Xabi Alonso and the Real Madrid tactical revolution that never happened

Xabi Alonso was removed from his role as Real Madrid coach on Monday, after little more than seven months in charge. His appointment sparked excitement amongst many Madridistas, and promised to deliver the tactical revolution that many had been crying out for.

With his stock high from the excellent work done in Leverkusen, Alonso was supposed to be the coach that brought Los Blancos into the modern age, with a fluid, high-intensity style. He was billed as the master tactician that would find solutions for the issues that plagued the Spanish giants throughout a dismal 2024/25 season.

There was even a sense that he’d be afforded the luxury of time to instil his ideas and construct a team that could rival the very best. However, patience is a rare commodity at the Santiago Bernabeu, and with no signs of Alonso succeeding in the job he was brought in to do, the club have decided to abandon a project that never really got going.

A rocky beginning

The Club World Cup was always viewed as something of an inconvenience by Alonso. It was no secret that he was keen to begin his new role after last summer’s tournament in the United States, rather than before it.

Instead he was thrust straight into competitive action, with little time to work with a squad that was tired, demoralised and plagued by injuries at the end of a long, unsuccessful campaign.

The absence of key man Kylian Mbappe for most of that tournament, due to a severe bout of gastroenteritis, also made it difficult for the Basque coach to really set about the task of transforming a star-studded, but disjointed attack. That was always going to be the most important task for the new man, after Carlo Ancelotti failed to solve the Vinicius-Mbappe conundrum in his final year at the helm.

A 4-0 defeat to PSG in the Club World Cup semi-finals was the first major setback. Perhaps even more damaging than the result was Alonso’s reluctance to embrace the tournament, and insistence that the defeat belonged to the old season rather than what everyone hoped would be a bright new era. That at least gave the impression that he was on a different page to Florentino Perez from the very start.

The club’s failure to sign Martin Zubimendi, a player admired by Alonso and an entirely natural solution to their midfield issues, can also be pinpointed as something of a sliding doors moment. Had the Real Sociedad man moved to the Bernabeu, rather than the Emirates, there’s every chance that this Real Madrid team would have taken on a very different complexion.

Instead, Alonso was forced to soldier on without a natural ball-playing midfielder, who could read the game and set the tempo. Attempts to shoehorn Arda Guler into a deeper role showed flashes of promise. His link-up play with Mbappe was one of the main positives during the opening months of the 2025/26 season.

While Vinicius’ form remained a concern, Alonso did at least manage to get the best out of his other star forward. Aside from a stunning goal return, there were even signs that Mbappe was evolving into an all-round forward player, who could press from the front and do many of the off-the-ball tasks that he had previously been unwilling or unable to do.

The form of Alvaro Carreras, the pick of Real Madrid’s summer signings, was another positive, and it shouldn’t be overlooked that Los Blancos did win 13 of their first 14 matches this term. However, even during that period, there were signs that all was not well.

Warning signs

A 5-2 derby defeat against Atletico Madrid in September suggested Alonso had not found any solutions to the big-game issues that hampered Ancelotti’s team last season. He was widely criticised for picking a half-fit Jude Bellingham at the Estadio Metropolitano, in a match that saw Atleti dominate physically and in the air.

An over-dependence on Mbappe was also clear from day one. The forward has scored exactly 50% of Real Madrid’s goals across LaLiga and the Champions League this term.

The impression was that Alonso was constructing an often one-dimensional team built to serve one player, already a big deviation from the role he was brought in to do.

Unsurprisingly, that situation did not go down well with Vinicius, who twice reacted angrily to being substituted, most notably in El Clasico in October. His subsequent apology, which notably made no reference to Alonso, only added fuel to the flames as reports of dressing room disharmony grew.

With hindsight, perhaps that was an opportunity for the coach to stamp his authority over his players and remind everyone who was in charge. Having just beaten Barcelona in one of the best displays of his reign, Alonso was at that point in a strong enough position to make something of a power play, without the risk of losing his job.

However, the petulance of the Brazilian went unpunished, with Vinicius a starter as a poor Valencia outfit were brushed aside 4-0 the following weekend.

That, as it turned out, would be the peak of Alonso’s short stint in the Bernabeu hotseat. A miserable run of just two wins from eight matches followed that, as Real Madrid’s season threatened to completely unravel.

Player power wins

Ironically, it was perhaps the 3-0 victory in Bilbao against Athletic in December, one of the few positive nights in the final two months of 2025, when it all started to fall apart for Alonso.

A shift to a 4-4-2 system, that frequently took the form of a 4-2-2-2 with a more direct style, was a sign of a coach now willing to make major concessions to a group of players that had grown increasingly unconvinced by his methods.

While effective on that occasion, it was another indicator that Alonso was starting to veer significantly from the mission he was brought in for. Further tactical changes followed that suggested Real Madrid were moving back towards the Ancelotti days. That included the reintroduction of Rodrygo on the right flank, after his boss had previously stated that he only viewed the 25-year-old as competition for Vinicius on the left.

Arguably without the tools needed to truly transform the fortunes of this team, Alonso was taking an increasingly pragmatic stance, and that continued to the very end. His side had just 29% of the ball in his final game, a 3-2 Supercopa defeat against Barcelona.

As the Catalans prepared to collect the trophy, Alonso appeared keen for his players to form a guard of honour for their rivals. Mbappe had other ideas, beckoning his teammates to leave the pitch, and it was the striker who got his way, in a very public display of player power, hours before the coach was sacked.

Those images may come to define the final weeks of Alonso’s reign. As short as it was, it may go on to have a lasting legacy at the Bernabeu, if only in terms of the types of coaches that are hired in the future. It could be a long while before we see another appointment of this nature at Real Madrid, with a dressing room that seemingly craves an appeaser, rather than a leader.