Álvaro Arbeloa has moved to calm the public dispute with Kylian Mbappé over the Frenchman’s place in the Real Madrid pecking order, insisting the situation is “much more normal” than the noise around him suggests, as the outgoing manager prepares to face Sevilla in what is expected to be his penultimate game in charge.
Mbappé made headlines this week when he told reporters that Arbeloa had informed him that he was the club’s fourth striker behind Franco Mastantuono, Vinicius Junior and Gonzalo García, after being used as a 69th-minute substitute in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Real Oviedo.
Arbeloa flatly denied the incrimination before addressing the situation in his press conference prior to Sunday’s game against Sevilla.
“I don’t even have four forwards and I never said such a thing,” he said in his pre-match statements.
“I understand that many of these things may seem like news,” Arbeloa told reporters. “Everything he said in the mixed zone was something he had already talked to me about before. I approach it much more naturally because, as I always tell my players, I have been there and I know what they feel in any situation. I know what it is to play every day, I know what it is to play less and I know what it is to not play at all.
“I see everything that has happened these days as very normal and my relationship with Mbappé remains the same.”
Mbappé, for his part, was careful not to aggravate the situation. “I don’t have any problem with Arbeloa. We have to accept the coach’s philosophy and I have to do better to play ahead of Vini, Gonzalo and Mastantuono,” he said, adding that the decision had to be respected even if he was prepared to be a starter.
“The most difficult thing at Real Madrid is when you don’t win”
With the season entering its final days and his own tenure coming to an end, Arbeloa also candidly reflected on what these four months have meant to him and what has hurt him the most.
“The most difficult thing at this club is always not winning. And that is what hurts me the most: not having helped the club and the players achieve their goal, which was to win titles. The most difficult thing at Real Madrid is always not winning because of the level of expectation we have and because of the hopes of so many people who rest on our shoulders. Not having been able to help them is what has hurt me the most.”
Real Madrid have finished the season without a trophy after a campaign that included a Copa del Rey exit to second division side Albacete in Arbeloa’s first competitive game in charge, a champions league exit and a League title won comfortably by Barcelona.
Arbeloa replaced Xabi Alonso in January after a turbulent start to the campaign and has repeatedly spoken of the experience as an extraordinary personal education.
“I arrived here four months ago as coach of Primera RFEF, and the day I leave, I will do so as coach of Real Madrid,” he stated. “I don’t think there are many coaches who can say the same. For me, these four months have been an incredible experience, an enormous personal and professional learning experience. The day this ends, I think that, in addition to having grown, I will leave with a clear conscience.”
Abreloa gives Mourinho a boost
The loudest moment of the press conference came when Arbeloa was asked about José Mourinho, who is emerging as the favorite to succeed him at the Bernabéu this summer alongside Didier Deschamps.
Arbeloa, who played under Mourinho during the Portuguese coach’s time at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, left no doubt about his personal vision.
“I think I have been very clear throughout my life what I think of him. For me, as his player, but above all as a Real Madrid fan, I feel and believe that he is number one.
“A teammate of his asked me a few days ago if I still think about what I said when we faced him in the Champions League, and I will continue to think that José has been, is and will always be one di noi. If he is the one here next season, I will be very happy to see him back home.”
