“We are a united club, a team, and we all move forward together,” the manager stated emphatically, perhaps affirming a tad forcefully. “When you’re Real Madrid coach you’re ready,” he remarked on the morning before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for a new meeting of a very modern classic. “I anticipate the challenge ahead, starting tomorrow—an opening to redirect the disappointment. Our minds are fixed solely on City. Football, for better or worse, is a game of swift changes.” Failure and things could shift instantly, and definitively: this moment is an obligation, too.
Following Madrid’s desperately poor 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso stated he had “formed his own assessments,” and he was in plentiful company. Into the early hours, emergency discussions continued, the club’s hierarchy drawing their own conclusions after a solitary triumph in five league games. Their analyses were different and while drastic decisions are being postponed, tolerance has limits, the names of potential replacements already out. “These are scenarios you must deal with, yet my mind is fixed only on the game, on what I can influence,” 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. “Losing by two goals to Celta points to a deficiency in our performance, not the coach's planning.”
City will be his 28th game in charge of Madrid and it might be his final one at a club where a turmoil is perpetually looming after a few setbacks, where even ties are unacceptable, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed shifted swiftly, even if the origins of the trouble were there from the start. Hailed as a systems coach, precisely the required remedy after a season of permissiveness and underachievement, Alonso was counter-cultural at a players’ club.
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 highlighted flaws. Substituted on 72 minutes, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, reportedly threatening to leave the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.
Behind the scenes, the conclusion was obvious: Alonso shouldn’t have taken Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would make the same call, 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.” Tensions had been brought to the surface, 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 familiar lament began to slip out about all the instructions, the video analysis, the extended practices. Who did he think he was, the manager?!
Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were defeated at Anfield, starting a sequence of two wins in seven. When adopting a straightforward approach, they overcame Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those were held by Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to mend divisions or at least mask the problems, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.
In Bilbao, where they had been brought together a day early, it seemed some middle ground had been established; Alonso yielding to their requests more than they did his. Reconciliation was displayed when Vinícius hugged the coach as he departed. A couple of days' rest followed. A few days after, though, Celta beat them and so it falls apart once more.
That it is public knowledge that Alonso’s future is on the line is as notable as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be rebutted, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about player absences and injustice, not even truly believing his own words, Madrid were awful against Celta: an absence of character, no attitude, an absence of tactical shape.
But the most vulnerable point, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the sporting matters, dominated the buildup 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 virtually all his replies. The shortest answer he gave might have been the most revealing, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”
“Being Madrid manager is not about changing [the culture]; it is about adapting,” Alonso added. “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 hand in hand, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he replied: “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.”
Elara is a seasoned writer and digital storyteller with a passion for exploring diverse literary genres and empowering others through words.
