The atmosphere within Real Madrid is extremely tense, according to the newspaper “Sport,” which indicated in its latest report that President Florentino Perez has begun to lose faith in coach Xabi Alonso, believing he is not on the right track.
Although Alonso is leading Real Madrid to the top of La Liga, Perez’s doubts about him are growing significantly, particularly since the heavy 5-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Perez set the Clasico against Barcelona and the Champions League match against Liverpool as tests for Alonso to gauge his abilities, and the results did not satisfy the president, who feels there has been practically no change in tactics since the Carlo Ancelotti era. He even believes Alonso doesn’t have enough control in the dressing room.
Vinicius Junior’s crisis in El Clásico, Fede Valverde’s refusal to play at right-back, the mismanagement of young striker Andriy, and the sudden substitution of Trent Alexander-Arnold in the Liverpool match with 10 minutes remaining, all proved to Pérez that the relationship between Alonso and the players was poor, and that there was widespread dissatisfaction with him, unlike the situation during Ancelotti’s era.
On the tactical front, what Pérez had promised was a “modern Real Madrid” that plays attractive, attacking football, but this has yet to materialize. Even in the Clásico victory, the situation resembled Ancelotti’s previous wins, leading the president to blame those around him for the promises they had made to convince him to hire the former Bayer Leverkusen coach.
What further fueled Pérez’s anger towards Alonso were his comments after the loss to Liverpool, in which he described him as “playing like Ancelotti when he wins, and like José Mourinho when he loses.”
The newspaper explained that Pérez believed Courtois’ nine saves were what prevented another heavy defeat for the team, emphasizing that the performance in Liverpool was unworthy of Real Madrid. For him, the manner in which the team won El Clásico and lost in England proved that Alonso’s project lacked consistency and identity.
Despite everything, Xabi Alonso is not expected to leave anytime soon, except in one scenario: if Jürgen Klopp agrees to return to coaching, which is currently unlikely. This gives the Spaniard the opportunity to get back on track and withstand the pressure, at least until the end of the season.
