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Going into Wednesday night’s match against Manchester City, Xabi Alonso’s future as head coach of Real Madrid seemed as up in the air as a Spanish omelette being flipped by celebrity chef Keith Floyd in his pomp. Just 14 games into his reign, the only unsightly blot on the 44-year-old’s copybook had been an unacceptable 5-2 hammering at the hands of Atlético. But, since the start of November, Madrid have only won three in nine, with arguably their most unpalatable results coming in the form of draws with supposed La Liga cannon fodder, including Elche and Girona, culminating in Sunday’s embarrassing home defeat at the hands of Celta Vigo. In Bigger Cup, they still look set fair to secure an all-important top eight spot despite their reverse at the hands of City, a defeat which was greeted by shrill whistles of disapproval from hard-to-please fans who had actually just seen their knack-ravaged team play reasonably well.
“When you don’t win at home that can happen,” sighed Alonso of the reaction from the famously tough crowd. “The team kept going, we tried until the end and with all the difficulties we have [with knack] the players gave everything. Today I have nothing to criticise. The results in November and December haven’t been good, or what we wanted. We’re self-critical, but have to keep working and believing it will pass.” Despite rumours Madrid’s overpaid prima donnas have little or no truck with Alonso’s insistence on making them “do” tactics, sit through long-winded video presentations and attend mandatory evening seminars on the economic history of the Galician fishing industry, there was no shortage in shows of support for the beleaguered manager.
