Why Alonso's chances of survival at Real Madrid are slim

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Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid fate has not yet been decided but Wednesday's Champions League game against Manchester City at the Bernabeu could prove crucial.Fans are losing patience and Madrid were booed off after Sunday's 2-0 La Liga defeat by Celta Vigo, prompting an emergency meeting for the club's hierarchy to discuss Alonso's future.Real remain four points behind leaders Barcelona having won just one of their last five La Liga matches and, after a dramatic slump since beating Barcelona in October, it seems now his chances of survival are very slim.Alonso arrived at Real in the summer offering a modern approach but the club has to accept that this step is necessary. And it still resists.President Florentino Perez has never fully believed in this kind of change, even though people inside the club convinced him to appoint Rafa Benitez, Julien Lopetegui and Xabi Alonso - steps in a new direction.But the moment they falter, show doubt or the players stop buying in, Perez turns his thumb down, given that in the past the club has been more successful with less interventionist coaches like Carlo Ancelotti or Zinedine Zidane.When he arrived at Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso asked to be released if any of the clubs he had played for came calling, provided he felt like taking the job.He added one more team to that list - Manchester City, as Pep's eventual replacement.

Any time someone tried to blame the referee, the response was immediate: "That's a bad excuse."Alonso had shouted a swear word towards Fran Garcia when he had been sent off and the manager said in the press conference that he did not like the referee's performance - but it was no excuse.The most worrying moment in his press conference after the Celta defeat was when he said certain things had been prepared - a higher tempo, pressing upfield - but the team didn't apply any of it. The typical clash between a coach with a clear methodology and players who want to rely on instinct.Problems had been accumulated.Alonso was convinced Jude Bellingham would help him as he knew English players tend to submit to the general idea.

Arda Guler is trying to direct the team's play but he is more of a forward than a midfielder.If Mbappe doesn't score, nobody does: Vini has now gone 11 games without a goal, Rodrygo 33.Injuries - mostly in defence - have forced Alonso to field 20 different line-ups in 21 matches.Eder Militao is Real Madrid's latest casualty and the Brazil defender is expected to be out for three to four months with a torn hamstring suffered against Vigo.'Xabi believes he is capable of finding solutions'Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Xabi Alonso has a 69% win rate in La Liga this seasonPerhaps everything had already fallen apart in the reaction of Vini when he was replaced at the Clasico.It was a challenge to the authority of the manager that has not been resolved. Conversations then followed those disappointing results - between the coach and the players, and between the coach and the president.The manager began making decisions partly designed to please the players, hoping they would also compromise and allow him to keep adding layers to the team's understanding — to press more, to improve their attacks against deep blocks, to control games better.The defeat by Celta on Sunday effectively ended the fans' honeymoon with Alonso, although polls show that supporters also blame the players, who they felt didn't run nearly enough.