Former Arsenal and Barcelona striker Thierry Henry has called the pressure on Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso "absurd".
Yesterday Madrid lost 2-1 at home to Manchester City in the sixth round of the Champions League. The club are said to have given Alonso three more games to improve his form. The team is four points behind Barca in the La Liga table.
"It always seems ridiculous to me that a coach can have problems after six months in charge. But you know, in a club like Real Madrid or Barcelona you can wake up and hear bad news because everything can change.
I don't think Madrid should doubt the coach. When you have a coach, you try to understand what he is capable of.
For some, Xabi trains too much and manages not enough. Personally, I don't agree, but that's how it is. I feel sorry for Alonso because we saw what he did with Bayer Leverkusen when he was coaching a team that listened to his instructions.
There are coaches who just let their players be players. At Barcelona they create coaches. They have their own style of play that they have to respect, depending on the team. At Real Madrid the approach is different: 90% players, 10% coach. You have to let them run the machine themselves. Sometimes your ego gets the better of you," Henry told CBS Sports.