Real Madrid coaching staff concerned about the fitness of five players – report | OneFootball

Following their shock Copa Del Rey exit at the end of Albacete, Real Madrid have been able to bounce back strongly, stringing together four back-to-back wins in all competitions.

The squad harmony appears to be back, with a little help from club president Florentino Perez. Alvaro Arbeloa has been the main protagonist of this change, having brought back the changes made by the previous coach, Xabi Alonso.

However, as Real Madrid look to undergo a solid second half of the season, Arbeloa and the returning Antonio Pintus are concerned about the fitness of five players, reports Defensa Central.

Who are these five stars?

The five players in question are Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Antonio Rudiger.

The coaching staff understands that if players like Trent, Carvajal, Militao or even Rudiger are free, they would become regular starters.

Carvajal has struggled with fitness lately. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

But that hasn’t happened so far, with Carvajal notably yet to even become fit enough to return to Arbeloa’s starting eleven, despite returning to full training at the start of the year.

While Xabi Alonso, too, had dealt with this issue, Arbeloa is keen on addressing it at the earliest, and as such, the new Real Madrid manager is working ways to solve this problem.

Fortunately for the coach, Real Madrid’s schedule will clear out considerably in February as the team won’t have to deal with midweek Champions League or Copa del Rey matches.

This will allow Arbeloa to run a more intensive training method in a bid to improve the fitness of these players. The report suggests it’s going to be sort of a pre-season, where both Arbeloa and Pintus will hope to address the issues.

On a positive note, Trent and Rudiger have done partial training this week and are closing in on the return to full fitness.