Real Madrid News
Ex-Real Madrid manager reflects on team’s improvement under Arbeloa: ‘Don’t know what happened with Alonso’
Real Madrid’s performances have seen a serious turnaround since the managerial change – something surprising given how lost they looked just a month ago.
Xabi Alonso’s ideas and tactical overload, needless to say, did not suit Los Blancos or the profiles in the dressing room as well as Arbeloa’s practical approach is paying off.
After all, the new manager has repeatedly emphasised how Real Madrid is a club built on individual brilliance and counter-attacks and how changing that basic philosophy would not work out.
Former manager speaks
Former Real Madrid player and manager Jorge Valdano recently expressed his shock at the team’s sudden turnaround, and how it was unnatural for a team to show drastic improvement in such a short time under normal circumstances.
“We are not going to believe that Real Madrid’s good physical condition against Villarreal was achieved in a week of work, there is no scientific support,” he said.
When asked what was wrong at the club and how Alvaro Arbeloa had triggered such an improvement in a team that looked lost under Xabi Alonso, he said,
“What’s wrong? I think Arbeloa is working very well with the confidence of his players, the motivation with which they played against Villarreal has been tremendous. With a total connection in the game, from minute 1 to 90.”
“Something that didn’t happen with Xabi Alonso. With Xabi, they came out of the locker room with a long lesson learned.
“For 20 or 25 minutes it seemed that the players responded to the coach’s orders, and then the team was struggling and distracted – and ended up completing poor matches.”
Valdano then praised the Merengues for the performance they dished out against Villarreal and how they won quite comfortably even without much contribution from Thibaut Courtois.
“Against Villarreal, it was a very rich match. It is true that they won again thanks to the goals of the best striker in the world Mbappe, but they did not need the best goalkeeper in the world to win.”
“Real Madrid was very convincing and is working very well on the confidence of the players,” he added.
Finally, the former Real Madrid player praised Arbeloa and questioned Alonso’s methods for the polar difference in the team’s quality.
“If there is more commitment with Arbeloa? The players are more comfortable. I don’t know what happened with Xabi Alonso, but something happened.”
“I think Arbeloa is reading well what happened and is correcting it,” he added.
Source: SPORT
Real Madrid News
Mourinho reacts to Vinicius suspension: “Why announce it two hours before an important match?”
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has questioned the RFEF Disciplinary Committee’s decision to announce Vinicius Jr.’s four-match suspension just hours before their UEFA Champions League meeting with AS Roma on Wednesday.
The Brazilian has been hit with a four-match ban for his red card against Villarreal, meaning he will miss the matches against Sevilla, Barcelona, Racing Santander, and Valencia.
And, speaking to Movistar+ (h/t MARCA) before the match, the Real Madrid manager was asked whether the punishment could affect the Brazilian psychologically.
Mourinho instead turned his attention to the football authorities and the timing of their announcement.
“I think that is a question for the Committee. Why have they announced the suspension at this particular moment? If you are asking me this question, it is presumably because you think it could affect him,” the Portuguese coach replied.
“You should ask the Committee why they did not announce it this morning, or tomorrow morning. Why do they do it two hours before a match that is important for Real Madrid, which is a Spanish club?” he added, questioning the timing of the decision.
Mourinho explains his tactical approach against Roma
The Real Madrid manager also outlined his plan for facing a Roma side known for their aggressive pressing.
“My intention is to stop them from pressing us so high up the pitch, given the players we have available and as a precaution,” he said.
Continuing, the Portuguese manager added: “They press man-to-man higher up the pitch better than anyone else, and we will see whether we can take advantage of that. If not, they will have to drop their press five or ten metres.”
Why Rudiger over Huijsen
Mourinho also justified his decision to start Antonio Rudiger at centre-back alongside Ibrahima Konate rather than Dean Huijsen.
“They played very well together in the last match, Rudiger and Konate, showing great leadership and the ability to withstand a difficult situation when we had ten men for 30 minutes,” he said.
“I am not saying Dean is not capable of playing a match like this, but this is a wonderful atmosphere for Roma and a difficult one for us. I think a player with Antonio’s experience can be important,” Mourinho added.
Finally, Mourinho was asked about his emotions ahead of returning to face Roma, the club he managed between 2021 and 2024.
The Portuguese coach offered a brief response, saying that he had his feelings about the occasion “blocked”.
