🔗 Share this article Alonso Navigating a Fine Path at Madrid Amidst Squad Endorsement. No attacker in Real Madrid’s record books had experienced scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a message to deliver, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had not scored in an extended drought and was beginning only his fifth match this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he spun and ran towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could prove an more significant relief. “It’s a difficult moment for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results are not going our way and I wanted to demonstrate people that we are as one with the coach.” By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been taken from them, another loss ensuing. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “fragile” state, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the woodwork in the closing stages. A Suspended Sentence “It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his role. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the coach: we have played well, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was withheld, sentencing delayed, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent. A Different Type of Loss Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, extending their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was Manchester City, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the most obvious and most critical criticism not directed at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, coming close to salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the manager stated, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time. The Stadium's Ambivalent Reaction That was not completely the complete picture. There were moments in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the final whistle, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition some applause. But primarily, there was a subdued flow to the subway. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they applauded too.” Player Support Is Evident “I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least for the media. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, reaching somewhere not quite in the compromise. Whether durable a fix that is continues to be an open question. One little incident in the post-match press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is talking about.” A Basis of Resistance Above all though, he could be satisfied that there was a fight, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was important. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of requirements somehow being framed as a kind of success. In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a change.” Jude Bellingham, questioned if they were supporting the coach, also answered quantitatively: “100%.” “We are continuing striving to figure it out in the changing room,” he said. “It's clear that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about trying to fix it in there.” “I think the gaffer has been excellent. I personally have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the spell of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations internally.” “Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as anything else.
No attacker in Real Madrid’s record books had experienced scoreless for as extended a period as Rodrygo, but eventually he was freed and he had a message to deliver, performed for the cameras. The Brazilian, who had not scored in an extended drought and was beginning only his fifth match this campaign, beat shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma to hand his team the advantage against Manchester City. Then he spun and ran towards the sideline to embrace Xabi Alonso, the manager on the edge for whom this could prove an more significant relief. “It’s a difficult moment for him, like it is for us,” Rodrygo commented. “Results are not going our way and I wanted to demonstrate people that we are as one with the coach.” By the time Rodrygo addressed the media, the advantage had been taken from them, another loss ensuing. City had turned it around, taking 2-1 ahead with “very little”, Alonso remarked. That can happen when you’re in a “fragile” state, he elaborated, but at least Madrid had responded. Ultimately, they could not complete a turnaround. Endrick, introduced off the bench having played very little all season, rattled the woodwork in the closing stages. A Suspended Sentence “It wasn’t enough,” Rodrygo conceded. The issue was whether it would be sufficient for Alonso to keep his role. “We didn’t feel that [this was a trial of the coach],” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois remarked, but that was how it had been portrayed in the media, and how it was felt privately. “Our performance proved that we’re behind the coach: we have played well, given 100%,” Courtois added. And so the final decision was withheld, sentencing delayed, with games against Alavés and Sevilla imminent. A Different Type of Loss Madrid had been defeated at home for the second time in four days, extending their uninspiring streak to a mere pair of successes in eight, but this seemed a more respectable. This was Manchester City, not a La Liga opponent. Simplified, they had actually run, the most obvious and most critical criticism not directed at them this time. With a host of first-teamers out injured, they had lost only to a opportunistic strike and a spot-kick, coming close to salvaging something at the final whistle. There were “many of very good things” about this display, the manager stated, and there could be “no reproach” of his players, not this time. The Stadium's Ambivalent Reaction That was not completely the complete picture. There were moments in the latter period, as frustration grew, when the Santiago Bernabéu had voiced its disapproval. At the final whistle, some of supporters had repeated that, although there was in addition some applause. But primarily, there was a subdued flow to the subway. “That’s normal, we understand it,” Rodrygo commented. Alonso added: “It’s nothing that is unprecedented before. And there were times when they applauded too.” Player Support Is Evident “I feel the backing of the players,” Alonso declared. And if he supported them, they backed him too, at least for the media. There has been a unification, conversations: the coach had accommodated them, arguably more than they had accommodated him, reaching somewhere not quite in the compromise. Whether durable a fix that is continues to be an open question. One little incident in the post-match press conference felt notable. Asked about Pep Guardiola’s advice to stick to his principles, Alonso had permitted that notion to remain unanswered, responding: “I share a good rapport with Pep, we know each other well and he knows what he is talking about.” A Basis of Resistance Above all though, he could be satisfied that there was a fight, a reaction. Madrid’s players had not let Alonso fall during the game and after it they stood up for him. Part of it may have been theatrical, done out of professionalism or mutual survival, but in this climate, it was important. The effort with which they played had been equally so – even if there is a danger of the most elementary of requirements somehow being framed as a kind of success. In the build-up, Aurélien Tchouaméni had insisted the coach had a plan, that their shortcomings were not his doing. “I think my colleague Aurélien put it perfectly in the press conference,” Raúl Asencio said post-match. “The sole solution is [for] the players to change the approach. The attitude is the key thing and today we have observed a change.” Jude Bellingham, questioned if they were supporting the coach, also answered quantitatively: “100%.” “We are continuing striving to figure it out in the changing room,” he said. “It's clear that the [outside] noise will not be productive so it is about trying to fix it in there.” “I think the gaffer has been excellent. I personally have a strong rapport with him,” Bellingham concluded. “After the spell of games where we were held a few, we had some honest conversations internally.” “Every situation passes in the end,” Alonso philosophized, maybe talking as much about a difficult spell as anything else.