Alonso Struggles for His Job in Latest Chapter of Modern Fixture

“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, perhaps affirming a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the morning before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for another meeting of a very modern classic. “I anticipate the challenge ahead, starting tomorrow—an opening to redirect the disappointment. Our minds are fixed solely on City. Football, for better or worse, is a game of swift changes.” Failure and things could change immediately, and for good: this moment is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks continued, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, tolerance has limits, the names of possible successors already circulating. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” 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,” the French midfielder said. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Rapid Decline After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed changed fast, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, the ideal solution after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was counter-cultural 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 won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a letter a few days later he expressed regret to all apart from Alonso. Institutionally, rather than backing the coach, there was radio silence.

Strains Emerging

Behind the scenes, the verdict was obvious: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Questioned on this point if he would repeat that decision, Alonso answered: “I am unsure of the purpose of that query. If, in the moment, I believe a decision is required on the field, I will make it.” Frictions had been brought to the surface, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A typical grievance began to surface about all the orders, the videos, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

More than a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to repair cracks or at least cover cracks, to bring calm. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Truce

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. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta beat them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important 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 fitness issues and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were terrible against Celta: a lack of style, poor commitment, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Most Obvious Solution

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, overshadowed the preparation 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 almost every response. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso stated. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

It was when he was asked if he felt isolated that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he replied: “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.”