Xabi Alonso couldn’t save Real Madrid from itself
In April, I explored Real Madrid’s desperate need for change and how, paradoxically, the club’s driving ethos precludes such divergence. Los Blancos needed a young, sophisticated coach, I argued – an idealist who relied more on blueprints and schemes than on the capricious alchemy of clashing malcontent galácticos.
Xabi Alonso was that innovative figurehead, and Florentino Pérez, Real’s stubborn president, even appointed him – on a three-year contract, from Bayer Leverkusen, in May, to my surprise. Then, however, Alonso was given less than eight months in which to complete a modernisation project that, rightly, should have taken years. Once again, the Madrid miasma swallowed progress, and Alonso was sent packing when bruised egos refused to heal.
Ultimately, it was never really a project. At the Santiago Bernabéu, where Pérez presides from an impenetrable turret, it very rarely is. Indeed, for all his good intentions, and despite admirable iconoclasm, Xabi Alonso couldn’t save Real Madrid from itself, and that is a sobering realisation for all involved.
Yes, Alonso oversaw mixed results as Real head coach, with five defeats in his 28-game tenure. And sure, unseemly losses to Barcelona and Atlético spurred his demise. The dynamic style he proselytised was rarely seen on the field, and it was difficult to shake a sense that his dream job came too soon.
Moreover, any Madrid manager will be heavily scrutinised when the serial winners languish seventh in the Champions League standings and second in La Liga. Such is the unbearable burden of ingrained greatness – lately attributable, conflict be damned, to the galáctico doctrine of Pérez.
Nevertheless, by the same token, any manager anywhere is bound to endure setbacks and teething issues while acclimatising to such a pressure cooker. Real chiefs feigned understanding of that plight but cut bait as soon as ‘change’ threatened the star-studded visage to which they defer.
Alonso had the correct vision for Real Madrid and the requisite belligerence to actualise it. When Vinícius Jr. sulked, Alonso called him out. When Kylian Mbappé moped, Alonso dropped him from the team. And when Jude Bellingham chafed at tactical tweaks, Alonso stood his ground.
Such strictures are of existential necessity to Real Madrid, if its trademarked imperial gluttony is to be future-proofed. The inmates cannot rule the asylum, and self-centred megastars cannot succeed in a team-centric zeitgeist. Xabi Alonso knew that, and tried to confer such wisdom upon a leviathan institution. Deep down, though, that institution was not – and is not – ready to change. As a result, one of football’s brightest brains became another victim of Pérez’s impulsivity.
Alonso should have been encouraged to go further, deeper and faster in his Real exorcism. He should have been granted more power, more autonomy and more support with which to cleanse a toxic culture and build a new, sustainable, synergistic foundation. Even if that meant telling a few home truths, voiding a few contracts, and discarding a few prima donnas, so be it. Only by taking such obligatory – if uncomfortable – decisions will Real Madrid remain relevant. Kicking the can down the road, avoiding confrontation, and acquiescing to player power will only hasten the onset of decay.
A more efficient club – the kind whose ascent prompted my April analysis of Real’s comparative stagnation – may have given Alonso the tools, or at least the time, to pursue his masterplan. See Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, for instance, or Luis Enrique at PSG. At Real Madrid, though, instant – and continued – gratification is the only aim. Suffering now to celebrate later is an alien concept to be scorned. Xabi Alonso tried to change that, but his authority was fatally undermined.
To wit, just 33 weeks ago, when Alonso was plucked from Germany as Real’s next coach, many Madridistas believed that, finally, their transformative ideologue had arrived. In progressive circles, Alonso’s iconic silhouette became a synonym for reform, inspiring devout evangelists, but that dream is now over, its ambitious program scrapped.
The world will keep spinning, of course. Álvaro Arbeloa will temporarily fill the breach. Then, Pérez will go shopping anew, defaulting to a win-now functionary in the world’s most demanding dugout. Meanwhile, Alonso will await a club he can truly mould, a club receptive to his views.
In the end, then, perhaps such an expedited divorce was inevitable. Perhaps the galácticos are simply unmanageable. When Xabi Alonso came to Madrid, you see, the irresistible coach met the immovable behemoth. History will horde the disappointment.