Real Madrid News
Real Madrid locker room fed up – ‘Hope this ends as soon as possible’
The Real Madrid dressing room is broken and divided in what has been a disastrous season that will end without major trophies.
The recent brawl between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni has brought to light the great extent of the division that exists in the locker room currently.
The dressing room has had enough
According to AS, sources within the Real Madrid locker room insist that they are fed up and have had enough of everything that has gone down this season.
The prevalent sentiment inside the dressing room is: “It’s been very sad, we hope this ends as soon as possible.”
As per the report, it also happened last season, but on that occasion the campaign ended in a much cleaner way, managed well by Carlo Ancelotti’s famous man-management.
However, Ancelotti left, Xabi Alonso arrived, was then dismissed, and Arbeloa took over. None of this has worked in restoring Real Madrid to the path of success.
The results are deteriorating, the football as well, and on top of that the dressing room has become a powder keg: with a series of small clashes culminating in what happened this Thursday.
The dressing room currently lacks unity. Some players supported what Alonso tried to implement at the start of the season, while others rejected it and placed more trust in Arbeloa’s approach.
That entire process has created bad blood within the squad, which is now surfacing and causing concern among several members of the team.
‘There is more’
Over the past few weeks, several incidents that took place inside the locker room have come to light beyond the two confrontations involving Valverde and Tchouameni.
Antonio Rudiger slapping Alvaro Carreras, Kylian Mbappe confronting a member of Arbeloa’s staff, Raul Asencio reacting badly to being benched and then being punished by the coach, the broken relationship between Dani Carvajal and the manager – the list goes on.
There are many examples and, even so, members of the dressing room admit there is more: “This is extremely serious, but there are also other things that have happened and are not known.”
Without doubt, however, what happened between Tchouameni and Valverde was the final straw. A serious incident, and one that many expected: “He really went for it… We saw something like this coming.”
And inside the dressing room, they are already anticipating a strong reaction from fans: “The Bernabeu is going to make us pay for all of this.”
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. admits finishing problem after another frustrating night vs Elche: ‘Can’t miss that much’
Vinicius Jr.’s difficult start in front of goal continued against Elche, and the Real Madrid forward did not need anyone to tell him he had missed another chance to make the difference.
The Brazilian finished the night without a goal despite having chances to get on the scoresheet, while his teammates could only watch from the bench as opportunities went begging.
Jose Mourinho had already identified the problem before kick-off, bluntly pointing to the issue facing his forward, stating, “He’s missing the goal.”
Vini offered an equally frank assessment afterwards.
Rather than hide from another frustrating evening, he accepted responsibility on social media: “The goals will come back; I can’t miss that much…”
Two chances, no finish for Vinicius
Vinicius had two particularly clear openings against Elche, but neither produced the finish Real Madrid needed from their star forward.
The first arrived when he found himself one-on-one with the opposition goalkeeper.
Instead of finding the net, Vinicius caught the ball with the tip of his foot and sent his effort wide. Arda Guler was available during the move and called for the ball, but Vini backed himself to finish the chance.
He had another opportunity after the interval, this time following an excellent pass from Guler during a quick Real Madrid transition. Again, though, Vinicius could not find the target.
His evening ended in the 68th minute, with Mourinho deciding the Brazilian was tired and turning his attention towards Sunday’s Atletico Madrid derby.
Mourinho has a bigger decision to make
The numbers show why Vinicius’ finishing has become a talking point. He managed five shots against Elche, but only one was on target and none found the net.
After seven appearances this season, the Brazilian has scored just once, which is a striking return for a player Real Madrid rely upon to provide a major share of their attacking threat.
Ultimately, though, Real Madrid found another route to victory, with Arda Guler, Kylian Mbappe and Carlos Espi providing the goals in the 3-2 comeback.
