Xabi Alonso was sacked in January, but the manager began leaving Madrid in early November. By that time, the team’s divorce with Xabi Alonso was already noticeable behind closed doors. The distance that had brought daily life to its limits in Valdebebas continued until it exploded. “I didn’t expect you to come to kindergarten to practice!” the coach shouted during practice.
It wasn’t a typical warning to get a player’s attention, nor was it a one-off outburst at work. It was a cry of despair, exhaustion, and boredom. Xavi had long been frustrated by players not following his demands at every training session. Above all in tactical demands. Bad faces, bad attitude, whispers…until he can’t take it anymore and says something that is the beginning of the end. He told them something he had been thinking about for a while, opening a wound in the team that never closed.
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Tactical weight and lots of information
Players considered tactical training to be unduly taxing and were also dissatisfied with the excessive amount of information they received. Xavi’s excessive enthusiasm for tactical work, attention and correction extended to his assistants, who were chosen by the players. His assistant Sebas Parrilla was the main force. The fact that so many people were giving instructions and paying attention to every detail was an uncomfortable situation for players. The daily working conditions were poor and this wear and tear took its toll.
Alonso was thinking the opposite of the players. First there was the Club World Cup and then a rushed return to competition with little pre-season, leaving the manager with no room to work on the ideas of football he wanted to impose on Real Madrid. There were a lot of changes and modifications for the coach, and he had to spend every minute of every training session imposing them on his team. Alonso knew that the team was far from what he wanted and that he needed to speed up the process. However, this pace of work and the acquisition of new concepts from the coach directly clashed with the team. They were incompatible and became more difficult day by day. Alonso was unhappy with the players and the players were unhappy with him.
Arbeloa’s name in the dressing room
As if that wasn’t enough, rumors about Arbeloa began to spread in the locker room. The name of the man who would become Real Madrid’s new manager in a few months was starting to be considered among the players as a possible solution. Arbeloa was starting to make quite a presence in the first team, either because the club had already hidden his name to get a sense of the atmosphere, or because the players were paying close attention to Arbeloa, who was regularly attending first team training as Castilla’s manager.
And in the midst of great tension came the crisis of consequences. Madrid’s stability disappointed them and the crisis began to grow. Sure, when things didn’t go well, the team banded together and vowed not to let Xavi down, but something had already broken. The doubts and anxieties within the team were transferred to the club hierarchy, and there was no turning back. The Supercopa was over, but the screams were the beginning of the end.
