Six reasons Real Madrid should KEEP Xabi Alonso despite intensifying sack rumours

Real Madrid have only won two of their last eight matches across all competitions, which has piled huge pressure on Xabi Alonso.

According to reports in Spain, the 44-year-old is on the verge of being sacked, following their latest defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League.

However, we’re not convinced that replacing Alonso would fix all of Real Madrid’s problems and have identified six reasons the club should keep him.

While Real Madrid were ultimately beaten by City , there were still plenty of positives to take from the performance – especially when you consider how many key injuries they currently have.

“That was not a performance of players that want their manager out,” said Steven Gerrard after the game.

Indeed, Madrid had several chances to get back into the game, but without Kylian Mbappe, they struggled to put their Premier League opponents to the sword.

Regardless of the defeat, we saw enough positives from the game that should give Madrid fans confidence that Alonso can turn things around.

We also have sympathy for Alonso, given the number of key injuries at Madrid right now.

When working with a fully fit squad, Alonso had Madrid sat top of La Liga , but since their injury pile-up, they have started to slide down the table.

As of writing, Mbappe, Eduardo Camavinga, Ferland Mendy, Dean Huijsen, David Alaba, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Daniel Carvajal and Eder Militao are all nursing injuries.

With that context in mind, it would be incredibly harsh to sack Alonso right now.

While some Madrid stars have underperformed this season, that accusation can’t be thrown at Mbappe.

Under Alonso, the Frenchman has averaged a goal every 73.5 minutes, having scored 25 goals in his last 21 appearances.

With the 26-year-old absolutely flying under Alonso, it could be a risk to bring in a new manager at this stage, who might not get the same tune out of the France international.

Real Madrid’s underlying attacking numbers back up the notion that they are one of the best attacking sides in Europe.

In the league, they’ve racked up an xG of 37.8, which is more than any side across Europe’s top five leagues this season. They’ve also taken more shots than any side in Europe.

However, they have been guilty of underperforming their xG by 5.8 goals, which is the third biggest underperformance of any side in La Liga .

Alonso can only do so much on the training ground and can’t be blamed for Madrid’s wayward finishing in our opinion.

Prior to taking the Madrid job, Alonso was one of the most sought-after managers in world football.

He did a tremendous job with Bayer Leverkusen and is expected to have a long and successful career in management.

If Real Madrid decides to pull the trigger on him, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him go elsewhere and thrive.

The lack of available world-class managers will also be taken into consideration by the higher-ups at the club.

While the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Zinedine Zidane have been linked, there’s no concrete evidence that either of them would accept the job right now.

Indeed, it seems more likely that someone like Raul or Alvaro Arbeloa could be handed the job on an interim basis if they decide to sack Alonso.

However, they would likely run into the same problems as the 44-year-old before too long.