"The perfect manager!" Real Madrid legend hopes for Alonso's return

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Should Xabi Alonso take charge at Real Madrid again? One of the club's legends certainly thinks so, calling the Spaniard the "perfect manager".

One of the most intriguing questions over the coming days is likely to be who will be in charge of Real Madrid's chaotic squad next season. If media reports are to be believed, José Mourinho is currently in pole position for the job.

Real legend Iker Casillas, however, is not keen on a return for the Portuguese coach, who previously led Los Blancos from 2010 to 2013, and has surprised everyone by backing his own favourite, whom he calls the "perfect manager" for Madrid.

At a Movistar+ event in Barcelona's Plaça Catalunya ahead of El Clásico, former Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas sidestepped questions about a possible José Mourinho return, acknowledging only that he had "a tough time" under the 63-year-old before adding, "that's water under the bridge."

Instead, the former Real Madrid captain stated he would "bring Xabi Alonso back". The ex-midfielder has guided Bayer Leverkusen to success with a "pretty good playing system" and is therefore the "perfect manager" for the Blancos, according to Casillas.

Real Madrid's players showed Alonso little respect

However, after several internal disputes, Alonso was sacked at the start of the year—despite averaging 2.24 points per LaLiga game and sitting just three points behind Barça—and replaced by current manager Álvaro Arbeloa.

According to Marca, which cites sources inside the Real dressing room, the deep rift between individual players in the team is also attributed to Alonso's dismissal. Tensions rose in October as several key players—Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde among them—openly criticised Alonso's regime of intensive tactical sessions and video analysis.

Nevertheless, another faction backed Alonso's methods and his push to overhaul the system and playing style. For these players, the public griping—led by Vinicius—was a pretext; the Brazilian's standing had slipped compared with his days under Carlo Ancelotti. 

Although Vinicius remained a key part of the team under Alonso, he started only 13 of 33 competitive matches and came on as a substitute four times. As a result, he played the full 90 minutes in just nine matches and increasingly operated as a playmaker, providing 10 assists. By contrast, under Arbeloa he has already scored eight more goals in ten fewer appearances and has been substituted only three times in 23 matches.

One such switch, perceived as humiliating by Vinicius, ignited the now-famous Clásico row at the end of October. According to Marca, that moment marked the point when the campaign began to unravel behind the scenes and on the pitch. Players such as Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga reportedly agreed, feeling that Alonso's methods were sapping both form and confidence.

The disrespect shown by some players during tactical meetings—some even feigning sleep or chatting—infuriated Alonso's backers in the squad and triggered a meltdown from the coach, who remains without a club. "I didn't realise I'd walked into a nursery school," the stunned Alonso is said to have shouted at one point.