Image Credit: @XabiAlonso Twitter
You read that right, the club legend Xabi Alonso was not sacked by Real Madrid but rather he made the bold decision to leave the club after just 7 months in charge of Los Blancos. This shocking development arouse right after Real Madrid’s recent 3-2 defeat to FC Barcelona in the Supercopa de España (Spanish Super Cup) Final. Xabi Alonso’s first season as Real Madrid head coach was not perfect however it was not bad enough to warrant a sacking and yet the former Bayer Leverkusen manager has walked away from the club to the surprise of many. Real Madrid is a club with incredibly high standards so results matter heavily, anything other than trophy success and top performances is considered a failed tenure and even though Real Madrid losing their first cup final of the season to Barcelona does hurt from a rivalry as well as trophy perspective, Real Madrid are still firmly in the title race in La Liga as they are second in the league with 4 points separating them league leaders Barcelona. They are also currently 7th in the Champions League table which puts them in pole position to automatically qualify for the Round of 16 as well as they were still in the Copa Del Rey (Spanish FA Cup) competition so once again, results could not be the reason for Alonso’s departure. The answer could lie in the disputes Xabi Alonso has had with certain big names players at the club.
Tensions with Vinícius Júnior
Real Madrid’s Brazilian superstar Vinícius Júnior and his clashes with Xabi Alonso have been well documented this season for all to see. What caused the clashed is simple, Vinícius Júnior is one of the big names at Los Blancos that everyone expects to start almost every matchday as well as play the full 90 minutes however under the leadership of Xabi Alonso this was not the case. Alonso only managed 28 games for Real Madrid this season and Vinícius Júnior had played 27 games this season as he was on unused substitute in Real Madrid’s first Copa Del Rey game of the season. That may not seem like much of a big deal until you take into account how many times Vinícius Júnior has been a substitute for Real Madrid this season without any injuries as well as how many times Vinícius Júnior had been substituted during games even when he is playing well. This season Vinícius Júnior has been a substitute 5 times for Real Madrid and as previously mentioned he was only ever an unused during Real Madrid’s Cope Del Rey game against CF Talavera de la Reina. Combine that with the fact that the Real Madrid’s Number 7 has started 22 games this season but also been substituted 15 times which means that Vinícius Júnior has only played a full 90 minutes of football 7 times out of the 22 games he has started and out of the 28 games Real Madrid have played this season. The most notable and infamous substitution came in the very first El Clásico of the season where the 25-year-old Left Winger was substituted off in the 72nd minute of the game and the Brazilian was not shy in showing his frustrations as he was seen visibly upset on the field when he saw his number come up on the substitution board. The frustrations continued as the Brazilin International was seen continuing frustration on the touchline before going straight down the tunnel to the dressing rooms. He later returned to the bench however the message already clear and the situation overshadowed Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over their Spanish rivals.
Cup Final Incident with Mbappé
This situation is particularly interesting considering the relationship between Kylian Mbappé and Xabi Alonso. Kylian Mbappé seemed to be Xabi Alonso’s star player who when fit, could not be benched and was leading the line with goals for Alonso’s side. Out of Alonso’s 28 games this season Mbappé started 25 games as he has only missed 3 games for Real Madrid this season due to injuries and in those 25 games that he has played, the French International has scored 29 goals and has assisted 5 goals for the club. The 27-year-old was also not immune to be substituted during games however Mbappé was only substituted 9 times in his 25 starts and was never a substitute on the bench until the Supercopa de España Final against Barcelona. The reason for that being that the Frenchman was returning from a knee injury that caused him to miss 2 of Real Madrid’s games leading up to the cup final. All and all Mbappé seemed like Alonso’s first choice player until the Supercopa de España Final defeat to rivals Barcelona where it seemed like the relationship between the 2 was strained. After their defeat, Barcelona formed a guard of honour for the Real Madrid players as they received their second-place medals, Xabi Alonso was seen seemingly gesturing for the Real Madrid players to return the favour for their rivals however Mbappé was seen to be questioning the decision and seemingly leading his Real Madrid teammates back to the dressing room.
Who will be in the new Head Coach?
After what seemed to be an undermining of Alonso’s authority with Kylian Mbappé refusing to do the Guard of Honour along with Alonso’s clashes with Vinícius Júnior, it is safe to say that Xabi Alonso did not do a good job of managing the superstar egos in his team which is an essential skill to have when managing a club as big as Real Madrid. This combined with not being able to play his style of football that gained him so much success in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen as well as Real Madrid reportedly not being interested in doing any recruitment in January most likely all culminated in Xabi Alonso’s decision to walk away from Real Madrid. The new replacement Head Coach for Real Madrid is another former player and coach of Real Madrid Castilla, Álvaro Arbeloa. Arbeloa was given the position of new Head Coach immediately following Xabi Alonso’s departure and he was set to begin with immediate effect. Whether this appointment is a permanent one or a temporary solution will most likely come down to how Álvaro Arbeloa performs in these upcoming months for the club. The new Head Coach however is not off to a dream start as Real Madrid have been knocked out of the Copa Del Rey competition after suffering a 3-2 defeat to Spanish second division side Albacete. With no Supercopa de España and now no Copa Del Rey, the only hope to rectify this season that has started to take a negative turn and to decide the future of Álvaro Arbeloa is to see how Real Madrid does in La Liga this season as well as in the Champions League in the next few months.
