to the match, which he did with nearly each answer. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team 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 team, a club, that goes in unison, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it from above, he commented: “Dialogue with the leadership is ongoing, founded on trust, togetherness, and mutual respect. We are all united in this endeavor. We are psychologically prepared for any challenge: the squad is unified, certain of victory tomorrow, without a shadow of doubt. This is the Champions League. We are playing at the Bernabéu. The environment will be electric. That generates a unique dynamism, even among the players.”