There are two sides to Xabi Alonso’s dismissal, and both can be true at the same time. Florentino Perez has been rightly criticized by sections of fans and media. The way Alonso was treated publicly was awful and embarassing. He was never openly backed, repeatedly undermined through leaks, and players were allowed to air grievances and tantrums without consequence. That kind of handling should happen privately, behind closed doors.
But from Florentino’s perspective, he is running the biggest sporting
institution in the world. A project can be in a development phase, but at Real Madrid it still has to win. That expectation, fair or not, defines everything. Maintain a certain rhetoric and image is out of paramount importance to Florentino. And despite his history at the club, it increasingly felt like Xabi never fully grasped that culture or ethos.
Read between the lines of the reporting. After the Manchester City match, Madrid produced a strong performance and competed well. Several players publicly backed Xabi both before and after the game. Yet Florentino was reportedly irate. There was even talk Xabi Alonso would be sacked the next day. Why? Because the tone and rhetoric was one of contentment with competing. For Florentino Perez and the board, that is not enough at this club. You can question it or feel it is antiquated way of viewing the club, but it’s hard to argue with the most succesful club in history and one of the succesful president’s in the club’s nearly 124 years of existence.
It seems Florentino decided fairly early on that Xabi was not a cultural fit. My issue is not the decision, but the timing. If you believe you made a bad hire, cut ties early. Don’t drag it out.
Reports suggest Xabi wanted to continue but also felt “relieved” after the news of his departure hit home. Watching him over the final months, the energy had clearly drained from him. It seemed like it was a step too soon in his career. What works at other clubs just doesn’t seem to work at Real Madrid.
