The Bayer Leverkusen players almost ran out of superlatives, when they had to describe their super coach, Xabi Alonso. The new coach provided a unity, a will to win and eminent individual coaching, which resulted in the historic Bundesliga title. As Real Madrid manager, Alonso faced the complete opposite reaction from players. Earlier in the week, Alonso was finished as Real manager after the loss to Barcelona in the Supercopa. Jürgen Klopp was very surprised by the outcome, but now it is reported that it was anything but the sporting aspect that felled Alonso after seven months in the job.
First, Klopp’s reaction to Servus TV: “First of all, I think it’s a new sign that something is not quite right there at the moment. If Xabi Alonso, who in the last two years at Leverkusen has shown what an outstanding coaching talent he is – and I think that with his age and with the number of jobs he has had, you could say so – then is forced to leave Madrid just seven months later, it shows a couple of things. On the one hand, it shows that there is no longer time. On the other hand, the expectations at Real Madrid are obviously huge, Klopp said.
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Cadena SER claims one of the reasons for Alonso’s departure was his poor relationship with several of Real Madrid’s big stars. He had a high-profile encounter with Vinicius Júnior during the first EL Clásico, while also angering several other members of the first-team squad – who complained about him to Florentino Perez and the club’s board.
Cadena Ser journalist Bruno Alemany claims Alonso’s coaching staff who were with him at Real Madrid “knew since November that there are seven players who have criticized him for the board, directly or indirectly”, and it was noted that “some of them are starters”. No specific names are mentioned.
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Jürgen Klopp is right that the expectations at Real Madrid are huge, but the factor of various super-egos in the team with power, is said to have been what tipped Alonso out of the royal club.
Interim coach Alvaro Arabeloa is considered a neutral coach who will lower the level of conflict in the squad. With the academy coach at the helm, this resulted in a loss against a second division club and out of the Copa del Rey.
