Thierry Henry sends Xabi Alonso sack message to Real Madrid

Thierry Henry has urged Real Madrid to keep faith with Xabi Alonso, claiming it’s ‘ludicrous’ that the manager could find himself ‘in trouble’ after just half a season.

Alonso returned to the Bernabeu in the summer to great fanfare having built up a stellar reputation at Bayer Leverkusen, where he completed an unprecedented unbeaten domestic double in 2024.

But things have rapidly turned sour after a hugely encouraging start to Alonso’s Madrid reign, with the 44-year-old winning just two of his last eight matches in all competitions at the helm.

Los Blancos now sit four points adrift of bitter rivals Barcelona at the top of La Liga after faltering in five of their opening 16 matches of the top-flight season.

A 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday night did little to ease the pressure on Alonso, with some rumours beforehand suggesting the Spaniard could lose his job with anything but a win.

Facing the media after the loss, Alonso said he had ‘no complaints’ about the ‘professionalism’ of the squad and insisted his players were still battling hard to turn the difficult situation around.

Several Madrid stars, including Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Thibaut Courtois, came out in support of Alonso after the final whistle and, according to Marca, the club’s hierarchy are not ready to swing the axe just yet.

But Alonso will know questions over his future are only going to intensity should results fail to improve over the course of Madrid’s busy winter schedule, starting away at Alaves on Sunday.

‘I don’t know what the board wants to do or not,’ ex-Arsenal, Barcelona and France striker Henry said on CBS Sports when asked about the speculation surrounding Alonso.

‘I find it always ludicrous that a manager can be in trouble after being six months in the job. I don’t personally agree with that.

‘But you also know at a club at the level of Real Madrid or Barcelona or whatever, you can wake up and hear some bad news because things might change.’

Henry ‘doesn’t personally agree’ with the trigger-happy nature of the modern game and hopes Madrid remain patient with Alonso.

‘I don’t think that they should question the coach,’ he added.

‘If you have a coach in position then you should try to see what he can do.

‘But you heard Guillem [Balague], you heard the president, you heard everybody, you heard Gareth Bale saying that when you’re there you need to manage a bit more than coaching.

‘So I don’t personally agree with it but that’s the way it is.’

Madrid’s loss to City leaves Alonso’s men in seventh place in the Champions League standings, with a record of four wins and two defeats from their six group-stage contests.

The 15-time European champions will look to return to winning ways in the competition in the new year when they resume their campaign at home to Ligue 1 outfit Monaco.

Despite City’s win, Pep Guardiola insisted his side would have to drastically improve they were to achieve their ambitions of lifting the Champions League trophy again this season.

‘We are not ready, we are away,’ the City head coach told reporters.

‘In February we will be better. These kinds of games, we have been here before and played better and lost. The players made a big effort but we still have much to improve.

‘I take it but I know the reality that in the last stages we have to do better.’

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