Xabi Alonso has managed to get the wins he’s needed to keep his job, but the bigger picture is hard to ignore. This team looks far away from competing at the highest level, and the distance feels like it’s growing rather than shrinking.
The opening stretch of the match said a lot. The first 20 minutes were genuinely awful. The half as a whole was poor, with Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo the only players consistently offering anything. Alonso’s team selection only added to the confusion. Fran García
and Asencio starting as fullbacks again, even after what happened against Celta, raised the same unanswered questions. Fool me once, fine. Fool me twice, it starts to look stubborn.
Rodrygo, at least, is sending a clear message. As Kiyan Sobhani mentioned on Twitter: his confidence is obvious, his dribbling decisive, and his overall play looks effortless. He’s doing exactly what it takes to win his spot back.
The more worrying assessment came from Spanish journalist, Albert Ortega: “The worst thing for Xabi Alonso isn’t the results. It’s that Real Madrid played better in July than in December, even though Xabi had only been there a month. The team right now is a drama in every line. Nothing is being built. There is no direction.”
