🔗 Share this article

“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” Xabi Alonso stated emphatically, possibly asserting a tad forcefully. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he added on the morning before Manchester City visit once more the Santiago Bernabéu for a new edition 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 alter for good, and for good: this chance is an imperative, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “reached some conclusions,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, emergency discussions carried on, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while radical changes are being postponed, patience is finite, the names of possible successors already circulating. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” 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 remarked. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”

A Swift Decline After Early Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match 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 sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Hailed as a systems coach, exactly what they needed after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was counter-cultural at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was radio silence.

Strains Coming to Light

Behind the scenes, the assessment was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Asked here 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.” Strains had been brought to the surface, a rift between manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A common complaint began to emerge about all the orders, the video analysis, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were overcome at Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to repair cracks or at least paper over the issues, to restore tranquility. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Reconciliation

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Reconciliation was staged when Vinícius embraced the 44-year-old as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta defeated them and so it unravels again.

That it is known 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 injuries and bad luck, not even truly convincing himself, Madrid were terrible against Celta: no identity, poor commitment, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Most Obvious Solution

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, 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 shortest answer he gave might have been the most significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso added. “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 alone that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence 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.”