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“This is a team, it is a club, and we all go together hand in hand,” the manager insisted, maybe affirming somewhat excessively. “If you coach Real Madrid, you are prepared for anything,” he remarked on the day before Manchester City return to the Santiago Bernabéu for the latest instalment of a frequent heavyweight clash. “I’m looking forward to what’s coming and that starts tomorrow, [an opportunity] to turn round the anger. In our heads, there’s only City. In football, for better or worse, things change quickly”. A defeat and things could alter for good, and for good: this opportunity is an imperative, too.

Urgent Meetings After Desperate Setback

Following Madrid’s utterly disappointing 2-0 setback on Sunday, Alonso said he had “drawn conclusions,” and he was far from the only one. Into the early hours, crisis talks continued, the club’s hierarchy reaching their own verdicts after a single win in five league games. Their analyses were divergent and while severe measures are temporarily shelved, forbearance is running out, the names of possible successors already in the public domain. “One must confront such circumstances, but my focus is solely on the match, on elements within my power,” Alonso said here

“Certainly the trainer devised an effective approach, but when it comes down to it, the players execute on the field,” Aurélien Tchouaméni remarked. “A 2-0 defeat to Celta indicates an issue that lies with us, not the manager.”

A Quick Deterioration After Initial Success

City will be his twenty-eighth match in charge of Madrid and it could be his last at a club where a turmoil is never more than a couple of defeats away, where even sharing points is insufficient, and there’s always someone else who can coach. Things have indeed evolved rapidly, even if the roots of the crisis were there from the start. Presented as a tactical disciplinarian, the ideal solution after a season of laissez-faire and failure, Alonso was a cultural shock at a squad-centric organization.

When Madrid secured victory against Barcelona in late October, they moved five points ahead at the top. They had won 12 of 13 competitive games, although the loss had been heavy: 5-2 at Atlético. It also exposed fissures. Replaced in the 72nd minute, Vinícius Júnior headed directly for the dressing room, seemingly ready to quit the club. In a missive a few days later he said sorry to all but Alonso. Institutionally, rather than supporting the trainer, there was a conspicuous quiet.

Strains Emerging

Internally, the verdict was clear: Alonso was wrong to remove Vinícius off. Pressed on the issue if he would make the same call, Alonso replied: “I am unsure of the purpose of that query. If, in the moment, I believe a decision is required on the field, I will make it.” Frictions had been exposed, a separation between trainer and a portion of the team. Federico Valverde too had made his frustrations public. The components weren't meshing as they should. A common complaint began to emerge about all the instructions, the video analysis, the long sessions. Who did he think he was, the manager?!

Nine days after the clásico, Madrid were beaten by Liverpool, initiating a spell of two wins in seven. Capable of a more direct style, they beat Olympiakos and Athletic Bilbao but between those tied with Rayo, Elche and Girona. After a delay, talks were held to mend divisions or at least mask the problems, to bring calm. Focus shifted to the footballers for the first time.

A Fragile Truce

In Bilbao, where they had been assembled a day early, it seemed some compromise had been found; Alonso meeting their needs more than they did his. Rapprochement was orchestrated when Vinícius greeted the coach as he departed. A brief break followed. Subsequently, though, Celta defeated them and so it disintegrates anew.

That it is understood that Alonso’s future is in doubt is as important as the fact it is. If Madrid beat City, that can always be disputed, but it is calculated. Alonso knows that. He also knows, for all that he tried to talk about injuries and unfairness, not even truly persuading himself, Madrid were awful against Celta: no identity, poor commitment, no structure.

The Gaffer: The Simplest Fix

But the simplest fix, is always the manager, and Alonso’s future, more than the actual football, was the central theme to this game. However much the man who is still Madrid’s manager kept trying to refocus on the match, which he did with nearly each answer. The most concise reply he gave might have been the most telling, had he truly believed it. Asked if he felt the whole squad was behind him, Alonso replied in a solitary term: “yes.”

“The role of Real Madrid coach isn't to alter the culture; it is to adjust,” Alonso stated. “We understand the ethos of Real Madrid thoroughly; it's what makes it the globe's greatest club. One must adjust, absorb knowledge, engage with the squad. Certain days bring success, others less so. We must confront this with vigor and optimism; it's the sole path to reversal.”

It was when he was asked if he felt isolated that Alonso talked of a collective, a club, that goes together, and when attention was turned to the question of endorsement or the deficit from above, he commented: “Communication [with the hierarchy] is constant, and it comes from confidence, unity and affection. We’re all together in this. We’re mentally ready to face everything that comes: the team is united, convinced that we can win tomorrow, no one has any doubts about that. It is the Champions League. We are at the Bernabéu. The atmosphere will be special. That creates a different energy, including in the players.”