Xabi Alonso Battles for His Future in Fresh Instalment of Modern Classic

“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” Xabi Alonso declared, maybe affirming somewhat excessively. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the day before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a frequent heavyweight clash. “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”. Losing and things could shift instantly, and for good: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Urgent Meetings After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Long after the final whistle, crisis talks carried on, the club’s leadership drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their diagnoses were different and while radical changes are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, the names of candidates already in the public domain. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso said here

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

A Quick Deterioration After Initial Promise

City will be his twenty-eighth outing in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a state of emergency is always just two losses around the corner, where even draws will not do, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Presented as a systems coach, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was a cultural shock at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid won the clásico in late October, they opened a five-point gap at the top. They had secured twelve victories in thirteen competitive games, although the defeat was emphatic: 5-2 at Atlético. It also revealed cracks. Taken off after 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a letter a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. At the executive level, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Tensions Brought to the Surface

Behind the scenes, the assessment was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would do that again, Alonso answered: “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.” Frictions had been exposed, a disconnect 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 directives, the film sessions, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, beginning a run of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those drew at Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to mend divisions or at least mask the problems, to establish peace. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is known that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is deliberate. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and unfairness, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were dreadful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, no structure.

The Gaffer: The Easiest Target

But the weakest link, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on the match, which he did with virtually all his replies. The briefest response 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.”

“Managing Real Madrid doesn't involve transforming the culture; it requires fitting in,” 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 alone that Alonso talked of a team, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he commented: “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.”