Alvaro Arbeloa’s staff members at Real Madrid as Florentino Perez’s trusted hand returns | OneFootball

Alvaro Arbeloa has taken over as head coach of Real Madrid, replacing Xabi Alonso, his close friend, following the latter’s abrupt dismissal after the defeat in the Spanish Super Cup final.

The former Castilla coach now steps up to lead the club’s first team, with his first assignment set to come tomorrow in the form of a Copa del Rey clash against Albacete.

Arbeloa will be supported by a coaching staff made up partly of trusted figures he brings with him from Castilla and partly of personnel already assigned by the club management.

Arbeloa’s trusted personnel

For the positions of assistant coach and first-team assistants, Arbeloa has opted for trusted figures from his time with the reserve side.

Julian Carmona will be the second coach, while Kevin Cardeiro Carmona joins the staff as the assistant coach, alongside Ricardo da Silva, who had been the physical trainer of Castilla.

In the analysis department, responsibility will fall to Francis Sanchez.

Pintus returns

Meanwhile, the main new development is the role of Antonio Pintus.

It had already been suggested that the Italian, one of Florentino Perez’s trusted hands, would take on greater responsibility even if Xabi Alonso had remained in charge, given the doubts surrounding the work of the former fitness coach, Ismael Camenforte.

Pintus back working with the first team. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Under Arbeloa, Pintus will play a central role in how the team trains, and was already seen working with the team during today’s training session. He has also added his deputy, Sebastien Devillaz, to the staff.

In the goalkeeping department, Luis Llopis remains in charge. Both Llopis and Pintus are club appointments and their roles are independent of Arbeloa’s own choices.

There had been some expectation that Diego Lopez, former Real Madrid goalkeeper and Arbeloa’s teammate during his playing days, might be promoted from his role as Castilla goalkeeping coach, but he will not form part of the first-team staff.

Within the medical staff, it was already known that Niko Mihic would return, and he did so in time for the Super Cup. The Croatian doctor now leads the medical team, supported by Felipe Segura, who had previously been in charge of that area.

Real Madrid remain highly concerned about injury issues and have reinstated both Mihic and Pintus in an effort to address the problem. Time will tell whether these changes achieve the desired effect.

Source: AS