Alvaro Arbeloa points finger of blame at Xabi Alonso staff – ‘A lot of room for improvement’ | OneFootball

New Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa has hinted that Xabi Alonso’s staff did not have the squad up to standard physically. The former Castilla manager will be more than aware of what has been happening at the club before he took over, with Real Madrid going through more injury crises this season.

It could hardly have been a tougher start for Arbeloa, who after a single training session saw Real Madrid dumped out of the Copa del Rey by second division Albacete on Wednesday night. Arbeloa had left Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham out of the squad in order to rest them, and said after the match that he was to blame for the result.

“A lot of room for improvements” – Alvaro Arbeloa

One of the points of contention between Alonso and the Real Madrid hierarchy had been the management of the fitness of the players, with a number of players suffering from injuries, and Los Blancos looking run down. Alonso had brought his own fitness staff with him, sidelining former fitness coach Antonio Pintus.

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When Arbeloa was appointed on Monday, the return of Pintus as fitness coach was announced less than an hour later, with many suggesting the hierarchy were keen to bring back Pintus if Alonso continued too. After the Albacete game, Arbeloa was critical of the fitness of the players, as he told Marca, when he was asked if there was any relief that their elimination could ease fixture congestion.

“Losing isn’t a relief at Real Madrid. We have time to work. Physically, we have a lot of room for improvement; Pintus is here for that and to help us get back to our best form.”

Ongoing fitness issues at Real Madrid

In theory, Eder Militao and Trent Alexander-Arnold would be starters in this Real Madrid side, but both are recovering from long-term injuries, while Dean Huijsen and Antonio Rudiger have also been battling issues for some time. However the injury crisis is not new to this season. Withh Pintus overseeing the fitness and conditioning, Carlo Ancelotti found his side dramatically weakened by injuries in his final two campaigns.