“Florentino is going to kick you out,” Cholo Simeone shouted at Vinicius, in the classic between Real Madrid and Atlético, in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. That game was played on Thursday, January 8. Just four days later, on Monday the 12th, the one who ended up being fired by Florentino Pérez was none other than Xabi Alonsonone other than the Madrid coach. A man of the club, he played from 2009 to 2015 (236 games), lifting a Champions League; and a man who came with excellent records after having a campaign at Bayer Leverkusen, leading them to win the Bundesliga in 2023/24, something that the club had never achieved in its history.
But Real Madrid devoured it. In just 217 days.
Something that led to this outcome, they say in Spain, was the difference in styles between Xabi Alonso and Carlo Ancelotti, recognized for his “player” profile and his ability to manage the egos of a locker room full of stars. A dressing room that no longer had Luka Modric or Toni Kroos, leaders of the group, and that today has Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius, as its main references, plus Fede Valverde, the captain. And two of the main targets for the coach’s departure are precisely the Brazilian and the Frenchman. There were several signs of Vini’s discontent with the coach’s decisions and the Frenchman’s disappointment was evident when he disavowed the coach after the loss in the Super Cup final: while Xabi asked the players to form the traditional hallway to recognize the champion Barcelona, Mbappé gestured for them to go to the locker room.
According to what was published by Marca and The Guardian, the disconnection between the coach and the squad had been going on for several months. Xabi Alonso, convinced of the need for more work on the tactical aspect to achieve a performance that was never achieved, found some resistance in the locker room to this type of task. One of those targeted by the players was Sebas Parrilla, Xabi’s assistant, for his marked tendency to overload training with constant instructions. Thus, Xabi and his CT did not have control of the training. The players did not obey, much less when they had to go through the gym.
In fact, in a practice in Valdebebas, Xabi’s level of exhaustion was such due to the lack of commitment and unreceptive attitude of the players that he told them: “I didn’t know I was coming to train at a daycare center!”
In this context, as the weeks passed (and the results were not very good in the field either), this deterioration became more evident, making coexistence difficult.
They say that the coach also had conflicts with Florentino Pérez himself because of his marked player attitude. “Xabi considered that the players could not be given so much power. The coach believes that they have left him unprotected and is surprised by this permanent defense of the locker room by the club”said journalist Antón Meana in Cadena SER’s El Larguero. “Xabi considers that it is impossible to dominate a locker room when the club always takes the side of the players and not the coach, even when they are right in sporting decisions,” Meana continued.
The truth is that, after 34 games on the bench (24 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses), Xabi Alonso is now history. This Tuesday Álvaro Arbeloa took over, with a past as a footballer in Madrid, who comes from working at Castilla and who, most importantly, is Florentino’s faithful man. In his presentation he did not hesitate to throw flowers at Vini. Quite a symptom.
The day that Xabi Alonso predicted the hiring of Arbeloa as coach of Real Madrid.
