“Madridismo wants peace and unity”we could read this Tuesday at the entrance to the Real Madrid training center in Valdebebas. It must be said that despite the Merengue club’s first place in the Liga rankings, nothing is really going right in recent weeks for Kylian Mbappé and his family. Because behind the scenes, Xabi Alonso is having a difficult first few months. As we mentioned this Monday, it already smells like the end for the former Bayer Leverkusen coach, who came to Madrid with a certain conception of football and human management which today clashes with the reality of Madrid’s egos.
A good understanding with the French… a crisis with the Brazilian clan
But Madrid is not Leverkusen. The former Liverpool… and Real star can’t do it, to say the least. In addition to the chaotic results and the ultra-dependence linked to Kylian Mbappé, it is his way of managing his locker room that does not pass muster with historical executives. If, according to our information, he has no problem with the “French colony” (Mbappé, Camavinga, Tchouaméni, Ferland Mendy), the current is no longer flowing with the Brazilian clan. The uneasiness Vinicius Jr, who refuses to extend until he obtains what he wants both sportingly and financially, is the best example of this. And what about the forgotten Endrick already announced on his way to OL in the form of loan or even Rodrygo Goes who is also in difficulty. If he is not Brazilian, Jude Bellingham – despite some flashes and flashes – is still light years away from his first season and is struggling to find his place in the rigid Basque system.
But that’s not all, another emblematic member of the Merengue club, at the club for 10 years and who has more than 350 professional matches, can’t stand the 44-year-old Spanish technician anymore. Federico Valverde is confined to the right-back position while he demands to play at the heart of the game. The problem is deep: a fan of a game of possession and control (a la Kroos), Alonso judges the “box-to-box” and energetic profile of the Uruguayan incompatible with his ideal environment (Guler, Tchouameni, Bellingham). A dogmatic vision which exacerbates the tensions between the two men, Valverde feeling “sacrificed” tactically.
The shadow of Florentino Pérez already looms
This loss of part of his locker room, coupled with disappointing results, considerably weakens Alonso’s position. If it seems premature to consider an immediate departure, the current difficulties are increasingly worrying the upper echelons of Casa Blanca. Florentino Pérez, who had made Alonso his top priority, is not the man to let a crisis take hold. Behind the scenes, some are already whispering that the Madrid president would probe the market to anticipate a possible disaster (the name of Zidane still makes Merengue supporters dream despite his promised position as coach of the French team).
After three matches without success and a strong attack from the Spanish press following the pitiful draw against Elche (2-2 with an equalizer on the line), Real Madrid is expected to turn the corner in Greece against Olympiakos this Wednesday. But already, it is the shock of December 10 at the Bernabéu against Manchester City which could act as justice of the peace for Xabi Alonso. A new disappointment against a European leader (after that at Anfield against a Liverpool team in full crisis) could well seal his fate.
