NO GIFTS FOR THE XAB
Heading into midweek's clash with the Premier League champions, the future of Xabi Alonso as head coach appeared as up in the air like a Spanish omelette being flipped. Only 14 games into his reign, the solitary unsightly blot on the 44-year-old’s record was an unacceptable heavy defeat at the hands of their city rivals. However, from the beginning of last month, Madrid have only won three victories in nine outings, with arguably their worst performances coming in the form of stalemates against perceived La Liga lesser teams, culminating in Sunday’s humiliating loss at the Bernabéu to the Galician side.
In the Bigger Cup, the Spanish giants still look set to claim an all-important top eight spot even after their loss to Pep Guardiola's side, a defeat that was met with shrill whistles of disapproval by hard-to-please fans who had actually witnessed injury-hit team play reasonably well.
"When you don’t win at home that can happen," sighed Alonso regarding the response from the notoriously demanding crowd. "We kept going, we tried right to the final whistle and despite all the problems we are facing [with injuries] the players left it all on the pitch. For this match there is nothing to fault. Our form in November and December haven’t been good, not up to our standards. We’re self-critical, but have to continue working and believing it will pass."
Despite rumours Madrid’s high-profile stars have little or no truck with Alonso's demands for making them “do” tactics, sit through long-winded analysis sessions and attend evening classes about the economics of the Galician fishing industry, there was plenty of public backing for the under-pressure manager.
After netting the first goal, Rodrygo slapped hands with his manager on the touchline, with both Thibaut Courtois and Jude Bellingham offering supportive post-game comments to the media. "The manager’s been great," tooted the England star, in an act of excessive flattery he might do well to replicate next time he’s on England duty. "I myself have a fantastic rapport with him, many of the guys do too. After the first run of games where we drew a few, we had some productive talks internally. Recently, we have simply let ourselves down again. But nobody is downing tools, no one is grumbling or whining, believing our campaign is finished."
Although it might be unheard of for any British publication to twist Bellingham's words to fit a narrative, one might suggest that in stating many of his colleagues have a good relationship with the coach, the midfielder was subtly hinting that quite a few others don’t. The Brazilian winger clearly hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with the manager and the winger is said to have told the club's hierarchy he will not sign a new deal as long as Alonso is the coach. One wonders what the Brazilian made of Thursday morning’s Spanish press, which gave Alonso a free pass for this defeat and instead placed responsibility firmly on Viní’s wasteful feet.
STATEMENT FROM THE NEWS
"Freedom of expression and the right to privacy are fundamental rights. No supporter surrenders those rights just because they cross a border. This measure introduces an intimidating environment of surveillance that directly contradicts the welcoming, open spirit the [Geopolitics] World Cup is supposed to represent and it must be withdrawn immediately" – a supporters' group director, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, criticizes the Trump regime’s plan that would require travelers heading to the United States for the GWC to disclose information about their social media disgrace accounts.
