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Did the Dressing Room Turn on Xabi Alonso? Internal Discontent May Have Sealed His Exit from Real Madrid
The dismissal was already decided, but the noise had started earlier. Internal complaints, messages to the hierarchy, and a fractured dressing room marked the end of Xabi Alonso.
A managerial change amid chaos
Xabi Alonso’s departure from the Real Madrid bench was not solely the result of on-field performances. With Álvaro Arbeloa already confirmed as his replacement, the club finds itself in a turbulent institutional and emotional moment, with a dressing room that, rather than closing ranks, reportedly showed significant wear and dissatisfaction with the Basque coach’s management.
The change does not arrive in a friendly context. Tension hangs in the air at Valdebebas, and the new coaching staff inherits a shaken squad, with open wounds following a dismissal that, while sudden, had been brewing behind closed doors for some time.
Complaints that reached the top
According to a report by El Larguero on Cadena SER, the relationship between Xabi Alonso and the dressing room was far from healthy. It was not an isolated issue. Vinícius was the most visible face of the conflict, but he was not the only one involved.
Journalist Bruno Alemany revealed that as many as seven players—both starters and substitutes—had voiced their dissatisfaction with the coach’s methods, either directly or through intermediaries, to senior figures within the club. The complaints did not stop at the president’s office, but also reached other levels of the club’s executive structure.
Starters involved and sustained unrest
The most sensitive detail is that some of the players who expressed their discontent are regular starters, reinforcing the idea of a deep fracture between the coaching staff and the squad. Although no names were disclosed, the information points to a structural problem rather than an isolated incident.
Sources cited by SER even suggest that these concerns emerged from within the coaching staff’s own environment, highlighting a deteriorated internal climate that ultimately accelerated the club’s final decision.
Arbeloa inherits a fragile dressing room
With Xabi Alonso now out of the picture, Arbeloa takes on the challenge of rebuilding a bruised dressing room, restoring player confidence, and stabilizing a project that collapsed before it could fully take shape. The task will not be purely tactical, but also emotional and rooted in leadership.
Real Madrid turns the page, but the internal scars remain. And the real work, now, is only just beginning.
