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NO GIFTS FOR THE XAB

Heading into Wednesday night's clash against Manchester City, the future of Xabi Alonso in the dugout appeared as uncertain as a tortilla being flipped. Just 14 games since his appointment, the only unsightly blot on the 44-year-old’s copybook had been an unacceptable heavy defeat at the hands of Atlético. But, from the beginning of last month, Los Blancos have managed just three in nine, with arguably their worst performances coming in the form of draws against supposed Spanish league cannon fodder, and ending with Sunday’s embarrassing home defeat to Celta Vigo.

In the premier club competition, they still look set to secure an all-important top eight spot despite their loss at the hands of City, a defeat which was greeted by loud boos of disapproval by hard-to-please supporters that had witnessed injury-hit team play reasonably well.

"If you fail to win at home that can happen," admitted Alonso regarding the response from the notoriously demanding crowd. "We persevered, we tried right to the final whistle and with all the difficulties we are facing [with injuries] everyone gave everything. For this match I have nothing to fault. The results over the past two months haven’t been good, or what we wanted. We are analyzing ourselves, but must keep working and have faith that things will improve."

Despite rumours the club's high-profile stars are not enamored with Alonso's demands for tactical drills, sit through lengthy analysis sessions and attend mandatory evening seminars about the economics of the Galician fishing industry, there was plenty in shows of support for the beleaguered boss.

Upon scoring their opener, the Brazilian forward slapped hands with his manager on the touchline, while both the goalkeeper and Jude Bellingham offering supportive post-match references to the media. "The boss has been excellent," tooted the England star, in what some might call excessive flattery he could try repeating next time he joins the national team. "I myself have a fantastic rapport with him, many of the lads do as well. After the first run of games where we drew a few, we had some great conversations internally. Recently, we have simply not been good enough once more. Yet nobody is downing tools, nobody is complaining, moaning, thinking our campaign is finished."

Although it might be unusual for any British publication to distort Bellingham's words to suit some weird agenda, one might suggest that in stating that “a lot” of his teammates get on with the coach, the midfielder was tacitly implying that a significant number do not. The Brazilian winger clearly hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with the manager and the winger is widely reported to have told the club's hierarchy he will not sign a contract extension while Alonso is the coach. One wonders how Vinícius thought about the next day's Spanish press, which gave Alonso no blame for the loss while laying the blame squarely at Viní’s wasteful feet.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Free speech and privacy rights are universal human rights. No football fan surrenders those rights simply because they cross a border. This policy creates an intimidating environment of surveillance that directly contradicts the welcoming, open spirit the tournament is supposed to represent and it should be scrapped immediately" – Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, criticizes a proposed policy that would require travelers heading to the United States for the GWC to disclose information about their social media profiles.