Alonso Backed Down in Front of Real Madrid’s Dressing Room—His Managerial Abilities Questioned

According to Camel.live reporters, external noise has forced Xabi Alonso to concede to some Real Madrid players, abandoning his long-held management style and leading to doubts over his managerial abilities.

Florentino Pérez is facing the same problem as in 2006, when he resigned for indulging players. Last year, this similar issue resurfaced, prompting him to sack Carlo Ancelotti—at the time, Real Madrid players ignored the Italian coach’s football philosophy, resulting in the team achieving nothing.

The Revolt

Alonso’s start at Real Madrid was promising. He introduced a new football philosophy based on “hard work above all else”: pressing, running, and overwhelming opponents to win games. This approach excited Real Madrid fans, who saw players who had been lackluster under Ancelotti fighting hard on the pitch and controlling matches from start to finish.

Results proved Alonso’s strategy correct. He rotated 4 to 5 starters in each game, and everything went smoothly.

However, one afternoon, a player favored and admired by Florentino publicly expressed his dissatisfaction after being substituted in an important match. The entire Real Madrid dressing room backed the player, and the confrontation ultimately ended with the player’s willful victory—he even threatened to leave the club.

The Compromiser

Since then, possibly due to pressure from the top or his reluctance to completely lose control of the team, Alonso has become somewhat tentative in the dressing room.

Protected by the club president, Real Madrid players have relaxed their demands and no longer accept rotations as they did before. Alonso has also stopped being outspoken in public, instead vaguely defending the players, and he has started to appear compromising.

For Real Madrid and its management, it is easier to intervene directly in the coach’s work than in the players’. The situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable for Alonso, just like it was for Julen Lopetegui and Rafael Benítez before. Although these coaches were familiar with Real Madrid and even the dressing room, they did not receive support from the star players, who are willing to cause trouble to safeguard their own interests.