🔗 Share this article

“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the Real Madrid coach stated emphatically, possibly affirming somewhat excessively. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he added on the eve before the English champions step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest 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”. Losing and things could change immediately, and permanently: this chance is an duty, too.

Urgent Meetings After Dismal Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 loss at their own stadium on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was far from the only one. Late into the night, emergency discussions carried on, the club’s leadership forming their own opinions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their diagnoses were different and while drastic decisions are being postponed, forbearance is running out, the names of potential replacements already circulating. “You have to face those situations but my head’s only on the game, things I can control,” Alonso stated in the press conference

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

A Quick Decline After Early Promise

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is always just two losses around the corner, where even sharing points is insufficient, 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. Sold as a tactical disciplinarian, precisely the required remedy after a season of lack of discipline and disappointment, Alonso was a cultural shock at a star-driven institution.

When Madrid won the clásico 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 highlighted flaws. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a missive 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.

Strains Brought to the Surface

Internally, the verdict was clear: Alonso ought not to have substituted Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would repeat that decision, 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.” Strains had been brought to the surface, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to surface about all the instructions, the videos, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Over a week after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, 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 cover cracks, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Temporary Reconciliation

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 staged when Vinícius greeted the manager as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta beat them and so it falls apart once more.

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 denied, but it is intentional. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, a deficient mentality, an absence of tactical shape.

The Coach: The Easiest Target

But the simplest fix, 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 redirect attention to the match, which he did with nearly each answer. The briefest response he gave might have been the most significant, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” 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 support or the lack of it from above, he commented: “Our contact with the board is continuous, stemming from belief, solidarity, and care. We stand as one in this situation. Our mindset is geared to confront all obstacles: the team is cohesive, fully believing we can triumph tomorrow, with absolute certainty. It's the Champions League. The Bernabéu is our stage. The ambiance will be unforgettable. That fosters a distinct vitality, particularly within the squad.”