Xabi Alonso was sacked by Real Madrid in January as his relationship with the first-team squad deteriorated rapidly, and it appears that Alvaro Arbeloa could suffer the same fate at the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid’s squad is one that is notoriously difficult to control as Alonso found to his cost as he arrived from Bayer Leverkusen back in June. He clashed publicly with Vinicius Junior, but there was reportedly tension behind the scenes with several players over his methods.
Now Arbeloa appears destined to go the same way as Alonso, despite a 2-1 win over Alaves on Wednesday that keeps Los Blancos in the title race.
Arbeloa faces accusations that his relationship with Dani Carvajal has gone “rotten”, Sport claiming the captain has been left furious by a lack of game time that could cost him a last shot at World Cup glory.
The 34-year-old featured for only 27 minutes in the win against Alaves but was reportedly left furious by comments made by Arbeloa that he felt showed a complete lack of empathy to his cause.
“I have 23 players in the squad and any player at Real Madrid has a chance of going to the World Cup. Excuse me, but I’m going to think about what’s best for my team,” Arbeloa told the media.
Carvajal has watched on frustrated as Trent Alexander-Arnold has been preferred to him consistently, despite turning in what Sport describes as a “poor performance” in his first season as a Real Madrid player.
‘Real Madrid need a manager’
As Alonso’s experience shows, Arbeloa is certainly not the first Real Madrid boss to have issues controlling the squad.
Veteran journalist Ramon Besa commented: “The Arbeloa-Carvajal relationship is very surprising.
“What’s happened? You ask yourself what’s going on.
“Florentino Perez’s Real Madrid don’t need coaches, they need managers.
“Mbappe, who is one of the best on an individual level, doesn’t seem to be working out as part of the team.”
With Real Madrid six points behind Barcelona in La Liga having played a game more and out of the Champions League to Bayern Munich, Arbeloa looks likely to depart his post as head coach at the end of the season, when Carvajal is out of contract and primed to leave as a free agent.
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