The air has become unbreathable in Valdebebas. After the difficult draw against Elche (2-2) and a series of three games without a win, the Spanish press describes a locker room fractured in two. On one side, a “French colony” (Mbappé, Camavinga) which supports the coach, on the other a Brazilian clan (Vinicius, Rodrygo) annoyed by the tactical rigidity of the Basque. Asked about this supposed break and about players who would have difficulty understanding his message, Xabi Alonso dismissed the idea out of hand at a press conference: “Pas at all. What we’re talking about is very clear, it doesn’t change that much from one match to the next. »
A “process” that has difficulty getting through
The Basque technician tries to calm things down by invoking the notion of “process”. For him, any change takes time, even if the recent results are worrying. He easily admits that certain phases of play in the last three matches did not please him, pointing to a lack of consistency. Faced with insistent questions about executives who could “spoil the board”, he kicked aside out of respect for his players, preferring to insist on the need to stay focused on the field and not on the “external noise”. A polite way of saying he won’t wash his dirty laundry in public.
However, the fire smolders under the ashes. Tactical choices, such as the frustrating use of Federico Valverde as a right back or the system that would restrict Bellingham, crystallize the tensions. Alonso claims to have spoken to President Florentino Pérez this morning, describing the exchange as normal via José Ángel Sánchez. But we know that Casa Blanca’s patience is limited. The coach claims to “take advantage” of the demands of the position, but he knows full well that his credit is crumbling at high speed and that pessimism is spreading throughout the club.
The Greek trap before the clash against City
The trip to Piraeus this Wednesday evening sounds like a real ambush. Real have never won in Greece and face an Olympiakos team led by Mendilibar, a coach that Alonso respects enormously for the intensity he offers. A new poor performance in the Champions League would transform the current crisis into an absolute emergency.
“We need to rediscover the taste of victory”, hammered Alonso, aware that words are no longer enough.
If Alonso survives the hell of the Karaiskakis stadium, the calendar will not do him any favors with the arrival of Manchester City on December 10. Rumors of replacements, including a return of Zidane, are already swelling in the corridors of the Bernabéu. Xabi Alonso plays his head in every match from now on. It’s up to him to prove that his locker room is always behind him, and not just in front of the microphones.
