Cliff Notes – The wolves of Real Madrid are already at Xabi Alonso’s door
- Despite Real Madrid’s position at the top of La Liga, manager Xabi Alonso faces mounting criticism over team performance and alleged disconnect with players, particularly following a recent draw against Elche.
- Media scrutiny intensifies as concerns grow over Alonso’s tactical decisions and player relationships, notably with star Vinícius Júnior, amid fears of potential job insecurity.
The wolves of Real Madrid are already at Xabi Alonso’s door
Graham HunterNov 25, 2025, 10:00 AM
CloseGraham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team.
With Real Madrid top of LaLiga and snugly inside the crucial top eight positions of the UEFA Champions League ahead of their midweek fixture at Olympiacos, there should be absolutely no possibility of their manager Xabi Alonso being in a precarious position.
But, sadly, this is the most political, most unforgiving club anywhere in the world of football and, therefore, he is. And he’ll know he is.
Imminent job loss? No, absolutely not. But there are wolves at the door and someone at his club is either encouraging, or allowing, them to snarl.
In Sunday’s 2-2 draw at promoted Elche, Madrid were outplayed, trailed twice to goals from Madrid youth products (Aleix Febas and Álvaro Rodríguez) and only equalized, late on, thanks to a Jude Bellingham goal that should have been disallowed for Vinícius Júnior’s foul on Elche keeper Iñaki Peña. It was enough to send many Madrid watchers in the media into apoplectic fury.
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That was partially because it meant three matches without a win (Liverpool in the Champions League, Rayo Vallecano and now Eder Sarabia’s daring and well-coached Elche team domestically), partially because Alonso’s team really isn’t playing convincingly and, inevitably, partially because Barcelona are breathing down Madrid’s neck.
For the fiercest critics, it’s a combustible element to add to this tinder-dry mix that Alonso has (mostly) analyzed in stubbornly optimistic and positive terms. The freshly turned 44-year-old is quite right to point out that: his is a work in progress, that there have been positive points and, particularly that, on Sunday, Los Blancos fought tigerishly to ensure they didn’t lose.
In this (nearly) midterm summing up of where he’s at, that element of fighting spirit is far from unimportant. Partly because, at the moment, there aren’t a whole heap of things to get excited about.
But, beyond those three gnarly results, here’s what Alonso needs to be properly concerned about ahead of Wednesday’s test in Athens — at least concerned in terms of how he’s viewed and the pasting he’s been receiving from the media for a couple of weeks now.
There is a consistent phraseology across all of his critics in written and broadcast media: either that he is suffering a “disconnect” from his players or that he’s failing to make them understand what it is he wants from them tactically.
To give you one example: Tomás Roncero works for sports paper Diario AS and a couple of broadcast outlets, radio and TV. He’s not only famous, he’s famously pro-Real Madrid. He’d consider himself a self-declared fanatic of the club — beyond a cheerleader, because he’s definitely kept in the loop by senior sources, but “a fan with a typewriter,” as the saying used to go.
Despite Real Madrid topping LaLiga, manager Xabi Alonso is finding himself increasingly the subject of criticism. Guillermo Martinez/NurPhoto via Getty Images
On Sunday night, after Bellingham’s goal scrambled the league leaders to an undignified draw, Roncero was asked how concerned he was on a scale of 1-10.
“At four … because I want to believe Alonso will turn things around. My point is, I’m not sure he’s connecting with the players, because if he is, it would be terrible to see them so listless and lacking in spirit. They’ve only shown their mettle when they’ve been backed into a corner.
“I want to believe that at some point Xabi Alonso will reconnect with them, which I don’t think he’s doing now. But if what happened today is repeated in Athens on Wednesday and Montilivi (vs. Girona, stream LIVE Sunday 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+), it’ll then be a 9.5 out of 10, not a four.”
If you’re not plugged into the Madrid media, or if you simply don’t speak Spanish, then take my word for it: this isn’t simply the general tone of what’s happening on radio and TV, it’s actually on the friendly side.
A range of headlines in Marca (the biggest-selling written publication in Spain) include “Madrid are suffering!” plus “Madrid have forgotten how to win!” or, most threateningly, “That performance ‘damages’ Alonso!” and “Alonso’s starting to lose control of this!”
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The elephant in the room is the relationship between Vinícius Júnior and Alonso. When he was taken off against Barcelona, the Brazil international reacted with fury and was quoted as shouting: “This is why I’m leaving the club.”
Once the heat died down from that incident, a few days ago, José Félix Díaz published a front-page story, and backed it up with a long personal article inside Diario AS, that read: “Renewing Vinícius’ contract is an absolute must — all-in.”
A calming message to Vinícius, his representative and the fans, but a very clear diktat toward Alonso, who, at that stage, had only deployed one of his biggest superstars for 904 of a possible 1,235 league minutes and 270 of a possible 380 Champions League minutes. So when Vinícius was dropped for Sunday’s match at Elche, and then not brought on until minute 57, you’ll understand why there were raised eyebrows everywhere around the club.
Let there be no doubt that Alonso, a smart guy, will have made his team and tactical selection (Federico Valverde was also benched, plus there was a return to three at the back and wingbacks) for sound coaching reasons. But even if he perceived that Vinícius absolutely required rest and recuperation before facing Olympiacos, he’ll have known that leaving the Brazilian on the bench, especially if the win wasn’t obtained, would automatically be viewed by many as a gesture of defiance and independence.
The fact is that the repetitive diagnosis in the media about “misunderstanding,” “mistrust” and “lack of connection” between Alonso and some of his players, given how widespread and unchallenged it is, must be emanating from one or more of: the club, the training ground, the players’ agents or being authorized by the big power brokers. It’s inconceivable that so many who owe their living to covering Madrid have been writing or broadcasting the things they have without either encouragement or a nod and a wink of acquiescence.
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Could Real Madrid really replace Xabi Alonso this season?
LaLiga & Real Madrid correspondent Alex Kirkland provides an update on the growing tension in the Real Madrid dressing room between Xabi Alonso and Vinícius Júnior.
As Madrid prepare for their match in the Greek capital against a Spanish coach, José Luis Mendilibar, who’s taken points off Los Blancos for Real Valladolid, Eibar and Osasuna, a couple of things linger in the background.
Madrid’s preseasons, last summer and the year before, were brutally insufficient and Alonso’s squad are suffering the hangover from them. And his long unbeaten run and historic double-winning season at Bayer Leverkusen have set him up for massive over-expectation.
Just a few weeks ago, I interviewed Alonso for UEFA. He was crystal clear that having a specific idea about how he wanted his Madrid team to play would be of no use whatsoever if he couldn’t explain it and convince his new players sufficiently well. He’s not dogmatic or foolhardy.
There’s a documentary coming out imminently that will feature former Spain teammates of his (not automatically those you’d expect to be warmly disposed to him) pointing out that, at Leverkusen, Alonso was flexible tactically, possessing Plans A, B and C. Indeed, I spent several hours last week with another of Alonso’s World Cup-winning teammates who was full of praise for his intelligence, diligence and competence as a coach.
Part of the problem, I’d say, is that Alonso has never been particularly worried about making friends in the media. Respect me for what I am and what I do was his mantra as a player, and has remained so as a coach. There’s no lobby working on his behalf, and that may be an Achilles heel.
Madrid, under club president Florentino Pérez, have had no fewer than 10 coaches who lasted between three months and just under a year — the two most recent being Rafa Benítez and Julen Lopetegui. It still feels both inconceivable and nonsensical that Alonso’s position might come under even midterm threat, despite the wolves who are snarling at his door.
The best medicine for what ails him, and his squad, would be to start winning again. Any old how. Beginning against the Greek champions.
