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In the middle of the season, on 12 January 2026, Real Madrid announced that the club and Xabi Alonso had “mutually agreed to part ways”. The former midfield maestro, who had helped Real lift La Décima as a player, had only taken over from Bayer Leverkusen in May 2025 and signed a contract until 2028. Just seven months later, it was already over.

According to The Guardian’s analysis, the split followed a 3–2 defeat against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final. At that point, Alonso had managed only two wins from eight matches, while a five-point lead in La Liga had turned into a four-point deficit. Despite occasional positive signs against Barcelona in the league, overall performances were unconvincing. Heavy defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, the failure to secure key transfer targets, and a public dispute with Vinícius Júnior all undermined his authority.

Alonso’s case is a reminder that even gifted former players can quickly reach their limits at an elite club. In the following sections, we want to take a closer look at why leading a top club is often far more difficult than it appears from the outside – and why some coaches thrive at smaller clubs but struggle with the “giants”.

At smaller clubs, coaches are often given the time to build a project over several seasons. At Real Madrid, Manchester United or Bayern Munich, by contrast, evaluations are usually tied to the very next result. The Super Cup defeat against Barcelona was described by Spanish football expert Graham Hunter as a “fatal mistake” – Florentino Pérez does not forgive lost finals. Just a few disappointing weeks were enough to erode Alonso’s credit: a 5–2 hammering in the derby, draws against mid-table sides and a home defeat to Celta Vigo quickly turned the mood.

This pressure is driven not only by media and fans, but also by the financial realities of elite clubs. A study on managerial turnover in Europe’s top five leagues describes the head coach’s role as “chronically insecure”. The need to justify huge revenues leads to frequent sackings. The same study shows that while a managerial change can improve results in the short term, it has little impact on the final league position in the long run. In other words, instead of long-term planning, many big clubs operate with a “fire & hire” mentality, where coaches become scapegoats for short-term dips in form.

For you as a coach, this means: be aware that high-profile jobs leave very little room for experimentation. Your ideas have to work immediately, while you also need to cope with a constant media circus.

At a mid-sized club, you may be able to develop young players step by step. At a top club, the squad is packed with global superstars and big personalities. These players demand minutes, influence and recognition. Xabi Alonso’s clash with Vinícius Júnior in October – when the Brazilian stormed down the tunnel in anger after being substituted – made headlines worldwide. Although the forward later apologised to teammates and the club president, he did not apologise to the coach. According to Al Jazeera, the club failed to back Alonso in the dispute – a major blow to his authority.

So how do you deal with these egos? Carlo Ancelotti, a Champions League winner with both Real Madrid and AC Milan, repeatedly stresses that relationships matter more than pure tactics. In a talk, he said: “In the end, it’s about relationships between people.” He tries to build personal connections with his players, because “there are eleven players on the pitch, but fifteen on the bench”. Everyone wants to play, which makes decisions tough. Ancelotti uses the metaphor of a horse that can be made to jump “with the whip or with the carrot”. If you rely only on the whip, you risk getting kicked later. For him, positive communication is the more sustainable leadership style.

This psychological side of team management is often underestimated. At smaller clubs, individual stars usually have less power; at top clubs, they can influence or even force managerial changes. The takeaway for you: empathy and relationship management are core coaching skills. Tactical brilliance alone is not enough – neglecting the human side can lead to failure even with the biggest budgets.

Paradoxically, coaches at big clubs often have less control over squad planning. According to The Guardian, Xabi Alonso pushed hard for midfielder Martín Zubimendi, but the player eventually joined Arsenal. At Real Madrid, the board often prioritises the commercial and brand value of star signings over the coach’s wishes. Signing “Galácticos” boosts global reach, but the head coach then has to balance attacking superstars, sponsorship interests and academy prospects.

On top of that comes club history. During Florentino Pérez’s presidency, Real Madrid have dismissed ten head coaches. Any manager needs to understand how far they can push against internal structures – and when to make strategic compromises. When transfer decisions are centrally controlled, adaptability becomes essential.

To show that Alonso’s story is not an isolated case, here are two telling examples:

Taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, David Moyes inherited one of the toughest jobs in world football. Ten months later, he was sacked – the club could not tolerate an unfamiliar seventh-place finish. Moyes later said he had to “fight his way back” after being dismissed. Following spells at Real Sociedad and Sunderland, he found the right fit at West Ham United in 2017, a club with more realistic expectations. In 2023, he led them to the UEFA Conference League title and spoke about the importance of getting back up after setbacks. The same coach once seen as out of his depth at United proved highly successful elsewhere, once the environment suited him.

Unai Emery was dismissed by Arsenal in November 2019. Nine months later, he took over Villarreal, a small city of around 50,000 inhabitants. In 2021, he guided the club to the first major trophy in its history, winning the Europa League for the fourth time in his career. Emery praised his players’ commitment, explaining that on some days they arrived at the stadium at six in the morning to prepare. He even knocked out his former club Arsenal in the semi-finals. For him, it was not an act of revenge, but proof that patience and detailed work pay off: “At Arsenal we learned a lot as well – it was professional frustration, but other doors opened.”

These examples underline one key point: failing at a big club does not mean a coach is a bad coach. Often, time, expectations and context are decisive. A manager who thrives in a stable mid-table environment can collapse under the pressure of a Champions League contender – and the opposite can also be true.

Big clubs attract coaches with huge budgets, iconic stadiums and global attention. But as Xabi Alonso’s case shows, glamour comes with enormous risks: instant success is demanded, star players with strong egos must be managed, and club politics limit your room for manoeuvre. Academic research suggests that managerial changes may work in the short term, but rarely change long-term outcomes. For us as coaches, this leads to one crucial question:

Choosing the second path is not a weakness. On the contrary, the careers of Moyes, Emery or Julen Lopetegui show that the right context often determines success or failure. Think carefully about how you want to deal with time pressure, player personalities and club structures. An honest answer will help you choose the career path that truly fits you.

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