🔗 Share this article

“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the Real Madrid coach insisted, possibly affirming somewhat excessively. “Being the manager of Real Madrid means you are always prepared,” he continued on the eve before Manchester City step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for another instalment 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 alter for good, and for good: this moment is an imperative, too.

Emergency Discussions After Desperate Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso revealed he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Late into the night, crisis talks carried on, the club’s leadership reaching their own verdicts after a mere one victory in five league games. Their assessments were divergent and while severe measures are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of candidates 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

“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 said. “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 Initial Success

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a turmoil is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even draws will not do, and there’s invariably another candidate who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the seeds of the problem were there from the start. Sold as a structured planner, precisely the required remedy after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was counter-cultural 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. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior stormed off down the tunnel, threatening to walk straight out the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than reinforcing the manager, there was silence.

Frictions Brought to the Surface

Within the dressing room, the assessment was evident: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Asked here 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.” Strains had been laid bare, a separation between coach and some players. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The pieces weren’t fitting as they should. A typical grievance began to emerge about all the directives, the video analysis, 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. Capable of a more direct style, they defeated Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. Eventually, talks were held to repair cracks or at least paper over the issues, to establish peace. Focus was directed at the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Rapprochement

In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some agreement had been found; Alonso accommodating their demands more than they did his. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. Two days off followed. Four days later, though, Celta defeated them and so it falls apart once more.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is under scrutiny 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 bad luck, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, no attitude, no structure.

The Manager: The Easiest Target

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the on-pitch performance, overshadowed the preparation to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to bring it back to the match, which he did with almost every response. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the entire team was behind him, Alonso replied in a one word: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso continued. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

It was when he was asked if he felt by himself that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of support or the lack of it 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.”