🔗 Share this article

“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the manager insisted, maybe affirming a tad forcefully. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the day before Pep Guardiola's side step back into the Santiago Bernabéu for another 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 definitively: this moment is an duty, too.

Crisis Talks After Desperate Home Defeat

Following Madrid’s woefully inadequate 2-0 home defeat on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was not alone. Late into the night, urgent meetings carried on, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their assessments were divergent and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors 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

“For sure the coach had a good plan but, in the end we, the players, are the ones on the pitch,” Aurélien Tchouaméni said. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Descent After Initial Promise

City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it may prove to be his farewell at a club where a crisis is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s invariably another candidate 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, precisely the required remedy 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 opened a five-point gap at the top. They had triumphed in twelve out of thirteen competitive games, although the setback was significant: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior marched straight down the tunnel, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a letter a few days later he apologised to everyone except Alonso. At the executive level, rather than backing the coach, there was radio silence.

Strains Brought to the Surface

Behind the scenes, the conclusion was evident: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would do that again, Alonso replied: “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 manager and certain squad members. Federico Valverde too had expressed his irritation publicly. The puzzle pieces weren't aligning as they should. A familiar lament began to surface about all the directives, the film sessions, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Able to play direct, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. Belatedly, talks were held to mend divisions or at least cover cracks, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Short-Lived Truce

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. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the coach as he departed. A brief break followed. Four days later, though, Celta overcame 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 calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about fitness issues and injustice, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, poor commitment, a lack of organization.

The Gaffer: The Easiest Target

But the most vulnerable point, 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 bring it back to the match, which he did with almost every response. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad 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 alone that Alonso talked of a unit, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of backing or its absence 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.”