Former Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso has had better days than he did on Monday.
After seeing his Real Madrid squad edged 3-2 by FC Barcelona on Sunday, the award-winning former Bayer Leverkusen manager was unceremoniously sacked from his position as head coach of Los Blancos.
Alonso, whose magic touch with Die Werkself did not translate to the locker room at Real Madrid, was once the hottest coaching prospect in the world, but now is back on his couch likely trying to figure out how it all went
wrong.
For the executives at Bayern Munich, who reportedly tried to hire Alonso before they ultimately settled on Vincent Kompany (and what a move that proved to be), it was a shocking turn of events.
“I was very surprised. Xabi is an exceptionally good coach. He did outstanding work in Leverkusen. I don’t have insight into everything that’s happening at Madrid, and it’s not my place to judge. But it is a bit crazy, in such a short time. The football business is sometimes very fast-paced,” Freund said (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
So why did this not work out? Why could Alonso not go home to a club where he had so much success as a player?
There might not be a clear answer at the moment, but there are a few theories:
1: The locker room was broken after the Ancelotti Era: For all of his football intelligence, Carlo Ancelotti is not exactly a demanding guy when it comes to training. Alonso’s bigger focus on fitness was rumored to create an issue with some members of the squad, who preferred a more “hands off” approach from the coach. For Alonso, who does have a hard-edge, this was a bad fit. Rumors of players being unhappy with Alonso’s focus on running (gasp!) and fitness circulated almost immediately after he took over.
2: Alonso tried to assert control and some established (and non-established stars) did not like it: Real Madrid is not referred to as Los Galácticos for nothing. The players are the stars and run the show in Madrid and Alonso, in attempting to make it more about a collective than individuals like he did with Leverkusen, failed to get buy-in. It would be easy to just blame the modern players and the Tik-Tok-ization sports for this set up, but what did Alonso think he was getting himself into? There was no changing the culture. no matter how hard he tried.
3: Alonso just was not ready for the jump: There are levels to this. Going to a club like Leverkusen, which literally had nothing to lose, and reforming the squad in his vision was the perfect set-up for Alonso. Quite frankly, Leverkusen (rightfully) was just happy to have Alonso and willing to let him mold the squad how he best saw fit…and it worked brilliantly. There were too many egos and feelings to deal with at Real Madrid for anything like that to work for Alonso.
Things certainly could have played out differently for Alonso if he had opted to go to Bayern Munich. Heck, A LOT would probably be different for everyone (Real Madrid, Alonso, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, the Bundesliga, Kompany) if the Spaniard had just moved to Bayern Munich and taken the next logicial step for his career. Maybe some day, but for now, Kompany has been an excellent coach, who just got a fat extension.
Bayern Munich is clearly set for a while.
As for Alonso, he found out that Jon Bon Jovi was full of (bleep) — as it turns out, sometimes you can’t go home.
Song of the Week: “Blue Monday” by New Order
For the midweek, we are jumping back into the 80s.
In 1983, New Order released “Blue Monday” at a time where the song and sound was considered to be way ahead of its time and might or might not have have helped expedite people applying the term “post modern” to the burgeoning genre of alt rock, which was mixing together new wave, synth-pop, and some version of euro dance music to great a sound for the period.
Enjoy:
Where does Bischof fit — if at all — at Bayern?
When Bayern Munich acquired Tom Bischof last summer, it was a longtime coming.
The Bavarians’ love affair with Bischof goes back to 2020 and finally getting him was an accomplishment to ensure that a key player will be a part of the club’s future. Things, however, do not always go as planned, even after such a long pursuit.
Bischof, who is coming off of a strong game against Wolfsburg, has rarely been used in the central midfield and has appeared more often — out of position — at left-back. When asked about Bischof’s position and playing time, head coach Vincent Kompany offered a cautious response.
“I think the most important thing for Tom this year, after his move from Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich, is that he gets game time. It was difficult in midfield at the beginning, as we have a lot of competition there. But with his profile, there were also opportunities to get minutes in other positions,” said Kompany (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “He did a great job. You can see what that development can look like with Konrad Laimer in the full-back position. In the future, it will be a very positive development for him if he continues to get playing time – that’s more important than his position on the pitch.
“At some point, there will be a discussion about which position he plays best in, but for now, it’s about helping the team. I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops because he’s going to get even better.”
Hmmm…
It is impossible to know exactly what Kompany is thinking, but — Tinfoil Hat community rise up! — this did not exactly sound like a ringing endorsement for Bischof’s future in the central midfield at Bayern Munich.
For his part, Bischof has been a good soldier and clearly willing to do whatever is needed. Not too far into the distant past, though, Bayern Munich did acquire another Hoffenheim defensive midfielder on a free transfer, who often had to play out of position due to the depth in the central midfield and never complained about it — Sebastian Rudy.
Rudy, a fine No. 6, just could not get central midfield minutes, at Bayern Munich and quickly realized that he needed to leave. The move ultimately sent Rudy’s career into a downward spiral which he never recovered from. For Bischof, there is still plenty of time to get things where they need to be, but there is a chance that his future at Bayern Munich is somewhat in doubt.
Kompany’s response was not damning — let’s be clear. To be a key figure in Bayern Munich’s central midfield is tough, though. The club rarely sits Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlović seems to be No. 2 in the pecking order. In addition, the club is actively pursuing another option for next season to add into the mix after Leon Goretzka leaves. Nothing is a given at Bayern Munich and Bischof could find that out soon.
Hopefully, though, the 20-year-old is able to break through and remind the Bavarians of all of those great traits and qualities that made him so attractive to the club in the first place. There were some great moments for him last weekend against Wolfsburg and he plays with an edge and attitude that the team seems to like and also that the team needs.
Let’s hope he becomes the next Bayern Munich transfer success story and not the latest player who just could not find a way to fit in.
Entertainment Rundown
The review of The Beast in Me will be up on Friday, but we did get some good news! Mare of Easttown (filmed in my area) could be back! This was captured from Forbes:
One of the best crime miniseries on HBO over the course of the last decade is Mare of Easttown, the murder mystery starring Kate Winslet, investigating a case that hits close to home. I think most people would be surprised to even be reading “Mare of Easttown season 2’ in that headline, given that I don’t think anyone really thought this was a series that was meant to continue after its 2021 airing.
But there’s some surprising news on that front. Mare on Easttown is likely coming back, and Kate Winslet has told Deadline there is a “strong likelihood” of the show shooting in 2027, which would probably end in a 2028 release date, about seven years after the original aired.
Supposedly, there have been “on and off” conversations over the years about continuing the show, but Winslet’s comments indicate that yes, it’s probably happening, if she’s already talking about when shooting would start. She says it was designed as a one-off series, but conversations brought it back to life. This is after she had previously declared that it was officially over unless it was “too bloody good to resist.” Well, here we are.
Not asking for much here, just a good show and maybe a cameo for a true Delco guy!
Stranger Things
I think I am going to do another retrospective (post + pod) like I did with Game of Thrones for Stranger Things, but have to nail down timing. Regardless of that (more details will emerge later), I thought this was kind of cool:
Also, this might surprise some folks (or not):
Predictions
Bayern Munich travels to FC Köln for some midweek fun, which really might not be all that fun if the home side comes ready to play.
It would be unfair to expect Bayern Munich to just come out and dominate from the outset (though, it could happen against a team going through some turmoil). The Bavarians are a going through a quick turnaround with what could be a rotated lineup, so it could take a while for the things to click.
The Bavarians still win convincingly, but might not put up another eight-spot like they did last weekend vs. Wolfsburg.
Prediction: FC Köln 0-3 Bayern Munich
Other Bundesliga matches:
- VfB Stuttgart 3-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
- Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Werder Bremen
- Mainz 05 1-1 Heidenheim
- Hamburger SV 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen
- VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 St. Pauli
- RB Leipzig 3-2 SC Freiburg
- Hoffenheim 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach
- FC Augsburg 2-2 Union Berlin
Prediction Results
This is where we stand at the break…
- Total: 336-181
- Perfect Picks: 33
- Bundesliga Last Matchday: 3-4 (two games postponed)
- Bundesliga Overall: 84-59 (missing two postponed games)
- DFB-Pokal: 45-11
- World Cup Qualifiers/Friendlies: 99-45
- Champions League: 65-43
- Club World Cup: 39-23
- Club Friendlies: 4-0
- Franz Beckenbauer Supercup: 1-0
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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