Spanish Twitter account Emil Sorel put it bluntly: “Si un entrenador sólo piensa en sobrevivir ya no tiene tiempo para construir.” If a manager is only focused on surviving, he can’t build anything. The
same logic applies to the people above him. If the president and the board don’t think Xabi Alonso is the right fit, then cut ties now. One game shouldn’t decide anything. If you have an underperforming employee and you don’t believe they fit your culture, you don’t drag it out — you make the decision. Sometimes you make a bad hire. It happens.
On the other hand, if Xabi is your bet, if he checks the boxes for the club you want to become, then you have to push through the growing pains. It usually takes six months for someone in any role to find their footing. For players, especially with the ideas Xabi is trying to implement, it often takes longer.
Implement a pressing scheme can take up to 8 months, if not longer. The spring is where this team should be judged. By that time, the structure should be right and the players automatisms and habits should be further ingrained. Madrid can’t shortcut that process. They either commit or they don’t.
