Thus, Xabi Alonso became the 10th head coach of Real Madrid under President Florentino Perez to be sacked before completing a year in office.
As soon as the 44-year-old captain seemed to have extinguished the undercurrents threatening to sink him from the autumn, the biggest "crime" in the dictionary of things that must absolutely not be violated of Real Madrid coaches struck again. That is losing to Barcelona when a title is being threatened.
The fall in the Spanish Super Cup final ended Alonso's term, even though he left in the context that Real Madrid is only 4 points behind the leading team in La Liga, still safe in the top 8 of the UEFA Champions League and still have a match at the Copa del Rey against Albacete.
Alonso's close associates will surely not stop being haunted by the final minutes of the Super Cup, when Alvaro Carreras and Raul Asencio both had the opportunity to bring the final to a penalty shootout. But then everything passed with regret.
Looking back, in the eyes of Perez - the person with the absolute decisive voice on the coach's fate - Alonso is held responsible for many minus points.
First, serious damage to Alonso's image and internal prestige came from the El Clasico in October last year. When Alonso replaced Vininius Junior on the field, the Brazilian star became angry, showing disrespect to the coach. Although Real won the match, that action still dominated the media when Vinicius shouted: "This is the reason I will leave this team. This is the reason I left!".
Perez wants Vinicius to extend his contract at all costs. Therefore, although Alonso later somewhat reconciled with the 24-year-old star and even helped him play his best match, score the most beautiful goal since Carlo Ancelotti left, it is clear that Perez's trust in Alonso has fallen into a difficult state to salvage.
Second, losing to Barcelona in a big final is still considered a taboo.
Third, when Real Madrid performed a lackluster football, dropping points against Rayo Vallecano, Elche and Girona, and then continuously losing at home to Manchester City and Celta Vigo, a large-scale "responsibility hunt" immediately began. Whether fair or not (and the answer is likely no), the first person to be pointed out is still the coach, not the President or the player.
Fourth, Alonso, from a certain perspective, is considered not to have "played according to the rules" in Madrid. Senior management is a survival skill in every big club, but at Real, this is especially true when the direct superior is Perez - who is almost not responsible to anyone.
What is shocking is that the Spanish media - after weeks of continuously predicting that Alonso would be sacked in November and December last year - was almost surprised by Perez's decision. Although Real did not play convincingly, they still beat Sevilla, Real Betis and Atletico. The players clearly still support the coach, and the opportunity to enter the top 8 of the Champions League is still very bright with 2 matches this month being considered to be winable.
9 coaches previously sacked early by Perez often paved the way for more brilliant stages of Los Blancos' success, when titles came in succession and top stars actively chose to join Madrid. That is an undeniable reality.
But looking at it fairly, Perez has blamed the wrong person, ignoring core issues. And giving power to Alvaro Arbeloa could make the mistake worse instead of fixing it. Even so, Perez will not care about that opinion. In the past, his strength and will have overcome obstacles that seemed impossible many times. What about this time?
