Xabi Alonso had all the leeway a new coach could ask for on Saturday to avoid the mistakes he made against Atletico — and yet he still made them. The most disappointing takeaway from that match was that Alonso arrived billed as a manager of change, but delivered more of the same.
After the 4–0 loss to PSG, one of the learning lessons seemed obvious: gradually integrate players returning from injury, especially when the team is winning. No one—absolutely no one—would have faulted Alonso for keeping Bellingham on the bench. He had more to lose by disrupting rhythm than to gain from forcing a premature return.
These are the same problems Madrid dealt with last season: shoehorning players into the XI because of name and status. Bellingham, when fully fit, is one of the best players on the team and will undoubtely be in starting eleven. This isn’t a reproach of the Englishman, who did everything possible to be fit and ready. Jude is not the source of this team’s problems. But whether it’s Jude, Kylian, Militao, or Tchouameni, no player should be rushed back into a winning side.
What Madrid fans want from Alonso is bravery. A coach willing to make the hard calls: drop big names, reward form, put the club before stars and politics. Supporters are exhausted by heavy defeats against elite opponents, watching their team without hunger or cohesion. That’s where the frustration lies. Alonso, with all the freedom to be different given the context of the previous 12 months, repeated the same errors Carlo made last season.
It’s never easy being Madrid’s manager, it’s arguably the toughest job in football. What works elsewhere often doesn’t work at the Bernabeu. But with Barcelona, Juventus, Villarreal, Liverpool, and Manchester City looming, Madridistas want a team that can truly compete and a coach unafraid of bold decisions. A coach unafraid to change course when it isn’t working. A coach unafraid to abandon his ideals if the moment demands it.
That’s not what we saw on Saturday. From the starting lineup to the substitutions to the lack of in-game tactical adjustments, Xabi Alonso needed to be sharper across the board. Both the manager and the team are young, they will grow together, but the expectation from Madrid supporters is clear: the same mistakes cannot be repeated over and over again.