Graham Hunter
Xabi Alonso’s first full season in charge of Real Madrid kicks off on Tuesday against Osasuna (stream LIVE at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+), and among the many things we’d all like to know about his ambitious plans for the torrid months to come, it’d be hugely interesting to tease out his opinion on the current state of refereeing in LaLiga.
It’s fair to say it’s been a tumultuous time. Professional refs have threatened to unionise and grab back power, the league’s refereeing committee has been revolutionised in structure and personnel over the past two months, and blazing controversy and accusations of bias or incompetence (both usually wildly out of touch with reality) dog them every weekend.
It’s uplifting and exciting to have Alonso back in LaLiga rather than still being at Bayer Leverkusen or moving to Liverpool or Bayern Munich, who have tried to tempt him in the past. The former midfielder is an articulate, smart and modern coach, similar to how he was a driven, successful and exciting player. Spanish football is better off having its great minds repatriated. But, not to mince words, those same personality traits make Alonso an exacting, if usually respectful, judge of officials.
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His record as a player was far from alarming (five red cards; Steven Gerrard, a peer for much of his career, was shown seven) but Alonso’s high tally of bookings (over 200 cards shown for his various club sides and Spain combined) suggests he is someone who not only tackled hard but had forthright, blunt opinions to share. Fair enough, too. I’ve seen him in action with referees firsthand, and outside the playing environment. Let me share the impact it made.
The first time was at the 2010 World Cup. Horacio Elizondo, the referee who sent off Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 final, went to give Spain manager Vicente del Bosque and the squad a FIFA-sponsored tutorial on how the laws will be interpreted and enforced, as with every other national team playing in South Africa that summer. At the end of his pretty dry hourlong lecture, he threw out a quiz.
In my book about Spain’s run of three trophies in a row, I note: “[Iker] Casillas, [Pepe] Reina and Alonso are top of the class.” The fact was that Alonso knew the FIFA laws at least as well as the Argentine referee did, and eagerly demonstrated that fact when given the chance.
Two years later, Italian refereeing legend Pierluigi Collina conducted the same “educational” exercise for UEFA ahead of the 2012 European Championship. The world champions were shown a video of Real Madrid defender Pepe being sent off in the 2011 Champions League semifinal against Barcelona. Again, I was in the room.
When Collina asked the players whether Pepe had committed a red-card offence, Alonso was among the loud group of Madrid voices assuring that he hadn’t and that it was a refereeing error. The Barça group shouted back just as loudly — Collina was having his desired effect.
But when he moved on to criticize the Barcelona players who mobbed referee Wolfgang Stark that night and said, “This sort of haranguing of a referee simply doesn’t work,” Alonso, Casillas, Alvaro Arbeloa, Xavi, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Carles Puyol were instantly unified. The Clásico battle lines were erased as they, to a man, hooted and hollered and laughed Collina into embarrassed silence and a retreat. Don’t be silly ref, of course it does! was the general tone of the riotous reaction. It was interesting to see the players making it thumpingly clear to someone like Collina.
Back to the Alonso of today. Coaches often get sent off — Alonso was while in charge of Real Sociedad’s B team — but less often do we see suspensions for accumulated yellow cards. That happened to the 43-year-old last season at Leverkusen.
Just like when he was a player, I’d be willing to bet that referees generally enjoy the experience of working with Alonso, take him seriously and feel that he’s right in some of the respectful criticisms he offers. But they are also likely see his explosive, ultra-competitive side and his communicative powers, and occasionally feel the need to show the yellow card. Almost every elite manager or coach suffers this fate — the sport’s pressures and margins of error are, respectively, high and very, very slim.
1:01
Lewandowski: Alonso has potential to become world’s best coach
Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski speaks about Xabi Alonso ahead of his first season as Real Madrid manager.
What will Alonso be thinking as he prepares to reappear on the Spanish scene, having left in 2014 as a player and 2022 as a junior coach? Just before the start of this season, the now-completely rearranged Technical Committee of Referees held a briefing for the media. Some themes were that the referees want less VAR, that there must be more emphasis on referees only using VAR for genuinely clear and obvious errors (where have we heard that before?), that goalkeepers can hold on to the ball for only eight seconds before getting it back in play, that only team captains can approach the ref and ask for clarity (or protest) in any decision, and touching the ball in a challenge will be no defence if the ref judges a tackling movement has been reckless.
But there is a vast raft of other changes in Spanish refereeing — who runs it, how the brain trust is composed, what role artificial intelligence will have, and (this part I love) a drive to make players, media and fans remember that refs are people, not automatons. The latter is a small but crucial move toward humanising a role that has sadly been subject to demonisation in recent years. In part, it relates to Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea becoming tearful in a news conference before the Copa del Rey final last season when describing the abusive remarks his kids had been receiving in the school playground since his appointment was negatively highlighted by Real Madrid TV.
Real Madrid TV is another reason that, from now on, refereeing appointments will only be made public 24 hours before a match kicks off. Such is the climate that it’s better to hide them away, in order to shield them. That’s pretty sad.
Oddities among those changes I mentioned — even if they’re not automatically bad things — include the refereeing hierarchy hiring a defiantly Madrid-supporting globally famous IT whiz kid nicknamed “The Hacker” to help with cyber-security and appointing ex-player Álvaro Negredo, ex-coach Gregorio Manzano and Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco to not only assess refereeing performances on a weekly basis but help choose which officials are assigned to which matches. Is that a good idea? Increased professional game knowledge being introduced — or three men who will find themselves in a difficult position the first time they appoint a referee to a match featuring one of their former (or current) clubs, and accusations of bias run rampant?
1:03
Ferran Torres doubles Barça’s lead with controversial goal
Ferran Torres’ strike from distance finds the back of the net for Barcelona to the dismay of Mallorca players who feel the game should have paused for a head injury.
But, and this is where I must say I sympathise not only with Alonso but every elite coach and player at high-performing clubs, then comes a match like Barcelona’s win at Mallorca.
Refereeing protocols have been made more strict each year about when play must be stopped (automatically, when it comes to potential concussions) and about the drive to protect players’ well-being regarding head impacts. This match was a Lamine Yamal master class and included a fierce shot from the 18-year-old that Antonio Raíllo tried to head away.
Raíllo immediately stumbled and fell face-first on the pitch. Referee José Luis Munuera Montero made a snap judgement, from a distance, that either the ferocious shot hadn’t affected Raíllo’s well-being enough, or that he was play-acting to sabotage Barcelona’s attack. He allowed the game to keep going, Mallorca’s players failed to adhere to the old “play to the whistle” adage, and a hugely controversial Ferran Torres goal was allowed to stand.
All this came only days after LaLiga’s players and managers had it explained to them that protecting against concussive impacts was a big concern for the refs. Even if Raíllo was well enough to play out the rest of the match, it’s the type of freestyle officiating that sends otherwise mild-mannered people into tizzies of fury and frustration.
Still, to all coaches, substitutes, on-pitch players, journalists, dedicated fans and keyboard warriors out there, it’s time to remember that referees are decent, well-meaning, highly trained, highly fit and vital components of the sport we love. And welcome back to Spain, Xabi. LaLiga will be the better for your impact, but get ready for the refereeing eccentricities. They’re pretty constant.
