Details continue to emerge regarding Xabi Alonso’s dismissal from Real Madrid, the latest being an alleged meeting between the coach and club president Florentino Perez that proved to be the final straw.
The Cadena COPE radio network confirmed that Alonso met with Perez after the 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final. During this meeting, the president asked the coach to reinstate Antonio Pintus to Real Madrid’s coaching staff in his usual role as fitness coach.
Alonso categorically rejected this idea, insisting on what he called the “independence of the coaching staff.” He argued that the players’ physical condition required more than Pintus’s expertise; they needed adequate rest and a consistent training regimen.
Alonso remained firm in his decision to stay with his staff and refused any changes from the management. The meeting between the coach and the president ended without an agreement.
A few hours later, Pérez issued a firm order to immediately dismiss Alonso from his position, with Pintos returning to lead the physical conditioning department of Real Madrid’s new coaching staff alongside Álvaro Arbeloa.
According to this report, the dismissal was not by mutual consent as had been announced, and Alonso did not request to leave as the newspaper AS had claimed. Rather, the decision was entirely Florentino Pérez’s.
