Four Real Madrid Players Who Still Back Alvaro Arbeloa

The manager is unlikely to continue beyond the end of the season.

Álvaro Arbeloa has lost most of the locker room at Madrid. | Guillermo Martinez/NurPhoto/Getty Images

A disappointing season has spiraled into a disastrous one for Real Madrid, amid reports of training ground bust-ups and serious locker-room division.

This weekend’s Clásico threatens to be an ugly one for the visitors to Camp Nou, with Barcelona needing only a point on home turf to clinch the title and comdemn Madrid to successive trophyless seasons.

Madrid go into the fixture in far from ideal circumstances, following the sensational reports of a training ground fight between Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni that left the former in hospital.

Meanwhile, Antonio Rüdiger, Álvaro Carreras, Kylian Mbappé and more have all been at the center of controversy in recent days, highlighting a locker room out of control.

Manager Álvaro Arbeloa was appointed to replace Xabi Alonso in January in order to provide a steady hand on the tiller after the choppy waters of the former-Leverkusen manager’s short reign. However, tensions within the group have continued to simmer and divisions have further widened.

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A Locker Room Split in Two

Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni are at the center of Madrid’s civil war. | Justin Setterfield-FIFA/FIFA/Getty Images

Amid Valverde and Tchouaméni’s spectacular falling out, it was reported that some some Real Madrid players now “barely speak to each other,” while six stars are no longer talking to Arbeloa at all.

L’Equipe go further, claiming now that there are only four players left in the roster who still back Arbeloa.

Those four are Jude Bellingham, Fran García, Vinicius Junior and Valverde.

Vinicius Jr was, famously, not a fan of Alonso, while L’Equipe claims that Bellingham didn’t appreciate having to compete with Arda Güler for his position under the former Leverkusen boss. Valverde, meanwhile, resented having to play right back.

On the other side, Mbappé and the French players, along with Thibaut Courtois and the summer signings backed Alonso’s methods.

The split in the camp between those who supported Alonso and those who wanted him out has lingered beyond the manager’s mid-season departure, fostering to a toxic atmosphere at the club that Arbeloa has not been able to remove.

Journalist Manolo Lama even claimed that some Spanish players on the bench have been calling Arbeloa “the cone”—a mocking nickname from his playing days.

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What Happens Next for Madrid?

Álvaro Arbeloa has burned some bridges in the dressing room. | Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images

Alonso was reported to have called this Madrid team “impossible to coach” following his January departure, and his words now seem prophetic.

It has been widely reported that Arbeloa will not remain in his role beyond the current campaign, with the Madrid hierarchy instead seeking to appoint a new manager.

The likes of Jürgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, Didier Deschamps and José Mourinho have all been touted as potential candidates to succeed Arbeloa. Whoever is appointed the new leader faces an uphill battle to gain control of the locker room and reset the culture.

An overhaul of the roster is to be expected, with several stars including Raúl Asencio, Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos set to be made available for transfer, while the likes of David Alaba and Dani Carvajal will leave on free transfers.

After Sunday’s Clásico, Madrid have three more fixtures to see out the domestic season, before a summer of reflection and rebuilding can begin.

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