Crazy way to run a club, great way to sell shirts, I guess.

And maybe that's what you mean by "top down". The blame goes higher than Alonso.

But that's the thing. Madrid are always catastrophising. Perhaps this idea is correct, but if it is, it also suggests how players are chosen for the club could be part of why the culture is a mess.
Alonso was in Germany, literally a foreign culture, and was able to integrate Victor Boniface.

It's Derby week, I'm running a little hot.

Assuming our Dear Leader doesn't have a spasm of his racism and ban Haiti from coming to play. This whole world cup is gross and sad. Just like the last one.

Statue of Uwe Seeler outside Volksparkstadion in that Hanseatic port to the northeast of Bremen.

Let's see what you got, Keke!

I am still trying to understand how fan culture is damaged in the absence of lighting flares that spew toxic gas at high temperatures in a large crowd. When did this behavior become so precious to fans and why?