The Weak Position of Head Coaches in the Cases of Enzo Maresca, Ruben Amorim, and Xabi Alonso

Not even a month has passed since the beginning of the new year 2026, yet three significant events have occurred in European football. Three major clubs, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Real Madrid, have parted ways with their head coaches. The departures of Ruben Amorim, Enzo Maresca, and Xabi Alonso are not coincidental. They are victims of the weakened position of a head coach within the club.

The dismissal of the three coaches from the major club occurred in close succession. The team's performance was not the primary reason for the dismissals. In the cases of Amorim and Maresca, they were ousted after criticizing club officials during press conference sessions. Maresca expressed this metaphorically, describing his preparation for the match against Everton as the "worst 48 hours" of his coaching career.

Through this, Maresca implicitly indicated the lack of support he received from Chelsea's management. Amorim also expressed his frustration with the situation at Manchester United. He stated that he came to the club for a role as a manager, not as a head coach. In reality, Amorim was indeed hired as the head coach.

The position of head coach has become very problematic in the cases of Amorim and Maresca. Over the past 18 years, there has been a shift in authority from manager to head coach within a single English Premier League club. Currently, there are only five clubs that employ coaches with the official title of manager, namely Arsenal, Manchester City, Crystal Palace, and Leeds United.

Although it may sound simple, the authority of head coaches and managers is significantly imbalanced. Managers such as Pep Guardiola, Juergen Klopp, or previously Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have substantial control over tasks beyond coaching. They are also responsible for club transfers, relationships with the academy, and the daily operations of the club.

Meanwhile, the authority of the head coach is limited to training. They are responsible for formulating team strategies, determining the initial lineup, and leading training sessions. Simply put, the coach's duties revolve around matters on the field.

"As the head coach, you talk about systems and football tactics. But that is only 10 percent of the job. The real work is about creating spirit, energy, and culture," said Maresca's successor, Liam Rosenior.

From the chasm of differing authorities, friction often arises between the head coach and the club management, particularly regarding player recruitment. The head coach is undoubtedly the person who knows the needs of their team best.

The struggle for power, whether with club executives (Amorim), club employees (Maresca), or players (Alonso), ultimately becomes the root cause of the end of each term.

However, requests to address that need are often ignored by the club's higher-ups. Maresca desires a new center-back following Levi Colwill's injury. Instead, he is asked to find solutions with the existing players.

A contrasting situation is experienced by Mikel Arteta as the manager of Arsenal. Arteta was able to maneuver freely in the transfer market when recruiting Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad in 2024. The effort to transfer Merino bore fruit, although several parties at Arsenal, except for Arteta of course, involved in the recruitment were skeptical about Merino's abilities and the transfer fee.

"The struggle for power, whether with the club executives (Amorim), club employees (Maresca), or players (Alonso), ultimately becomes the root cause of the end of each tenure," said former Middlesbrough manager and England national team coach, Gareth Southgate, in his post on LinkedIn.

Southgate assesses that the role of football managers, which has increasingly shifted to that of head coaches, plays a significant part in the cases of the dismissals of Amorim and Maresca. The position of the coach is becoming more vulnerable with the expanding roles of directors, whether they are football, technical, or sports directors.

These directors, who often have limited coaching experience, also oversee long-term football strategies. They can report directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or the club owner. The position of director is structurally above that of the head coach.

Meanwhile, in the case of Alonso, his dismissal occurred due to friction with the players, rather than with the management or club executives. Alonso arrived with a system that had brought him success at Bayer Leverkusen. From the beginning, Alonso, who had previously played for Real, knew that this system would face extraordinary obstacles due to the club's culture filled with star players. Ultimately, Alonso had to compromise or make minor adjustments, a move that resulted in Real playing without a clear character.

Even minor adjustments did not prevent Alonso from having disagreements with players such as Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Federico Valverde. Vinicius was reluctant to engage in pressing as the opponents built their attacks from the back. He often did not participate in helping the defense collectively. Meanwhile, Valverde complained about feeling uncomfortable playing in the right-back position.

Real Madrid's top brass understands this. As a club with a strong business orientation, management will naturally favor players, who are also valuable club assets. In this regard, Real Madrid's management seems to be adhering to what Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski stated in their book, Soccernomics. According to them, only one in 10 coaches truly contributes to the team's success. The source of trophies and glory is largely the hard work and contribution of (expensive) players.

From this alone, it is evident how weak Alonso's position is as the head coach. Moreover, he has failed to establish consistency for Real in recent weeks.

The Spanish Super Cup was nothing less than a testing ground for Alonso. In the end, he failed. The trophy was claimed by Barcelona, and from there, Real management no longer had any burden to dismiss Alonso. (BBC)