Xabi Alonso puts the accent on unity as doubts grow over his Real Madrid reign

His Real Madrid tenure may be hanging by a thread, but Xabi Alonso was determined to put the accent on the collective as he faced the media on Tuesday morning.

It is the same message Alonso has preached since the beginning of June, when he returned to the club whose midfield he once graced with a remit to improve discipline and harness the talent of a squad replete with talent but splintered by individualism.

It was a thankless task then and, despite starting his reign with 13 wins from 14 matches, it remains so. A 1-0 Champions League defeat at Anfield at the start of last month signalled the start of a run that has brought just two victories in seven outings, culminating with a fractious and humbling 2-0 defeat at the Bernabéu on Sunday that saw three players dismissed. 

That setback has left Madrid four points off La Liga leaders Barcelona and Alonso, whose future was the subject of an emergency board meeting on Sunday night, clinging to his job. But while the club’s performance at home to Manchester City on Wednesday is widely expected to determine Alonso’s fate, the Spaniard’s focus remains firmly fixed on the importance of togetherness.

Xabi Alonso: ‘Real Madrid is a team, we’re all in this together’

“This is a team, we’re all in this together,” said Alonso. “When you’re the Real Madrid coach, you’re prepared. I’m really looking forward to what’s to come, and that starts tomorrow.

“All we’re thinking about is City. In football, for better or for worse, things can turn around quickly.”

For Alonso, however, they have not changed quickly enough. The lack of intensity and aggression his recruitment was intended to address remains glaring, with the club’s dressing room superstars plainly unimpressed by his efforts to change a culture of egocentricity that has long since become endemic.

The plainest manifestation of that has been Alonso’s troubled relationship with Vinícius Júnior, whose evident frustration at being substituted in games against Espanyol and Barcelona has dominated headlines. It is understood the Brazilian is not the only player left cold by Alonso’s tactics and management style. 

‘It’s not about changing, it’s about adapting’

With that in mind, it is perhaps significant that Alonso stressed his methods were predicated not on making wholesale changes to the club’s culture, but on a process of adjustment and adaptation to a fresh approach, one rooted in an understanding of Madrid’s traditions.

“It’s not about changing, it’s about adapting,” said the Spaniard. “I knew pretty well the culture of Real Madrid. That’s why it’s the biggest club in the world, you need to adapt to it, you need to learn from it, and after there is a process. 

“You need to have this interaction with the players, how we want to perform. Some days are good, some days are not that good, but from every game we take the steps. Now we are in this position right now, we have to face it with good energy, with positivity. That’s the only way to turn it back and to have a better feeling.”

Xabi Alonso: ‘For sure there is a bond with Liverpool’

Defeat against City may yet derail that process, but the club arguably has more to lose than Alonso. Ironically, Madrid’s tailspin since the Liverpool result has been echoed at Anfield, where Arne Slot finds his tenure under similar scrutiny. Could a return to Liverpool, another of his former clubs, beckon at some point in the future? 

“For sure there is this bond with the English clubs, for sure with my former club,” said Alonso. “But at the moment this is my place, this is where I want to be, and [in] the future you never know what could happen.”

Should Real Madrid falter against City, everyone knows what could happen.