Real Madrid don dey face wahala for Champions League, and now dem dey closer to Villarreal for third position than to Barcelona for La Liga top. The noise around Alvaro Arbeloa future dey increase.
Arbeloa take over after Xabi Alonso leave for January, but e don perform worse than im predecessor, especially for La Liga. Alonso leave the Bernabeu with 74% win ratio. Arbeloa don manage five games less than Alonso for league but don already lose more, with win percentage drop to 64%.
The shock defeat to second-tier side Albacete for Copa del Rey no help Arbeloa case, even though e happen just two days after e take charge.
One name wey dey mentioned as potential replacement be Jose Mourinho, wey currently dey manage Benfica for Portugal. Mourinho bin dey in charge for Bernabeu between 2010 and 2013, winning La Liga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague tell BBC Sport why Mourinho dey liked by Real president Florentino Perez, but e believe e no be likely option for now.
Real no get manager for next season. Arbeloa get one year left for im contract, but e clear say chairman Perez dey look elsewhere for new boss. Even though Perez appreciate the positives of Arbeloa tenure, results dey dictate decisions for Bernabeu.
To understand who dem go hire, you first need to understand how Perez think. Perez no care about style of play. E no lose sleep over tactical identity or whether im team press high or sit deep. Wetin e care about na winning, and more than that, managing. Managing egos, stars, the dressing room. For Perez, the ideal manager na conductor.
There be recurring tension for Bernabeu between two schools of thought. On one side, the number two at the club Jose Angel Sanchez argue say Real need an organiser, a tactically rigorous coach wey fit impose order on talented but chaotic squad. That line of thinking don produce appointments like Rafa Benitez, Julen Lopetegui and, most recently, Alonso. None of them last more than a few months. The president never truly behind them, and when results give am excuse, dem go.
On the other side dey Perez own preference: the grand manager, the aristocrat of the touchline, somebody wey presence alone command respect for dressing room. Think Zinedine Zidane. Think Carlo Ancelotti, twice. That be the template Perez return to when im patience run out. With Alonso gone, the president line don win again. And the names wey dey considered reflect exactly that.
Now to the name wey don generate headlines – Jose Mourinho. People inside the club suggest e no necessarily be the only name on the list. The Mourinho option dey driven principally by Perez himself… and by the Portuguese manager. Perez like to throw ideas out there and see wetin reaction e get. Mourinho dey under contract with Benfica until 2027 but fit comot from am, and whatever e talk publicly, my understanding be say e dey desperate to return to the Bernabeu. Im behaviour during the Gianluca Prestianni affair for the Benfica-Real Madrid Champions League encounter no lose am fans for Bernabeu, including the president.
E be the ultimate wildcard – the president reaching for a name e know, a figure wey fit dominate a dressing room, a manager wey second spell for Madrid go already be a statement. However, sources inside the camp say, e only go happen if the other options fall through.
Mauricio Pochettino dey very much for the conversation, though with one asterisk: e dey committed to the United States national team for the World Cup. How about if e no work out for the tournament? Or if e go far with the national team and no fit start till July when pre-season don start? But the Argentine get warm relationship with key figures at the club, and e don dey in the frame before. E dey very much liked, dem know in detail wetin e do with Spurs, Paris St-Germain and Chelsea, with different squads and profiles of players and owners, and Pochettino don dream of that job for long time. Inside the camp, dem think e dey extremely well placed.
Another name wey fit that idea na Didier Deschamps. Im contract with France run until the World Cup, and after that e go dey available. But again the summer tournament make the timing slightly wrong. Deschamps manage large squad of big personalities with calm authority. E get no interest for imposing grand footballing philosophy, and – with Mbappe and generation of French players at the club – there be natural connection.
AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri be another option wey dey seriously considered. E be cast for the Ancelotti mould – Italian football aristocracy, experienced with star players, no be one for pressing theories on football. Real, or to be precise Perez, don dey interested before and im name dey keep coming up internally. People wey know Serie A well don mention say 40-year-old Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, wey leave the Bernabeu to join Milan last summer, fit come back with am. Both don deny dem dey interested for the possibility but others point out say the idea don dey discussed at the Bernabeu.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp don also dey mentioned, and im name carry weight. But there be reservations as e dey interventionist by nature – e demand specific way of playing, e reshape clubs for im own image. That be precisely wetin Real, under Perez, no want. For now at least, Klopp feel like a name wey dey generate excitement outside the club more than inside am.
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