Coaching Real Madrid means knowing that being first in the championship is already too little. Appointed last summer on the Madrid bench to replace Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso is advancing at the pace of a confident leader. However, beneath the surface of his successes and his leading position ahead of Barça in the championship (5 points separate the two clubs), some stirrings suggest that not everyone has yet adhered to his method.
The Vinicius case is quite evocative, at a time when relations between the Brazilian and his coach have cooled significantly since the episode of his exit during the Clasico. These tensions would not be limited to the case of the 25-year-old striker, nor to that of Federico Valverde, who had provoked strong reactions by declaring that he was not born to play right back, before retracting and accepting this role in the absence of Carvajal and Alexander-Arnold.
Methods that are difficult to pass
According to Sporttensions “are more and more evident” in the locker room, where Alonso alienated several executives. A relative of an important member of the group recently declared: “He thinks he’s Pep Guardiola, but for now, he’s just Xabi.” The numerous leaks in the press targeting him are also symptomatic of an unstructured locker room, where we cannot really say that everyone is united behind the coach. His methods, his coldness and his lack of communication would be criticized in particular despite his 17 victories in 21 matches since his arrival.
The newspaper Sport even goes so far as to speak of a future “uncertain”emphasizing the risk of Alonso losing his locker room. The victory in the Clasico did not overshadow the slap received against Atlético in the derby (5-2), nor the new defeat suffered this week at Anfield, against a sick Liverpool (1-0). The iconic presenter ofEl ChiringuitoJosep Pedrerol, also expressed his doubts about Xabi Alonso’s ability to take his group with him: “I don’t know if Xabi’s message is well understood in the locker room. He brings Arnold on ten minutes from time at Anfield, why? So that the whole stadium boos him? The group discussed yesterday the reasons for this choice. And Vinicius is not the only one. I have doubts about the ability of Xabi Alonso and the players to collaborate effectively. A priori, he is not the only one.
