Xabi Alonso Battles for His Future in Latest Instalment of Contemporary Fixture

“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach stated emphatically, perhaps asserting somewhat excessively. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he added on the morning before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for a new edition of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I am eager for what lies ahead, beginning tomorrow, a chance to transform the frustration. Our sole focus is City. In this sport, whether good or bad, situations evolve rapidly.” Failure and things could shift instantly, and for good: this opportunity is an obligation, too.

Urgent Meetings After Desperate Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Into the early hours, urgent meetings carried on, the club’s hierarchy forming their own opinions after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were different and while severe measures are being postponed, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors already out. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” Alonso said here

“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. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Decline After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a crisis is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even draws will not do, and there’s perpetually an alternative who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a structured planner, the ideal solution after a season of laissez-faire and failure, 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 triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a statement a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Strains Emerging

Within the dressing room, the verdict was clear: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Asked here if he would make the same call, Alonso responded: “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 laid bare, a separation between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The components weren't meshing as they should. A familiar lament began to slip out about all the instructions, the film sessions, the lengthy training. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they beat 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 bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been reached; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was orchestrated when Vinícius embraced the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as significant as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and bad luck, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, a lack of organization.

The Coach: The Simplest Fix

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, dominated the buildup 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 single word: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso stated. “We know the culture of Real Madrid pretty well; that is why it is the biggest club in the world. You have to adapt, learn a lot, interact with the players. Some days are good, some not so good. We have to face that with energy and positivity, that is the only way to turn things around.”

It was when he was asked if he felt by himself that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he answered: “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.”