2 days ago
8
2 wins in last 8 games
©IMAGO
With all the attention of the world watching on Wednesday night, Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid once again capitulated and sent the internet ablaze with rumours that the Spanish head coach was on the cusp of losing his job. Despite taking the lead 28 minutes into the game through Rodrygo, Madrid ultimately lost their Champions League clash with Manchester City 2-1, following goals from Nico O'Reilly and Erling Haaland before half time. And to the backdrop of boos and all-round complaints from the home crowd, the Spanish giants offered very little in the second half to try and turn the tie around and perhaps save Alonso's job.
Unfortunately for the former Bayer Leverkusen boss, such moments have been all too common in his first 27 games in charge of Europe’s most successful club. The defeat to Man City follows a shock loss to Celta Vigo in LaLiga at the weekend, which itself came just a few weeks after a 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Girona. In total, Alonso's side have won just two of their last eight games in all competitions. As such, Alonso's team have gone from having a two-point lead over Barcelona after six league games in the Spanish top-flight, to now sitting four points behind their historic rivals. And look far off any prospect of challenging for this season's Champions League title.
As such, the jury is still out on Alonso in Madrid and whether he will be able to succeed as a long-term successor to Carlo Ancelotti. To find out more about what’s going on in the Spanish capital and to look beyond the stats, we caught up with Transfermarkt’s LaLiga content manager Iván Fuente. Here’s what he had to say about Alonso’s unconvincing start with “Los Blancos”.
How have Alonso’s first 25 games at Real Madrid gone?
“The numbers say he's doing well but sometimes doing well isn't enough at Real Madrid,” said Fuente when asked about the mood at the Santiago Bernabéu. “The team is second in LaLiga, among the top eight in the Champions League but the feeling around the club isn't good. There's noise in the dressing room, the team was expected to play better than under Ancelotti, but recent games show that Madrid depend too much on Thibaut Courtois and Kylian Mbappé. Just like it did under Ancelotti.” And, according to Fuente, much of that is down to Alonso’s struggles with Madrid’s squad and finding the right kind of formation and tactics to get the best out of all of his star players.
“Madrid can't play better if it doesn't have a solid midfield,” said the LaLiga expert. “I think Alonso is not quite sure how to play. I think he prefers the 4-2-3-1 formation, but he needs a creative midfielder. Jude Bellingham is not a playmaker and Arda Güler is not a midfielder. Dani Ceballos is not in good shape right now and I don't think he could take on that leadership role on a consistent basis. Also, Alonso perhaps has too many options in terms of box-to-box players, like Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurélien Tchouaméni and even Bellingham. On the other hand, I think his players are more comfortable in a 4-3-3, but he lacks a creative player with legs. Güler can't make the effort required to play as an inside midfielder in a 4-3-3, and neither Bellingham nor Valverde nor any of the other midfielders have the creative ability (apart from Ceballos, as mentioned above).”
Despite his struggles this season, Alonso’s average points per game is not only pretty impressive but is also higher than what Ancelotti and Zinédine Zidane achieved during their time at the club. Although both obviously took charge of far more games than Alonso, the Spaniard’s record of 2.26 points per game in all competitions is higher than Ancelotti’s average of 2.25 and Zidane’s average of 2.04 during his second stint at the club. In fact, it’s the best record of any Real Madrid manager since Ancelotti’s first stint at the club, when he averaged 2.36 points per game between 2013 and 2015. But that doesn’t mean fans of the club are happy with Alonso’s start.
“No, I think Real Madrid fans are now more demanding (too much so, in my opinion) than before the successes achieved by Zidane and Ancelotti,” noted Fuente, when asked about the mood among the club’s supporters. “In fact, to give an example, Ancelotti’s first two defeats at Madrid were against Atlético and Barcelona. If Alonso had lost his El Clásico, fans would have been far more critical of him than they were initially with Zidane or Ancelotti.” Despite beating Barcelona at home in October, Alonso’s side suffered a demoralising 5-2 defeat to Atlético in matchday seven and three draws and the aformentioned defeat in their last four league games now means they sit second in the league. And there are further problems off the pitch too.
Reports in Spain have suggested that Alonso’s tinkering with the tactics have frustrated key players like Valverde and Bellingham, while other members of the squad like Rodrygo and Endrick seem to be entirely frozen out of the team and look set to depart in the January window. But the main issue undoubtedly revolves around Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian forward has reportedly lost the preferential treatment he enjoyed under Ancelotti, with the 25-year-old talent being subbed off or benched from the start in nine of Madrid’s first 14 league games. In many cases, the player has left the pitch in clear frustration and that’s undoubtedly been an issue that Alonso has struggled to deal with, according to Fuente. “He's definitely struggling,” he added.”The players' statements saying they're behind Xabi Alonso show that there's a problem. Vinicius' hug with him was more for show than anything else. Valverde and Bellingham aren't happy with their situation either. If the results continue to be inconsistent, the division in the dressing room will grow.”
