The honeymoon period is over

Xabi Alonso's Real Madrid honeymoon had hardly ended when he was ready fighting to avoid a quickie divorce.

In three decades of commentating on the Spanish giants, I can't recall a performance as shambolic as the defeat against Celta de Vigo.

The Spanish media agreed. The buzz words were frustration, lethargy and despair; the cameras captured images of a broken man, fighting to hang on to his job. Would he stay - or would he be told to go?

What has become clear is the incredible job his predecessor Carlo Ancleotti did. In his tenure, there were rarely public problems. He kept everything in house.

The accusation was that the Italian wasn't a master tactician - and that's why some wanted a replacement in the summer.

Alonso hit the ground running with 13 wins in his first 14 games. There were subtle changes to the style. He'd found a way to maximise the talents of Kylian Mbappé. Life was swell. He was soon to learn that you need to be a manager, rather than a coach at Real Madrid.

How do you cope without a dominant player like Jude Bellingham? He threw in teenage signing Franco Mastantuono who won every game he started - until injury hit.

How do you manage when one of your popular players throws a tantrum when substituted in El Clásico? He won the battle of wills with Vinícius Júnior.

How do you cope when every single defender has struggled with injury? He's managed to shuffle whoever is available.

But the problems have piled up. His best back four: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Éder Militão, Dean Huijsen and Ferland Mendy are all out. Dani Carvajal joined them; David Alaba is rarely available; Antonio Rüdiger was supposed to have a gradual return, but he's having to hold the defence together.

Alonso despaired when Fran García was sent off for two silly yellow cards against Celta; he almost imploded when the normally reliable Álvaro Carreras followed him. Kylian Mbappé was playing through the pain barrier of a hand injury but picked up a leg strain in the game too.

Luckily for Alonso, the president and fans factored in all of the issues and kept him in a job for the Manchester City game. The players responded; Rodrygo scored his first goal in 33 matches. Madrid lost but went down fighting.

Jude Bellingham stuck up for the coach: "In the past couple of games we've let ourselves down, No one is downing tools."

The truth is that Alonso is clinging onto his position. There is no obvious replacement. You'd need a strong, experienced manager like Jürgen Klopp - and the likes of Klopp wouldn't want to take over such a depleted squad.

The B team coach Álvaro Arbeloa has a growing reputation, but has even less experience than Alonso when it comes to dealing with egos.

This weekend, Alonso needs to find a way without ten players through injury and suspension. If they can avoid three successive defeats, he'll be given a chance to prove himself: lose to Alavés and he'll be spending Christmas with the family.