A lot has been happening at Real Madrid in the last few days. Los Blancos narrowly lost 3–2 to Barcelona, after which Xabi Alonso left the club after a "mutual agreement" between the manager and the club.
The Spanish tactician joined Madrid at the beginning of the season after a successful tenure at Bayer Leverkusen. However, things didn’t go as planned for Alonso, who lost crucial matches along the way during his time as manager of Los Merengues.
Alonso's squad often seemed out of sorts, and players weren’t performing at their best despite the club having some of the best players in the world in each position on the pitch. This was clearly a cause of concern for the board as well as the fans.
Now, honestly speaking, the problem with Alonso wasn’t his tactics, and everyone knows it. Rather, it was about establishing his authority over a star-studded roster, which he struggled to accomplish.
In fact, Spanish radio station Cadena SER (via Madrid Zone) has revealed that while parting ways with Alonso, Madrid's owners told him that one of the main reasons behind the decision was the Spaniard’s failure to control the dressing room. To this, Alonso reportedly answered that he wasn’t backed by the club even once when he tried to do that.
Real Madrid’s board told Xabi Alonso exactly what we were all thinking
At Real Madrid, man-management is one of the most vital aspects a manager has to take care of. Alonso was certainly struggling with that during his time, as was evident from a number of incidents recently. Then again, it’s also true that the club never really supported him in any decision and one can hardly blame the Spaniard fully for this situation.
That said, there’s little point in dwelling on whose fault it was that led to the untimely departure of Alonso from the club in the middle of the campaign, and it is time to look forward. Real Madrid are second in La Liga and hold a quite comfortable seventh-place position in the Champions League as well.
Alvaro Arbeloa has already taken charge of the team as the new manager. The former Los Blancos player is already familiar with the club’s ways and values, having previously served as the youth team coach. It now remains to be seen if Arbeloa can succeed where Alonso failed starting against Albacete in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday (January 14th).