# Albacete 3-2 Real Madrid: Arbeloa Loses First Game As Coach

An episode of [The Real Deal: A Real Madrid Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1807821669), 14 Jan 2026, 1 h 06 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/103607aa8/podcast/play/114012356/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-0-14%2F416138326-44100-2-6bf1a9a086a1b.mp3

Sid and Xavier react to Real Madrid's disastrous loss to Albacete. Vinicius might have put in one of his worst performances in a long time after getting setup to succeed. Xavier walks us through the media factions and leaks behind the scenes and rumors about the changing ownership at Real Madrid, Louis Vitton, Pepe Alvarez, the Arbeloa-Alonso rift and more

## Transcript

[0:00] What can you what, what can you even say?
[0:03] Alvaro Arborillo is first game in charge and we lose 32.
[0:07] Disaster at Real Madrid, out in the round of 16 at the Copa del
[0:10] Rey. You're Xavier.
[0:13] Welcome to the show man, Welcome back.
[0:16] Thanks for having me back. I appreciate it man.
[0:18] And what a day, what a week, what a month it's been.
[0:23] As a Real Madrid fan, I have this this roller coaster of a
[0:28] club that we root for, the emotions we're able to draw from
[0:32] it. And to sum it up, today's game
[0:36] was just another example of what has been trending, what has been
[0:43] spoken about on this podcast, what I think the general feeling
[0:46] amongst Real Madrid fans is, and that is the product that we're
[0:51] being given is just not acceptable.
[0:54] And we can break down the various iterations of why that
[0:57] is, whose fault it is. And I'm sure you know, you and I
[1:00] are going to get into that. But what we are seeing is not
[1:05] what we expect as Real Madrid fans.
[1:08] My biggest question at this point in the season is what is
[1:12] the Real Madrid standard from management to players to
[1:16] coaches? And how do we get back to the
[1:20] Real Madrid standard that we know and love?
[1:23] Because for me, the emotional side, I can't hide it anymore.
[1:28] It's it's weighing whether you watch every Real Madrid game or
[1:32] not. It is, it's disappointing and
[1:35] it's. Looking bad.
[1:36] It's looking bad for sure. We're going to get into
[1:38] everything, guys. So just I just want to talk
[1:41] about the lineup because you, I think you mentioned or a lot of
[1:43] people want to see the Cassia guys play.
[1:45] So we get a starting lineup with David Jimenez at right back,
[1:49] Franco Mastantuano on the right wing, Dean Hudson, Royal Asencio
[1:53] at center back, and we get the new guy in midfield.
[1:57] Let me pull up his name. He made a mistake, sorry,
[2:00] Sestero Sestero. Sestero starts in midfield with
[2:04] Arta Guler and Federico Valverde.
[2:06] Up front we have Vinnie Gonzalo with Franco that lineup.
[2:11] Sestero's first time playing 1st 10 minutes.
[2:14] I just want to say we're getting our below A ball.
[2:16] Did you watch that? You see that first 10 minutes?
[2:18] Quick ball movement. All over the place.
[2:21] Well, well, let's let's be honest, the 1st 10 minutes was a
[2:23] little difficult on the broadcast to watch because of
[2:27] the hog. But yes, yes, yes, the, the, the
[2:30] fluidity. I mean you could see what Avril
[2:33] was trying and, and the intention of his football that,
[2:36] that, that he was definitely on the sideline.
[2:37] You you can see the iterations of it.
[2:40] What we were told. It was a clear 433 as well for
[2:43] me out there. So 1st 10 minutes, I'll, I'll
[2:47] say I, I definitely saw a positive approach to what he was
[2:53] trying to draw in. I like the 11.
[2:55] Let's talk about it. Seeing the kids in there, we've
[2:58] all wanted it for a while. Seeing some of our Castilla
[3:01] players out on loan in Europe this summer, obviously, hey, can
[3:04] we see some of that in, in R11? Today was at least a good
[3:09] positive feeling for me. I liked Sisteto's performance
[3:13] even though I think it faded heavily or like practically.
[3:16] Let's let's I'd say The thing is honestly, I think everything
[3:20] that you might have liked, it just faded, man.
[3:22] Let's let's be real in terms of, yeah, the first 10 minutes,
[3:25] great ball movement. I just want to start there like,
[3:27] yes, it's amazing. And yes, it's a lot of side to
[3:29] side quick passing. But if you notice, it was a lot
[3:33] of like wing play that was supposed to lead to crossing,
[3:36] but nobody was getting on the end of those crosses.
[3:38] And I'm saying every good sequence we had the whole game,
[3:42] it's wing play without anyone getting open with crosses.
[3:44] And the main thing is Albacete never looked on the back foot
[3:48] once. Now, I don't know how much of
[3:50] that you can blame on Cerrezo. And I think our strike, our star
[3:54] winger deserves the most plan for that.
[3:55] But I will say this, I feel like Cerrezo, he says, hold on,
[4:01] Sestero, Sestero, I'm so sorry. Yeah.
[4:05] No, see, that's why we got these Castillo followers.
[4:07] We got you guys here. You're more knowledgeable.
[4:09] I'm out of touch like Alonzo, just I'm out of touch with
[4:12] Castillo. You're more Arvola.
[4:13] But Estero, he was not the first one receiving.
[4:16] It was Guler receiving deep in build up.
[4:18] And by the time Sestero received deeper in build up later in the
[4:21] game, it wasn't going anywhere. I thought the other team
[4:24] realized they could press us. And I thought David Jimenez,
[4:28] though, I'm still a big fan, a huge fan of his overlapping
[4:31] runs, the timing of his runs. But listen, listen, whatever you
[4:35] thought of those guys, we created nothing, dude.
[4:38] Yeah. It's like the overall output was
[4:40] like 0 like like what did they what did it like really equate
[4:43] to well? I do.
[4:45] I like Franco in the first half. Like I thought the the wing
[4:49] play, the main thing that it was leading to was a lot of Franco
[4:52] getting on the ball and it was a lot of the wingers getting time
[4:56] on the ball, recycling it to the full backs.
[4:59] But I thought Franco did a good job moving it.
[5:01] And I thought Vinny was really bad throughout the first half.
[5:05] He was extremely inefficient. And so whatever platform we had
[5:10] on the ball that are below is like 433 gave us, it was
[5:14] useless. Like we weren't doing anything
[5:16] with it. And I just want to say I thought
[5:18] that was horrible from Vinicia specifically.
[5:21] Franco getting us the 11 was awesome.
[5:23] And it all came from set pieces. I guess that's the thing, in
[5:26] open play we created nothing all game and it was a big drop off
[5:30] from Talavera. Well, and let's just be clear,
[5:35] right, like some some simple stats, right, We don't need to
[5:37] go too deep, but possession stats where we had almost 80%
[5:40] possession, 20 shots on goal with the you know, same amount
[5:45] of like shots on target. And it's a continued theme for
[5:50] this team specifically game after game we're
[5:54] underperforming, whether it's, what do you want to call it, XG.
[6:00] At the end of the day, we have extremely high paid players who
[6:04] are out there to put the ball in the back of the net.
[6:07] Going looking at Vinny specifically, like you
[6:10] mentioned, you saw his performance today and coupling
[6:14] it with kind of like my opening monologue.
[6:17] How many games do we have to see Vinny going out there and
[6:21] playing when he when he wants to because right, he has to be
[6:26] substituted on Sunday. Got one training session?
[6:30] He asked. And then went out there today
[6:32] and did what? He asked for the coach to be
[6:34] changed. He asked for the new coach
[6:35] coming in to like fit him. I'm pretty sure the club told
[6:39] Arboloa. Like, hey, like kind of play
[6:41] nice by Vinny. We want to extend him and he
[6:43] comes out a team that's 17th in the second division and he can't
[6:46] beat them one-on-one. I will say this, there have been
[6:49] a lot of games where we struggled to finish.
[6:51] I know it says 18 shots, but if I had to look at the XGI, don't
[6:54] think we created that much relative to the XG number of
[6:57] shots. I think our chance quality was
[6:59] also dog shit today and that's where I don't think we created
[7:03] more than two goals worth of chances, man.
[7:04] I think we got what we deserved on offense.
[7:06] That's the difference today, Talavera, previous games were
[7:10] we're wasting chances, we're not playing together, we're wasting
[7:12] situations. There was no situation for
[7:14] Vinnie to waste today. He couldn't even get open.
[7:17] And a lot of people open the show asking, you know, because
[7:20] we were, we were individually very critical of Mbape.
[7:24] I think this game honestly, for me was the last straw with him.
[7:28] Like the final straw, like this guy's had a long time, a whole
[7:32] calendar year to learn to beat someone.
[7:34] He couldn't beat someone in the 17th place in the second
[7:37] division. For me it's very hard to see a
[7:40] scenario where Vinicius should get extended and continue at at
[7:44] this rate. Like honestly the contract he's
[7:47] asking for is a RIP off. Like even his same contract is a
[7:50] RIP off right now. I mean, you would have have we
[7:55] seen a player because I, I was thinking about this the other
[7:58] day. When was the last time a player
[8:00] was up for a renewal at the upper echelon of his sport
[8:05] previous to the renewal and have such a downfall before he
[8:11] renewed. I mean, we've seen it after they
[8:13] signed the dotted line, right? They get the renewal then, then
[8:16] it's like, I got the money, I'm good to go.
[8:18] Vinnie doesn't have that renewal.
[8:20] And I agree to many of the points you just mentioned.
[8:25] If you're asking for the salary that he's asking for and you
[8:29] can't be a team that's 17th in the Segunda Division.
[8:33] You can't be a guy. When, when was the last, I mean,
[8:36] we did see him maybe a few games this season against rookie
[8:39] players go one-on-one and and terrorize them.
[8:42] However again, when the the pressure's on you today, right,
[8:47] You got what you wanted right? Previous to this game, in the
[8:51] build up you don't have #10 at the center forward right like
[8:56] occupying your space is. No and bapa, you got Gonzalo
[8:59] running for you and doing the work for you.
[9:01] You have Franco recycling and not playing for himself like you
[9:03] come playing with them. Kids all over the pitch, running
[9:05] around doing all the work that you don't want to do.
[9:08] The setting is there for you and you didn't take this game by the
[9:14] horns and that should be the minimum expectation.
[9:17] Like again, you can fit into a system, you can be asked to do
[9:20] specific roles, right. We can get into all of those
[9:22] things that go into your performance, but there are
[9:24] certain games where like you throw all of that out because
[9:29] the red carpet has been rolled out for you to show why you're
[9:33] the star of a team, right? And and that this is that one
[9:36] game to your point where it's like everything is there for you
[9:39] to just take this game and show us again, remind us why you're
[9:42] Vinny Junior and you didn't do that.
[9:44] You actually did the complete opposite.
[9:45] Yeah, and I'm going to be honest if as far as I'm concerned, he
[9:48] created more danger and transition against Man City than
[9:51] this team, honestly. Like from what I remember, like
[9:53] there was more XG from Vinny against Man City.
[9:56] So it's like you're playing in your, your overall like ability
[10:00] to create separation has declined so much that the
[10:02] opposition and randomness of the situation kind of dictate how
[10:05] effective you are. That's not the Vinny we love
[10:08] that won US Champions League, that Vinny was inelastic.
[10:10] Like it didn't matter who we played.
[10:12] And I will say this, I blame today on him because the way the
[10:16] team was set up, it was designed for him to win US the game
[10:19] one-on-one. Honestly, like he had to win it
[10:21] for US1 on one. Like Franco's young, he's 18.
[10:24] He doesn't have to necessarily beat his man every time.
[10:27] People were criticizing him for not being explosive, OK, Like
[10:30] he's young and we're seeing that he's not explosive.
[10:32] Vinny got so many one-on-one chances.
[10:35] And I think what pissed me off was not only that he didn't take
[10:38] advantage, but early in the first half he wasn't even moving
[10:42] the ball right. Like he was just losing the
[10:44] duel, taking too many touches. In the second-half, we got like
[10:47] 10 minutes where he started moving the ball.
[10:49] But it's telling that pretty much all our good chances came
[10:52] from set pieces. Both goals came from set pieces.
[10:55] Dean Hoyson crashing the box was the only thing that got us
[10:59] chances again. Like this was the Vinny that
[11:01] would just take us over the line before.
[11:02] And now it's like all these things are go are set up for him
[11:06] and he just can't deliver once. Like I I would have been fine if
[11:09] he delivered once and you know when he delivered.
[11:12] Some guys like Vinny want us to corner for the first goal.
[11:14] Bro, stop criticizing him. Where have we fallen?
[11:17] Yeah, right. Exactly, back, back to my point,
[11:21] my I always fall back. I'm like, what's the standard
[11:24] again around here to demand the money?
[11:26] You're demanding you should be able to win matches on your own
[11:30] and you have contributions towards US winning games.
[11:32] You've done it in the past, but no one judges you on your past,
[11:37] right? We decide you buy your your last
[11:39] performance, right? We decide by your previous
[11:43] year's worth potentially. But where is the Vinnie
[11:48] previous, you know, October 2024?
[11:51] What happened to that player? Because we've seen certain
[11:55] flashes of it, but not enough consistency for us to sit here
[12:01] and say this guy shouldn't get more flak.
[12:04] I think the next time he walks into the burden of Baio.
[12:08] You need to see a boon. Listen, I don't think it's going
[12:12] to be a warm reception. When's our next home game?
[12:14] I haven't looked it up yet, so it's been a busy day.
[12:16] But I was, I was thinking like that next home game, that
[12:19] reception. I, I think you're going to see,
[12:23] you're going to see things. Levante on Saturday and also I
[12:26] just want to say, and Bobby playing for himself.
[12:29] Yes, it's a problem, but I think all things equal, like I'd
[12:34] rather have Mbappe playing for himself than this, honestly.
[12:36] I'm telling you right now, like Mbappe in the same game, at
[12:40] least he shoots the ball. Like selfishly shooting the
[12:43] ball, even if it means you're not contributing everywhere else
[12:46] is better than thinking I'm the guy and this not beating winning
[12:49] your one on ones the whole game. Like, if you're going to be the
[12:52] guy, at least shoot the ball. And I get that Mboppe doesn't
[12:56] always like maximize individual sequences, but Vinny's getting a
[12:59] 0 from every sequence right now. I'm saying there's a difference
[13:01] between something and nothing. And like, you know, we go
[13:04] through the whole Mboppe, Vinny Jude thing.
[13:05] Jude's delivered on defense. Mboppe is delivered on offense.
[13:09] Vinny's not delivering at all right now.
[13:10] And I think, you know, I haven't been as explicit as saying this
[13:14] because I just figured, fine, Vinny, you want your new coach.
[13:16] And like, I have seen Mboppe playing for himself, so fine,
[13:19] we'll give you a chance. But I think today is damning,
[13:21] like he's not on the pitch. You got everything you wanted.
[13:24] And I think this is where if Florentino's goal was to like
[13:28] bring Arbolo in a peace Vinny and renew him, I wonder what
[13:32] going what's going through Flo's head.
[13:33] Hey, this was a sucker punch to flow, right?
[13:35] I feel like more than anything, he thought he could sack the
[13:37] coach and get the heat off him and you sack the coach and
[13:40] realize that the talent is limited.
[13:43] Well, I don't know if I'm going to go as far as to say the
[13:49] talent is limited on this team. However, there seems to be a
[13:54] lack of structure that creates the environment for the right
[14:00] growth and development of these quality players that we're
[14:04] signing. Because I, I think people
[14:06] confuse the quality of these individual players that we have
[14:10] 'cause we have 5 star players. We really do on this team.
[14:14] However, I don't think there's good infrastructure to keep them
[14:17] in line, for lack of better terms, to develop in a way that
[14:21] they mature into leadership, which is another issue we have.
[14:25] We don't have the pipeline for leadership on this team.
[14:28] It's missing specifically for the players from the ages of
[14:31] about 25 to 32, right? If you think about the players
[14:35] in that range on this team, how many of those players are
[14:38] leaders? Today I thought Dean was
[14:40] honestly one of the most positive.
[14:42] Dean and Franco, I thought frankly showed just as much
[14:45] leadership today on the pitch results outside the results.
[14:47] Then Vinny and Fede. I think that speaks to
[14:50] everything. It's like Dean's the one who's
[14:52] coming and trying to speed up play, crashing the box.
[14:55] Vinny's just like just standing there waiting for it again and
[14:57] again. It's it's like the level of
[14:59] responsibility shown by the leaders is low.
[15:01] I agree. And, and I think that's why
[15:04] there needs to be a reset of expectations.
[15:07] As far as you know, people are saying Dean was terrible in the
[15:10] comments and all that. Listen, it's funny though,
[15:13] because when he came off, I was just thinking every chance we've
[15:17] created the whole game involves him being in the box for some
[15:20] reason. Either he's occupying someone or
[15:22] it's a coroner or something. And I mean, after that we got
[15:25] our Gonzalo goal, but nothing came.
[15:28] And I will say this, when when Gonzalo scored, I was just
[15:31] thinking, OK, it's 22, but how are we going to make it 3, two
[15:33] now? Because every time it's like
[15:35] even we did nothing. I think, OK, the fact that we
[15:38] could not create separation at a 00 game state when it was 1122
[15:42] no no is damning. And I think it's almost poetic
[15:46] that like with the few minutes left after 2 two, they were able
[15:49] to make it 3 two. I didn't expect it, but I
[15:52] wouldn't have been shocked if they beat us an extra time
[15:53] anyways. And I that's like a step removed
[15:56] from what I'm used to. Even Talavera, like Talavera
[15:58] almost came back once we took a lead and got lazy.
[16:01] This was a whole different level.
[16:02] Like we couldn't even compete at nil nil.
[16:04] It would they were very comfortable against this Madrid
[16:07] team and that's a that's a damning sign to me.
[16:11] I couldn't believe how comfortable this team who's 17th
[16:17] in Segunda was against Real Madrid.
[16:20] And I've been hearing and I was a part of the contingent that
[16:25] blamed Carlo Ancelotti last year.
[16:27] With this set of players specifically, we're not going to
[16:31] get into the discussion about, you know, certain midfielders
[16:33] that left. I don't want to do it.
[16:35] It's a it's beating a dead horse at this point because everyone
[16:37] does it. It's like it's now like popular
[16:39] to talk about that. We're missing Tony Kross and
[16:41] Luka Modricks now like it's it's the end thing.
[16:43] So let's let's move past that piece and just get to this set
[16:46] of players that Carlo had for the most part that are occupying
[16:51] our starting 11. Let's be clear here because
[16:53] people are going to say Chavi was given five players.
[16:56] This is a complete different team.
[16:57] Like, no, it's not. Look at the starting 11.
[16:58] It's really not. Yeah, I'm realizing.
[17:00] I'm realizing how much they sold us smoke all summer.
[17:03] Dude, they just signed exactly the bare minimum to like a
[17:06] piece, Javi. That's it.
[17:07] That was their goal. Well, and and if you if you
[17:10] think about the actual like impact players, the starting 11,
[17:13] it's for the most part the same. The only one that we signed this
[17:17] summer that's really made a tangible impact this season has
[17:21] been Carreras. He's the only one that you can
[17:23] say like, yes, OK, that was one signing that we didn't have last
[17:27] season. That is different than for the
[17:28] most part Carlos team. However, a lot of the struggles
[17:31] around motivation, Carlos said it himself was a very, it was
[17:34] the most frustrating season of his career last season.
[17:37] And a lot of that has to do with the conditions that are allowed
[17:42] by management with the players, the direct access that many of
[17:46] the players, the agents, the significant others and policies
[17:50] of other players have had. We heard that when Chavi came
[17:54] in, the first thing he stopped allowing was agents in the posse
[17:57] coming to trainings and and just lingering around, right like
[18:01] talking to Florentino and and and folks at Madrid.
[18:04] And when when you hear a lot of this, like at first, no one
[18:08] really get no one mattered it. You know, it didn't matter as
[18:10] much. When you start to look at the
[18:11] totality of what's going on and you hear about what happened
[18:16] with nutritionist who said a lot of truths, you realize that the
[18:22] power structure at Madrid and and Florentino, they got it
[18:27] right. For a while they did.
[18:29] But no one gets it perfect forever.
[18:31] And I think there's reasons to be critical.
[18:33] It fell into place, would you say for a while it fell into
[18:36] place in a way where things could work practically.
[18:39] Well, he got it right. At the end of the day, he got he
[18:40] got it right because you can only judge the results and the
[18:43] results are what you know, they speak for themselves.
[18:45] So like, we got to give credit where it's due.
[18:47] And I want to be clear about it because I think with Florentino,
[18:50] he's going to get the statue outside the bird of bail.
[18:52] He's going to get the training ground named after him, right?
[18:54] Like and and well deserved, but at the same time, he's also, you
[18:59] know, been in charge for 15, going on 20 years for his 2nd
[19:03] stint, right? Like he came back in 2009.
[19:07] So when Florentino came back and it's been the most successful,
[19:12] you know. And he hasn't been.
[19:14] I just think the main thing I'll say is on this Florentino thing
[19:16] is it's not like it's I just think calling his bull reign one
[19:22] thing is where the fault is. It's it's like multiple
[19:25] segments. It's like it there's like the
[19:27] there's like the first movie, then there's a sequel.
[19:30] It's it's like it's a series. It's not one thing.
[19:32] And I think the last seven years since selling Ronaldo, he's just
[19:36] been taking a young guys and free agents approach and
[19:40] ultimately that's led to disaster now where it's all
[19:43] young guys and free agents, no vets, less players who fill
[19:47] specific roles on the squad than ever.
[19:50] A bunch more young guys would just don't make sense than ever.
[19:52] Because when you started at seven years ago, you had a base
[19:55] to build on. Now it's like the whole team is
[19:57] just a bunch of these cool signings.
[19:59] And I think ultimately it's it's been a lot of different things
[20:04] going on. But I I guess our below, it
[20:06] can't change all that, right? Our below is not here to change
[20:09] all that. The best thing we can hope for
[20:11] is that he doesn't get scapegoated as far as like.
[20:15] You know, we we don't want him to get scapegoated.
[20:16] I hope that I think my concern is that how many more people are
[20:20] we going to cycle through till we realize that he needs to
[20:22] change things because like his art, what's the pressure on our
[20:25] below now? Do you seriously like is
[20:27] Florentine are going to be like, hey, like you're under pressure
[20:29] now? Is that how this is going to go?
[20:30] Who's he going to next? There's no Zidane.
[20:32] It's not Fulari to Zidane anymore.
[20:35] Yeah, right. Like it's not a quick fix.
[20:39] And that's the part that's that's tough to fully grasp.
[20:45] And I think that's where you get many disagreements within, you
[20:49] know, the fan base on, on both, you know, the English and the
[20:53] Spanish side because I pay tax to both sides.
[20:55] Like, like there's a, there's a, there's a lot of disagreements,
[20:59] a lot of different, obviously sources coming from different
[21:01] places portraying certain ways that these situations are being
[21:05] handled. And I'll be right back, Keep
[21:07] going, keep going. I'll be.
[21:08] Right back Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[21:09] I'll keep going and. And you got to be, First off,
[21:13] you got to understand where those sources are coming from
[21:14] because certain ones speak for different factions, whether it's
[21:17] agents or different management at Real Madrid, right?
[21:20] Certain ones speak for Jas Jorge Anjeda Sanchez, other ones speak
[21:25] for Florentino Perez. And when you when you take the
[21:28] totality of what what's been kind of happening, I feel like
[21:33] where Madrid went wrong with that strategy of youth and free
[21:37] agents was they almost went too far on the extreme of it and
[21:41] forgot about many of the successful things that we did in
[21:44] the early twenty 10s that don't get spoken about.
[21:47] Right. Everyone talks about when we
[21:49] beat bars in the Copa del Rey and knock them out or won our
[21:52] Liga with 100 points in 2012. But what they don't speak about
[21:57] was Mourinho being able to get a Nacho Lucas Vasquez lined up.
[22:02] I know Carbajal went out on loan and came back.
[22:05] Yeah, yeah, right. But but there was key components
[22:09] that were in the Castilla that were recognized that were good
[22:11] enough to also be the back spine of the superstars that you bring
[22:16] in and layer on top of to build a coherent team that is Real
[22:21] Madrid that you then find as a Don and strike gold and win
[22:25] everything, right. But people forget about that
[22:27] hard work that went in from 2010 to 2013, right?
[22:31] There was a lot of hard work that was done outside of just
[22:34] the results. And I think a lot of
[22:35] Madreidistas forget that piece. But I also think Florentino
[22:39] forgets that piece, right? Like he, he forgot that we went
[22:44] from the Zedanes and Pavones in the early 2000s, a strategy that
[22:48] failed, which very much resembles what's been going on
[22:53] now, to what actually went right in 20/10/2011 and 2012, which
[22:59] wasn't just winning, but it was like the underlying work was
[23:03] being done. You were, you found the right
[23:06] mix of Pavonis and Sedanis, right?
[23:08] Like they found the right mix of those guys.
[23:10] Well, I'm going to be honest. I just think there was
[23:12] intentions and I think on now he's like he he just sees the
[23:15] bottom line and there are points where the sporting side gets
[23:19] loud enough where he has to listen and he has no choice.
[23:22] That's the way I see it now because he he sacked Benitez and
[23:25] pretty much threw he told Benitez he can't play Casamero
[23:28] and then sacked him after it like in a classico he did the
[23:31] same shit in some ways but at least he rectified it by signing
[23:35] Casamero, Vasquez and Kovacic that summer.
[23:37] Danilio he gave us two players at every position.
[23:40] He hasn't been doing that for seven years and I think the last
[23:44] couple Champions Leagues honestly got him drinking his
[23:46] own Kool-aid too much. And that's why I believe this
[23:50] result is not great for our below.
[23:52] I feel horrible that he's had to be in the crossfires of this,
[23:55] but I think for the club, this is amazing.
[23:57] I think honestly, losing this sort of game and showing that
[24:01] there's deeper issues that the coach can't solve on his own is
[24:04] exactly what we needed. And in that sense, when they
[24:06] scored, I was like good, like put this guy on the heater.
[24:09] Cuz the other thing is like, because he's won so much,
[24:13] there's always going to be a tendency to be like, there's
[24:15] nothing that needs to change, but that's just not how you stay
[24:18] at the top. And I'm in that sense, I'm
[24:20] actually kind of glad we I only feel bad for Arbello.
[24:23] I'll just put it that way. I only feel bad for him.
[24:25] Well, well, and that's why I want to talk about like there is
[24:27] actually like a silver lining here.
[24:28] And, and this is something that I hear more so on the Spanish
[24:31] side, is those Champions Leagues that we won, especially the
[24:37] three P, to your point, made Florentino feel very much
[24:41] accomplished within football, specifically in Real Madrid's
[24:45] men's first team. That's also why he started
[24:48] shifting his focus towards the Super League and delegated a lot
[24:54] of those first team duties towards Jas.
[24:58] So keep this in mind, right? Jas is the one that wanted Chavi
[25:02] Alonzo in right? Jas is the one who really backs
[25:07] Juni Caliphate. He also backed Zadan last time
[25:10] around. He helped Zadan with Mendi
[25:11] Jovic, all those I believe that was.
[25:13] Him. Well, well, Zadan on his way
[25:15] out. Actually, Zadan doesn't like Jas
[25:17] at all. Anymore.
[25:18] OK, you know he doesn't like Jas.
[25:20] In fact, if you look at the letter he wrote in Mark Mark on
[25:22] his way out, it's pretty scathing, pretty much saying
[25:26] he's he does not like that. Guy and on the note of JS, is
[25:29] that Pepe Alvarez, can we get into some of that is?
[25:32] That well, well, that's that's his mouthpiece.
[25:35] Now you know who his mouthpiece is that.
[25:37] So that's so JS is mouthpiece on Twitter cuz I want to talk.
[25:41] To you is JS, is JS. Yeah, yeah.
[25:42] That's that's that's coming from JS.
[25:44] So JS said that Arbelo and Javi are not friends in recent weeks.
[25:48] Do you have anything on that? Any thoughts on that?
[25:50] Because that's so JS is mouthpiecing that to us that
[25:53] Arbelo and Alonso stop getting along.
[25:56] Yeah, well, that I I've heard those rumblings too for a little
[26:00] bit from from folks as well. Want to be clear, Zadon didn't
[26:05] mention him specifically, but he definitely inferred that he does
[26:09] not like JS. That's been confirmed by a few
[26:11] people. So we can you can you can always
[26:14] message me on that. But on on the side note though,
[26:18] like let's be clear. And there's different sources
[26:21] around the club that speak for different factions.
[26:24] One of the Silver Linings about this season potentially is that
[26:29] Florentino understands that he needs to put his hand more in in
[26:35] in Madrid again, like more on the first team and focus again
[26:39] and stop delegating well as much of the some of these duties to
[26:43] folks like him. A new report came out from Pepe
[26:46] Alvarez, who's Jose Angela today, just now.
[26:49] He says that it's better for Florence to leave now than in
[26:53] the summer and November. He was saying Florentino decided
[26:57] to leave during the next year, even though his term doesn't
[26:59] until 2028. And the last thing he said was
[27:02] that the brotherly relationship between Chabi, Alonzo and
[27:05] Arbello has deteriorated in recent weeks.
[27:07] Do you have any thoughts on those things specifically?
[27:09] Yeah, specifically on the on the Arbelloa Chabi thing.
[27:12] I, I've I've also heard that there was a bit of a disconnect
[27:16] between the two specifically after I, I believe it was the
[27:21] Celta game was like the final straw in the back between the
[27:24] club and Chavi from from Florentino.
[27:27] Like he was just done with the guy after Celta and they were
[27:31] waiting for the team to lose again to get rid of Chavi.
[27:35] Wow, and what happened with Arbeloa there then?
[27:39] Is Arbeloa pushing for test? Do you have players to get
[27:41] included? Was that point of contention or
[27:43] something? Well, essentially Arbeloa's name
[27:48] has been rumored to replace Shabi for how many months now?
[27:51] How long has Arbeloa's name been rumored?
[27:53] Like, that's not for me as a source.
[27:55] Not you as a source that that's been, you know, and guess who
[27:59] put that out in the media? The feelers to get a pulse from
[28:02] the fan base on getting rid of a manager.
[28:05] Was that Jose or Perez? Florentino.
[28:09] Florentino. Yes, yes, Florentino put the
[28:11] feelers out there through the media.
[28:14] That's why we've known about Arboloa for how many months now?
[28:19] He Florentino's never liked Chavi, from what I've heard.
[28:23] I'm not confirming he's not saying he's 100%, but from what
[28:25] I've heard, yeah. Is that is that Florentino was
[28:29] never a big fan of bringing in Chavi?
[28:32] And under Florentino's tenure, when have we ever had a
[28:36] successful coach that wanted to be more about tactics and
[28:40] structure? Well, well, when when he was
[28:43] backed, when when they had backings, Zidane and Mourinho
[28:47] got exactly what they needed. And I think I can accept that.
[28:51] I think where it where it pisses me off is that that Florentino
[28:55] just goes so much off vibe sometimes.
[28:56] Honestly, I wish he could just go more off logic because Zidane
[29:00] obviously like has such a large brand that Florentino likes him.
[29:05] Mourinho was the only guy who could beat Barcelona at the
[29:08] time. So Florentino didn't have a
[29:09] choice. He his whole like he had an
[29:11] existential threat to him next door.
[29:13] Now none of that is here. He doesn't see flicks Barcelona
[29:17] as his unbeatable team, which is fine.
[29:19] But I think I think in Alonzo he sees a guy who he was forced to
[29:23] sell because he cheated and he's like all right, who are like
[29:25] just a midfielder. He was forced to sell before the
[29:27] three peat because he cheated. I honestly think he's just like,
[29:30] Oh yeah, the player I had to sell like that's you welcome
[29:33] back. What's up?
[29:34] And I mean, that's fine. It's just it's kind of strange
[29:38] to me that you would bring it in and not back in.
[29:41] But any other thoughts as far as a few more questions as far as
[29:44] reporting? Yeah, go ahead.
[29:46] Vinnie's dual agents, you know, is the fact that he has two
[29:50] agents contributing to this, How are the two agencies kind of
[29:54] altering the message? Did the introduction of Roc
[29:57] Nation change things? What's going on there?
[29:59] Because like, obviously they screwed up.
[30:01] They screwed up big time. They fucked up the leverage.
[30:03] They over leveraged a client who can't even beat his man
[30:06] one-on-one and now they're not getting their cut.
[30:08] Forget their client might not get his cut.
[30:09] So what's going on there? Yeah, for sure.
[30:12] So you do have two factions. A lot of people don't know this
[30:14] that finishes Junior's represented by two different
[30:17] agencies essentially. So he has Roc Nation and he has
[30:19] his agency in Brazil that has a lot of his family members that
[30:23] either work for that agency, represent that agency or
[30:26] contribute towards that agency. So think of that agency is like
[30:29] essentially his his family's fund, Roc Nation with a lot of
[30:32] strong opinions in that agency, a lot of mouths to feed, right?
[30:38] And a lot of folks within that specific faction is what I've
[30:43] heard are the ones that want him to get a big money move.
[30:47] Because if then he gets a big money move, everyone gets paid,
[30:50] right? That's essentially what a lot of
[30:54] what I've heard and and I know. Wait, so yeah, the Brazilian
[30:56] side is the one that yeah, is the one that has.
[30:59] Yeah, yeah. On the Roc Nation side, it's
[31:02] less of a of a push for that because with Roc Nation being
[31:06] affiliated with Real Madrid, is is far better than worrying
[31:11] about every single person representing you getting,
[31:13] getting a fatter paycheck, right?
[31:14] Like it's just, it's different matters of interest, right?
[31:17] In a sense. So of course it's good for Rock
[31:18] Nation for him to get a big move, but it's almost like
[31:21] imperative for his own agency so that they can continue.
[31:23] Because remember, Vinny also has a lot of people to support.
[31:26] He's got foundations, he's got charities, he's got schools,
[31:30] he's got a lot of things that he he gives his money away to.
[31:33] So the more money he can get, the more money he can also give
[31:36] away. You also got to think of that
[31:37] piece, right? Like there's a lot that goes
[31:39] behind the Vinicius Junior, especially where he's from, like
[31:42] big family all they're all part of his agency.
[31:45] Like I didn't see his documentary and I know a lot of
[31:48] people probably have because speak to him, but apparently
[31:50] there's a lot of even more coverage of that agency within
[31:52] there. But I know it's it's folks
[31:55] within that agency specifically around him.
[31:58] I don't know if they're exact family members or just people
[32:00] who were close to him or he's been around him since he was,
[32:03] you know, a flamenco player and whatnot that want him to get
[32:07] that big money move so that again, it's not just for Vinny
[32:11] to get paid more. Again, there's a lot of.
[32:13] Yeah, yeah, yeah. That, you know, he represents.
[32:15] So you got to think of that, that faction too, right?
[32:17] That, you know, I just want to be, you know, fair about it.
[32:20] Yeah, totally. Also just quick fire 1 back was
[32:23] so you're saying Arboloa essentially was like positioning
[32:28] himself for the job kind of behind the scenes like, and
[32:30] Chubby didn't like that. Like Chubby realized like this
[32:32] guy wants my job. He's kind of telling the
[32:34] president that I could be doing a better job.
[32:37] Yeah, right. It's like Quarantino showing up
[32:39] to training and like shaking your hand and then the guy next
[32:41] to you, he's like, hey, how's it going?
[32:43] Like what were you doing on Monday?
[32:44] Or you want to go to dinner Friday and you're like sitting
[32:46] there, you're like, wait, I'm the coach, right?
[32:47] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of a lot of like that
[32:49] stuff. It's like the indirect stuff
[32:51] that happens in workplaces and it's like your name and then the
[32:54] names in the media. Keep in mind it's Real Madrid.
[32:56] So then our below his name's been in the in the media since
[32:59] that Lethi loss, right? Literally since the Lethi loss
[33:03] our below his name has been in Marca AO like the Ario like this
[33:06] isn't us just they literally were putting feelers out right
[33:10] like back then. And totally totally.
[33:12] And I know this is a rumor, but what I've heard is that
[33:14] Florentino again didn't want Alonzo.
[33:17] He wanted more of an established coach.
[33:18] I don't know exactly who that name was.
[33:20] No. An established coach, he's gonna
[33:21] like turn us down. Or maybe someone like Carlo who
[33:24] would be taken for a ride. That's what he wants.
[33:27] Yeah, yeah. That's so funny.
[33:31] That's that's so funny. Yeah, again.
[33:33] And it was a lot of like that backroom stuff that happens at
[33:35] workplaces. It's like you can clearly tell
[33:37] like their groom and somebody to like yeah, take over at the 1st
[33:40] result, so. What about another one that I
[33:43] think is a Spanish concept and I, and I think it's racism in a
[33:47] Spanish, English way. I think they would do it to
[33:49] Declan Rice. I think they would do it to any
[33:51] English midfielder who played for us.
[33:52] But is the Jude, the drunk Jude thing?
[33:55] Because there's a whole thing made of what Jude said.
[33:59] I just want to comment on that, on Jude's thing on his app that
[34:02] he said that he released a thing saying people were calling it
[34:05] disinformation or he was saying the reporters were lying about
[34:08] what he said and they were saying don't build your world
[34:10] around what the reporters say. Reporters suggested that Jude
[34:13] was going to undermine Alonso or was undermining Alonso.
[34:17] Where do you go with that? I because they're calling him
[34:20] drunk in Spanish camps. They say he gets drunk and that
[34:23] he comes to games drunk and that's why he can't control
[34:26] games. All I'll say is this.
[34:28] Actions speak louder than words. Like, And there's one of the
[34:32] front three who's on these big salaries or jostling for big
[34:36] position on the team who defend, and that's Jude.
[34:38] There's one guy who literally stopped crashing the box when
[34:41] Benzema said be a playmaker, that's Jude.
[34:43] There's one guy who really shows that even as a star player,
[34:47] he'll do The Dirty work. That's Jude.
[34:49] So that's why I defend Jude, but is there any truth to the idea
[34:53] that he's drunk? I'll be honest, that would break
[34:55] break the illusion for me. I just don't think of him as
[34:57] someone who would do that. I feel like that's Vinnie.
[35:00] Well, well, let's be clear. Anything can be true, especially
[35:03] when you are a British. Let's just be clear.
[35:07] But what I'll say is dude is not showing up to the training
[35:12] ground drunk. He's a professional.
[35:14] He's represented by many big brands and agents that are
[35:18] calling him all the time. If you think that all he does is
[35:21] train for two hours a day for Real Madrid, go home and do
[35:24] nothing but drink and then show up to training, I mean, come on
[35:29] now. So This is why I keep referring
[35:32] to, you know, the season that like the I'm reminded of is
[35:37] 2004. This is 2004 all over again.
[35:41] We're going through that piece. We have too many stars on the
[35:45] squad. We have hit pieces coming out
[35:47] because things are going wrong. We're firing a coach because he
[35:53] doesn't fit our team and because Florentino doesn't like him.
[35:57] It's it's literally 2004 again. For those that don't know,
[36:00] please go go back and look. Yeah, yeah.
[36:03] And even just 2006, 2004 to 6. Right.
[36:06] Like we're in that pocket, right?
[36:08] Whether that started last year, maybe last year was actually
[36:10] 2000. Four, I think so.
[36:11] I think we're past 2004 now. That was already.
[36:14] Yeah, we might be there. That's kind of where I'm hinting
[36:18] at is this very much feels like that era and this is.
[36:22] Wait, you know what that means? That means Jamal is only Dino
[36:25] and he's going to decline soon. That's the only take.
[36:27] That's the greatest. I'm just kidding.
[36:29] That's not really true. But.
[36:31] That means Valero's coming through being the next row, huh?
[36:33] But if you know, you know. But yeah, I, I, at the end of
[36:38] the day, Jude actually, and from what I've heard, there are times
[36:43] where he does go out in Madrid and has a good time and.
[36:46] He's a young, attractive man, I would be. 22 years old, wouldn't
[36:49] you? I was doing that at 22.
[36:51] Everyone, I mean, not me, not everyone, but I was doing that
[36:54] at 22. OK, That's all I'll say.
[36:56] So I cannot sit here and criticize him, especially when
[36:59] you're paid like he is, when you have access to the things that
[37:01] he has access to and when you put in the performances that he
[37:05] does. Why do I care what you do?
[37:09] You're you're a professional athlete.
[37:11] You live by different rules and confines than I do.
[37:13] So it's exaggerated. So you're saying it's it's a bit
[37:15] exaggerated by the span? And, and, and I was saying this
[37:18] earlier today to a friend of mine, but when you have a season
[37:25] like this and you're just rolling with the punctures, the
[37:30] takes get more radical, the hit pieces get longer and the
[37:34] pitchforks get even longer right there.
[37:37] Everyone is going to take a hit if we continue on this trend,
[37:42] like ending with the guys in charge, right?
[37:45] And that might be the silver lining here is that everyone
[37:47] gets held accountable because things are trending in this
[37:50] direction. There's no defending the
[37:52] direction that we're trending in, right?
[37:54] When the media is coming out accusing our players of being
[37:57] drunk, like, look where we're at.
[38:00] Look where we're at. Now, so on that note, I feel
[38:02] like what we heard about Arba Loa was that he's going to come
[38:06] in, not care about burning bridges, be aggressive, yell at
[38:09] people, tell him what to do. And also there's limits to that.
[38:12] Like in my opinion, when you were midfield can't pass and the
[38:15] standard is you have to defend like a small team to be good.
[38:18] It's not going to fly out Real Madrid.
[38:20] It's just not going to work. So how quickly, like who do you
[38:24] think he's going to burn bridges with?
[38:25] What sort of fights do you think are going to go down?
[38:27] Is there my understanding is that like anyone who's close to
[38:31] Vinny kind of like started siding with him like Fete, like
[38:35] guys who like won with him, who are maybe of his age group, who
[38:38] are like below the vets few years ago who are now senior who
[38:41] want to rise up with him. They're like, hey, like we
[38:43] earned this. I see what you want and they're
[38:45] banding together. So obviously Vinny and Fete are
[38:48] in that camp together. But what sort of camps are
[38:51] there? Like we used to have Ramos
[38:52] Ronaldo camps? Like, is there a cancerous camp
[38:54] here outside perhaps Vinny's is there?
[38:58] Where do you see the bridges burning with Arboloa?
[39:00] Or do you think he gets timid or or do you think Arboloa goes
[39:03] full Mourinho next game? Like what's going on with him?
[39:06] I think we also have to remember a lot of these guys are Co
[39:10] workers, so camps matter. I think interest alignment
[39:16] matters more than who you're friends with at Real Madrid.
[39:21] So if your interest align with the current coach, then you're
[39:25] probably in a certain camp. If your interest aligns with the
[39:29] last coach, you might still be in a different camp that hasn't
[39:32] switched over yet, right? This is all still fresh and new.
[39:35] But what we did here was that and Bapi Shua Mani and Co, we're
[39:40] definitely pro Chavi and Vinicius Bette Valverde and we
[39:47] heard others. Now, these are all rumors, of
[39:49] course, and speculative, but I think with that and Vinnie, it's
[39:52] pretty clear then he didn't even give a goodbye post to the guy.
[39:57] So like that, that's that speaks for itself.
[39:59] But outside of like the TMZ era news, I think interests matter.
[40:03] And I mean, it's professional sports.
[40:04] These guys, there's millions of dollars on the line right at all
[40:07] times based on decisions you make.
[40:10] I think interests matter and you see them aligned based on who's
[40:14] in charge at the team. Yeah, Vinny.
[40:18] Vinny and Rodrigo were best of friends, apparently seven years
[40:20] ago. Right now, they're competing for
[40:22] her first. Yeah.
[40:22] Yeah, again, I think, I think as long as our, as long as your
[40:26] interests align, you're probably in the same camp.
[40:28] So Arboloa says that he believes the team he put out on the pitch
[40:32] is excellent. My players are wonderful,
[40:34] extraordinary players. It's all my fault, not theirs.
[40:37] It's all my fault and I would. He thanked the players, he said.
[40:40] My priorities to get the players in good spirit again, failures,
[40:43] the road to victory. I've lived the worst failures
[40:44] and losses in my life than this one.
[40:47] Hey, he was on the pitch for that four nil against Simeone,
[40:49] if you remember him and him and Cointreau man, were the.
[40:52] Fullbacks we got. That was the last time.
[40:54] That was my last memory of him as a player.
[40:56] I hate to admit it, just cuz like, that was a situation
[41:00] where, again, we needed more depth that season.
[41:03] And we played at Letico with a bunch of injuries in the back
[41:05] line and the guys like Arbello and Cointreau were just not even
[41:08] backup level anymore. And that was pretty bad.
[41:11] But and so, yeah, he says that we need more help.
[41:15] He said he Arvolo said this is the Vinnie I want.
[41:19] He took all responsibility and tried to put the team on his
[41:21] back. Tonight's Vinnie was a captain
[41:23] Vinnie. The fact that as a club, the
[41:26] coach has to come and say this in 2026 to a player who put that
[41:30] performance out for a team like Real Madrid is everything that's
[41:34] wrong, dude. Like, I, I don't know what you
[41:36] thought, but that was so far from vintage Vinnie.
[41:38] And I'm I'm telling you, he was better against Man City than he
[41:41] was tonight. Like he's he's played better bad
[41:43] games than this honestly. That's not good, It's not good
[41:47] and we need better. So if they're going to keep
[41:50] trusting him and playing him, which they're going to do, then
[41:54] we need better. Like we need better.
[41:56] It's simple as that. Vinny, I need better.
[41:59] I need you to perform. If you want that contract, it's
[42:02] still on the table. The club's not going to pull it.
[42:04] They just told us that like the club's not pulling the contract.
[42:07] Well, there's a rumor that Arbalova was brought in to be
[42:10] the company man. That's what I heard too.
[42:13] You heard that He's the. Company, man.
[42:15] Yeah, well, This is why I'm telling you, like the backroom
[42:17] stuff that was going on when he came in, OK, his press
[42:23] conference, he said he wanted to take the Carlo Ancelotti route.
[42:26] This is a guy that was in Castilla criticizing Joe
[42:28] Martinez two months ago. Didn't bring up bringing Thiago
[42:32] Pitage because he doesn't rate him right.
[42:34] This is a guy who's known in the past to say controversial
[42:38] things, especially about our opponents, get red cards and
[42:42] tackle people. We know he's not nice.
[42:44] He's more along the lines of like a Simeone.
[42:46] Look what he's done in Castilla. He's got into fights with
[42:48] managers in Castilla. So how is he going to be?
[42:51] So that's what I'm. Saying like, and then and then
[42:53] he came in and said, I'm going to be Carlo Ancelotti.
[42:54] This is what the guy told us during his press conference.
[42:57] So like, yeah, so you're going to go, you're going to tell the
[42:59] company line. You're just going to do
[43:00] whatever. You're going to say.
[43:01] Yes, be a yes man and whatever they say, I I don't know if
[43:06] that's going to be the case. Again, you can't listen to them
[43:08] too much in press conferences. You got to take that with the
[43:10] greatest soul, but. He.
[43:12] This is the guy you know not to have that kind of personality,
[43:14] is my point. No, well that's what I'm saying.
[43:16] Like this guy, everything we hear about him is you're going
[43:18] to whip them into shape. Then you come out, you see
[43:20] honestly one of the most dog shit performances even of a team
[43:23] that's been playing like shit for years, like 18 months.
[43:26] Still, I would argue this is as bad as any.
[43:28] By the way, this is literally as bad as any performance I've
[43:31] seen. The only saving grace is, yeah,
[43:33] he played the Castilla guys. He died on that.
[43:36] But I think this was the fear, honestly, and why I was
[43:38] defending Alonzo for not playing them.
[43:40] Because if you play them and you can't even create chances, like
[43:44] against Talavera, we were missing chances, OK, Like, yes,
[43:47] there were. Missing chances, I agree with
[43:48] that. But today we weren't even
[43:51] missing chances. And I think that is like a
[43:54] worry. And yeah, the big worry for me
[43:55] is if your style of coaching is about speed, ball movement and
[44:00] getting the players to buy in, but you're gonna go coddle Vinny
[44:03] after a game like this the Carlo way, how are you supposed to get
[44:06] us better? And also last thing I'll say is
[44:08] like, you know, you need to give it a few years once you change
[44:12] the style. Like he gave Mourinho time after
[44:14] he lost to final Classico. Like at the end of the day the
[44:17] tactics do take two to three years and you know we saw the
[44:20] tactical floor of the team get worse under Carlo each year.
[44:24] So going back to that this early I just can't see anything but
[44:28] like a Solari ending without Zidane after.
[44:30] Man this is honestly hearing this from you scares me man.
[44:33] I know you keep track of it and just seeing the comments and
[44:35] hearing his interview, I'm just like, oh shit, maybe he's just
[44:38] going to smile and wave. Well, here's here's a few things
[44:42] though, too, because like a lot of people and listen, I was
[44:45] chubby in until the day he got fired.
[44:48] Was I disappointed about the firing at first?
[44:51] Yes, But when you when you zoom out and you you kind of do view
[44:56] things from a 10,000 foot pole where Chavi Alonso went wrong.
[44:59] And this is difference between him and Mourinho and why you
[45:01] don't give Chavi Alonso the same type of time is that he rested
[45:05] on his principles, right? He he, he bent the knee to the
[45:08] players and you can, you can say, oh, because management
[45:12] allowed it or what not Once, once he did that, it was over.
[45:17] The difference was Mourinho didn't do that, right.
[45:19] Mourinho stood on business, went into Florentino's office and
[45:22] said, these players aren't good enough.
[45:24] You need to go get me these guys.
[45:27] And and that's it, right? Like Marino's, like he actually
[45:30] stood on his principles through thick and thin.
[45:33] He took a rinse and a bath at Barsa, but he had a certain
[45:38] personality about him. Wait.
[45:40] So what's the point of Arbaloa? What's the point of Arbaloa if
[45:43] he's not Mourinho? Because as far as what I'm
[45:45] gathering, you're saying that he's not going to go and do what
[45:48] Mourinho did like he did that comment right there.
[45:50] He might not I, and I just, I didn't like what he said in his
[45:53] first press conference, even though his personality tells me
[45:56] that he's more like a Mourinho as a person, right?
[45:59] That's just as a. Player not already compromised
[46:01] based on everything you're saying.
[46:02] He's already made the mistake, Alonso's made it based on
[46:04] everything you're saying. Well, that's the that's the
[46:08] fear, however, and this is one thing as a Madrid fan, I'll say
[46:12] if we're going to go out there and play like shit and lose
[46:14] anyways, I'd rather watch Castillo players be the ones out
[46:18] there losing than overpaid millionaires that are doing
[46:20] literally the same thing and still getting the same result,
[46:24] at least for the remainder of this season.
[46:26] Under are below right? And I can I can appreciate a
[46:29] little bit. No I agree that the lower
[46:31] expectations are healthy because it allows us to play those guys.
[46:34] It's just the worry for me is a dude.
[46:37] Let's just say Arbello is not the guy.
[46:38] Who the hell is on the market? Bro we just went and jumped for
[46:42] the guy on the market. We should have just waited for
[46:43] him. If this is what we're going to
[46:44] do with him, we should have just waited.
[46:46] Kept Carlo another year. We could have just brought
[46:47] Arbello in the summer. Dude why the fuck did we bring
[46:49] in Alonso? Right.
[46:51] And that's where the difference in opinion between JS and
[46:54] Florentino's want to watch over the next space.
[46:57] Until Florentino leaves, pay attention to that space because
[47:00] I'm not as sure that JS is going to be the one that takes over
[47:06] after flow. I don't know.
[47:08] I I'm not as I like, I'll be honest.
[47:11] With you, as far as we're concerned, I'm even not.
[47:14] Happening right now, like, I don't see that happening based
[47:17] on everything I've heard and have continuously heard.
[47:20] I don't know if it's going to be that guy, but he chose Chavi.
[47:23] And here's a silver lining. We have six months until the
[47:28] World Cup. A lot of things can change and
[47:33] certain coaches are also going to become available that are
[47:36] coaching international teams that are winning, right?
[47:39] And like, you don't need to get into those names today.
[47:41] We can save that content for. Another day, they're all, I will
[47:44] just say, they're all, they're all the same genre of coach that
[47:46] we just told ourselves is too controlling.
[47:49] Now there's there's one, there's one that has controlled, yeah,
[47:52] there's one that's controlled. The biggest ego in football?
[47:54] Stelloni is the if you mean Stelloni.
[47:57] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's interesting.
[48:00] He's the only Ancelotti doppelganger or close in
[48:03] football. But again, like going from
[48:07] Argentina to the club is a lot different than going from club
[48:10] to international and. Yeah, all his players are
[48:12] European, like all his players play in Europe.
[48:15] Let's think about it like I think Scoloni, if you can tame
[48:18] Messi, you can probably tame anybody.
[48:22] No, for sure. I just mean seven game
[48:24] tournament versus 60 game season, The amount of detail
[48:28] that you need to pay attention to is a lot less.
[48:31] So there's no question that the style is there though.
[48:34] Like in terms of approaching it like Carlo, I think he's there.
[48:38] Even the style, like the relationist style of play, not
[48:41] very patterned, not dependent on slowing the game down, kind of
[48:45] play fast or slow depending on the opposition.
[48:47] I agree. I'm very scared though just off
[48:50] this game. Man, this is going to be a rough
[48:52] six months. It's going to be long.
[48:54] Hey, I hope, I hope for more fireworks, I hope for more
[48:58] accountability. I hope for more firings in the
[49:01] medical room. I guess they're going to give it
[49:04] some time and see if Pintis can have an effect on the players
[49:07] fitness. But that was a disaster today.
[49:09] That was a disaster. Any closing thoughts here,
[49:11] Xavier? Yeah, I want to see more
[49:15] Castilla players for the remainder of the season if we're
[49:18] going to punt on it anyways, right, I'll I'll accept it.
[49:22] You kind of told me that when you fired Javi.
[49:24] Like where we're going, if we win things this season, it's
[49:29] going to be by chance, not by not by strategy.
[49:32] So I'm still going to hope because we're still in two
[49:35] competitions. Then like in the bright side,
[49:37] we're not in we're not in three anymore.
[49:39] So that's that's, that's good. I hope, I hope that things
[49:46] change fast. Something behind the scenes
[49:48] needs to happen. I hope we get more news because
[49:51] this shit's, this shit's cooked and like I want to watch
[49:54] Arsenal, bro. No.
[49:57] No, all right. I scored today.
[49:58] I'd rather watch Giocarez, like struggle to beat a centre back
[50:01] then some, then then I'm a Vingo, like losing the ball for
[50:04] the 50th time because he's playing in it.
[50:06] Like today he comes on at left back.
[50:08] Yeah. I'm a vingo.
[50:10] And, and do you remember that sequence when he passed it to
[50:12] Vinny and it just went out of bounds?
[50:14] And Vinny was just like turned around and then he was like, oh,
[50:17] oops. And I'm just like, dude.
[50:18] The sad thing is this like honestly Frant Camo Vingo did
[50:22] not look any different to Fran out there once again.
[50:25] So bad, so bad. It's so bad right now, but.
[50:29] Oh yeah, Xavier, just on the note of the Castillo players,
[50:32] the last worry for me is that we kind of have to sell some of
[50:35] these guys, which means we need to market them.
[50:38] And you know, that's the only last thing like you're.
[50:41] Throwing him off, huh? Dude, if we just sit biggie now,
[50:43] we're not, nobody's bang, Nobody's buying him.
[50:45] I'm telling you. Like, I can't think of a team
[50:47] with a brain that would buy him unless you have this huge
[50:51] analysis that reveals that everyone he's working with
[50:54] medically, he's a literal dummy. And you know that, like, OK,
[50:56] like, we're going to recover his fast twitch.
[50:58] He works with idiots and you have the science.
[51:00] I don't think that's happening. I think they're going to be
[51:02] like, this guy's doesn't want to defend and he hates passing to
[51:05] his fullback. Like, we're good.
[51:07] So yeah, I just think the resale value's the last thing to
[51:10] consider, man. And I know Cassia players can
[51:11] bring stuff back, but you know, Flo, if he knows Vinny's gone,
[51:14] he wants every cent for him. He's a cheapskate.
[51:16] Like he wants it. Yeah, and 100%.
[51:19] But I think the tougher questions are honestly in our
[51:22] midfield at the end of this. I have a funny feeling that our
[51:27] tougher questions are going to be asked about the midfield than
[51:29] the forward. Line, but The thing is, the
[51:31] resale value is currently dog shit across the board.
[51:34] Let's just like it's. But we also got to be honest,
[51:37] the contract's still on the table for Vinnie to resign.
[51:40] Well, they're getting closer. They're getting closer.
[51:42] Yeah, yeah. Well, and if they don't rescind
[51:44] that contract and that tells me like they're still willing to
[51:46] give him the money. OK, so.
[51:48] That's his fall back right? Like his fall back is.
[51:50] I could be dog shit for the rest of the season and I could still
[51:53] sign that contract. If he signs that contract, I
[51:57] don't think there's a way out after that.
[51:59] It's going to be really hard unless like he it's a deal where
[52:02] you can get off him. I don't see how you get off him
[52:04] on his current deal when you combine it with the transfer
[52:07] fee. Florentino's going to want this
[52:09] is crazy. And yeah, I mean, I just hope
[52:12] our below has a real conversation with him off the
[52:14] pitch because that was bad. And you know, I know we can talk
[52:17] about midfield and every different thing.
[52:19] I just think he had the platform today and he screwed up like,
[52:21] you know, it is what it is Like today wasn't on true or many.
[52:24] There was no Bellingham. You know, Cama Vinga left back.
[52:26] It's not his fault like but Vinnie got.
[52:29] I thought we were done with those days.
[52:31] I thought we were done with the midfielders playing the back
[52:34] line. I thought that's what I was
[52:35] told, right? Cuz Betty was back to midfield
[52:37] today and then Cama Vinga gets something.
[52:39] I was like, wait a minute. Well, I it's almost like the
[52:42] factions shifted now and it's like, OK, Cama Vinga, it's your
[52:44] turn to like to ride the shitty side.
[52:46] We're going to we're going to let Feta be the leader now and
[52:48] we're going to pander to Feta's ego.
[52:50] So now you're the one that you're.
[52:52] Like what's going on? Yeah.
[52:55] There's way too much ego pandering, way too much Nigerian
[52:58] says it well, though. It feels like we're in a bit of
[53:00] a lose lose right now unless a little more honesty's had from
[53:04] somewhere. But hey, I hope the Castilla
[53:05] situation turns into a win. I'm with you, Xavier.
[53:08] Well, we will be back for Levante on Saturday.
[53:11] Xavier, thanks for all these interesting stuff on the Pepe
[53:15] Alvarez, Jose Sanchez and all that because it is interesting
[53:19] and I'm very curious to monitor the state of inside reporting
[53:23] and everything. I know you were defending Mario
[53:25] Kart to Ghana and you keep good tracks on everything there.
[53:28] No, no, I'm not defending Mario Cortana at all.
[53:30] At all. Yeah.
[53:33] He's not let the fan remember that.
[53:34] Never forget the. Well, Mario also like Mario and
[53:38] the Madrid Zone, I was telling you off air before, but Mario
[53:40] and the Madrid Zone kind of strategically used each other to
[53:43] grow because Mario starts getting some contacts and like
[53:47] he starts sharing it and Madrid Zone publish it, raise his
[53:49] profile. And then once he's big, it's
[53:52] like, I'm going to keep feeding the Madrid Zone because they
[53:55] helped me get here. And together they and like the
[53:58] Madrid Zones kind of got some credibility enough.
[54:00] Not like legit credibility, but you know, they're going to
[54:02] source every single thing that's possibly said about the team.
[54:05] And so they're the loudest. They have a high engagement.
[54:07] And yeah, that's just a lot of these guys, man.
[54:10] That's in my opinion. Can we talk about Korta Hana
[54:12] real quick? Go ahead, go ahead.
[54:15] So he was exposed this week. Yeah, like, probably as bad as
[54:21] it gets. Actually, he published an
[54:24] article in The Athletic Monday morning, I believe an hour or
[54:29] two hours before Chavi got fired, highlighting all the
[54:34] positives that Chavi has done lately, that he's essentially
[54:38] alluding to the fact that Chavi was not getting fired on Monday
[54:42] morning and then the club fired him and apparently it had
[54:45] already been agreed to. So if he had the sources that he
[54:49] claims to have, why did he get the green light to publish that
[54:53] article right before Chavi got fired, right?
[54:57] And that to me, that to me shows I think the club might have done
[55:01] it on purpose 'cause I think Cortejana has been doing a lot
[55:03] of talking and The Athletic is a big publication that's not just
[55:07] Spanish, right? Like that gets across the world
[55:10] right pretty quickly. So to me, you know, I think part
[55:16] of that was they didn't give him the info and literally his
[55:20] article went out and they fired him.
[55:24] That was crazy for sure. It was a big hit.
[55:27] I mean, we've talked about this on the show and we have an
[55:30] episode coming out. But like Real Madrid, it's it's
[55:33] just all who you know. And the honestly, if it's too
[55:37] close to the president, you don't want to let out things
[55:39] that go against the president. A lot of the sources will be
[55:41] people adjacent to him, the reliable ones, because it turns
[55:44] out it's kind of like a boys club where you all pretend like
[55:47] like 2 guys run all the decisions and it's a whole mess.
[55:50] And the two guys who make all the decisions, everything's
[55:52] coming from the Grapevine around them, Florentino.
[55:54] And I guess the two guys who make the decisions are
[55:56] Florentino. And whoever Florentino decides
[55:58] is making decisions that day, whether that's Zidane or Sanchez
[56:03] or or Arbeloa. Well, well, the new drama is
[56:07] that and, and we'll get into this once the boat is had.
[56:11] Cuz I, I wanna, I kind of maybe wanna wait to get into that.
[56:14] Piece with the Moroccan, The drama with the Moroccan guy.
[56:16] Yeah, yeah. But I I think we should hold it
[56:18] until the boat. Actually, well, we'll just just,
[56:20] we can just recite the news here to close.
[56:21] But the report is that like the guy who's the Moroccan
[56:25] businessman Anes Legrari, however you pronounce it, is
[56:28] like he doesn't have an official role at the club, but he's
[56:30] getting closer to Florence. He knows what I'm reading and
[56:33] the board doesn't like him and like that.
[56:36] Is that what is? Is that what you wanted to add?
[56:37] What else? Yeah.
[56:38] And he's he's a big proponent of the holding company that Real
[56:44] Madrid is trying to create, and he's trying to work his way onto
[56:47] the board of that holding company, which I think is
[56:50] rubbing people the wrong way. I understand why it would and I
[56:54] also understand why he would do that if he were him.
[56:56] It'll be very interesting cuz you need some very lucrative,
[56:59] very lucrative. And also like honestly, if you
[57:03] want to be a steward, you need to be on the board and get some
[57:05] equity. Honestly, let's be real.
[57:07] Where's the incentive? Otherwise on some level it can't
[57:11] just be your reputation. You could easily just make away
[57:13] with a lot of money and cool experiences and then just parlay
[57:16] into your next business. What holds you accountable here?
[57:18] And I think. Yeah.
[57:20] It will be interesting. One other note on that holding
[57:23] company, just kind of like the latest rumors that I've heard in
[57:27] terms of like potential investors that they're talking
[57:29] about that like selling of X percent, which I want to be
[57:32] clear, whatever they sell upfront, there's going to be
[57:35] terms and conditions that allows them to get more down the road.
[57:37] I promise you that like they're none of these people that were
[57:41] talking about that are giving us money are going to accept just
[57:44] buying 5 or 10% of Real Madrid and giving us a couple billion.
[57:49] It's not it's not going to happen.
[57:50] It's just not going to happen. So what I'll say though, is that
[57:54] it seems because these are the two names that keep coming up
[57:58] time and time again are the family that owns Louis Vuitton
[58:04] away Hennessy. So I believe his name is is
[58:07] Bernardo. He's E French and what I also
[58:11] heard is that. Bernard Arnold.
[58:13] Yep. Yes, yes.
[58:15] Luxury luxury brand owner buying luxury team.
[58:18] That's very interesting. That's that's one of the names
[58:21] that I've I've I've continuously heard that's being considered.
[58:24] And the other one is State Street, which I really hope
[58:27] doesn't happen. I'll be honest as an American.
[58:29] State Street, yeah. Do not bring in State Street
[58:32] Apollo. Don't bring in any private
[58:34] equity. I would much rather have you
[58:37] bring in the wealthiest guy in Europe as the financial backing.
[58:42] You know, you know what's crazy? There's also 6th St. and I think
[58:45] they were involved in the laborers.
[58:46] They're not even the same thing as State Street, right?
[58:48] They're they're two different. States Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[58:50] I believe it's it's State Street.
[58:52] Because 6th Street is also been involved with CVC and different
[58:54] things related to La Liga and or Chelsea.
[58:57] I'm with you. I don't think private equity
[59:00] would do a good job. We don't need private equity in
[59:02] my opinion, but Real Madrid doesn't need private equity.
[59:04] We're big enough. We're, we're, we're floating
[59:07] enough. You can, you can continue to
[59:10] grow this, you know, with the right equity and not private
[59:13] equity. I think what we need is more
[59:15] people who are, I think ultimately, no matter how it
[59:18] goes, it needs to be structured in a way where they're
[59:20] acceptable, accepting, being a bit of a loss leader, whoever's
[59:23] investing because they're not strictly in it for money.
[59:26] I think that's the way to go it. It has to be a prestige brand
[59:29] alignment thing. That's why the the French luxury
[59:31] brand, I mean, Bernard Arnall sounds interesting just because
[59:34] like we've positioned ourselves similarly to his brand, Louis
[59:37] Vuitton, in terms of how we feel.
[59:39] And the other thing I'll say is I don't think there's escaping
[59:44] that on some level. Opening it up to rich people who
[59:47] want to help the team will help because essentially we need our
[59:51] own version of the cavalry that PSG and Man City have.
[59:54] We need our own horses to go after.
[59:56] But I agree, it's a slippery slope.
[59:59] The main thing I'll say is this. Why can't I want us to be the
[1:00:01] first to make like a Universal Studios level theme park?
[1:00:05] Like, dude, if we can commercialize faster than
[1:00:07] everyone, there's a piece of the pie for everyone.
[1:00:09] And I think that's the big race. And hey, I would love to go
[1:00:13] design A Garrett Bale roller coaster, man, get all that stuff
[1:00:15] moving. We need more commercialization.
[1:00:17] Well, and, and just to build off of that for me, I think what
[1:00:20] what's really appealing about at least going that route with the
[1:00:23] Louis Vuitton side is to your point, don't think that that
[1:00:28] partnership that we just signed came out of nowhere.
[1:00:30] First off, we the first team already wears Louis Vuitton.
[1:00:33] But think about before PSG got purchased, you know, they
[1:00:38] already had guitar airlines on their on their jersey and they
[1:00:41] bought it. I think there is a potential
[1:00:43] world where we don't renew with the airline potentially in the
[1:00:47] future. And we have Louis Vuitton, the
[1:00:50] only football team in the world that can say like they have
[1:00:52] Louis Vuitton on the front. Now, I'm obviously, you know,
[1:00:55] going into like hypothetical worlds, but like there's a world
[1:00:59] where like, like, that's one of one right type thing.
[1:01:03] Like that's, that's, that's kind of how, how you stand out,
[1:01:07] right? Because in a world where
[1:01:08] everybody's becoming more and more like each other, like how
[1:01:10] do you stand out? And that's like the perfect
[1:01:13] match for at least how, how I see it.
[1:01:15] Like to your point, they're not going to be as focused on just
[1:01:18] like dollars and cents as much as private equity is going to be
[1:01:21] because you know, we, we know as Americans how that works.
[1:01:25] So I've been. Like pretty so weird, man.
[1:01:27] It's like it's like the anti capitalism.
[1:01:29] It's so weird. It's like the anti innovation
[1:01:31] and the the anti cool. It's it's so strange for sure.
[1:01:36] Yeah, I think it's all I think human beings trust and like
[1:01:39] having a having brand alignment is everything.
[1:01:41] And Louis Vuitton would be awesome if we could have that on
[1:01:44] the jersey because I don't have Adidas.
[1:01:46] That's not even the same echelon, though.
[1:01:47] That doesn't even sound half as cool.
[1:01:49] That's what I'm saying, like the one club.
[1:01:51] It's nice. This makes PSG Jordan Brand look
[1:01:53] like a gimmick. This looks like the number one
[1:01:55] cuz Jordan Brand is cool. Let's be honest, that was a cool
[1:01:57] crossover, one of the cooler ones in our sport, but this
[1:02:00] would blow it out. We know that hurt Florentino
[1:02:02] because you know how these guys work him Al Khalifi, they they
[1:02:07] play a different game than we do.
[1:02:09] You know, for them it's like, oh, you got the Jordan deal,
[1:02:12] Cool. Now I'm going to go get Louis
[1:02:13] Vuitton. Like they're they play a
[1:02:15] different game of stakes. Now you can get into like the
[1:02:18] money and the commercialization, how of course it benefits the
[1:02:21] club. But there's a personal thing
[1:02:23] between like him Al Khalifi that that goes on here, I think, and
[1:02:27] they try to one up each other. And I think it's pretty obvious
[1:02:30] that how Khalifi and Florentino try to one up each other from
[1:02:34] even on the commercial side. Like, yeah, you can go into like
[1:02:37] in the individualization of it. But when you just look at their
[1:02:41] moves, it's like tat for tat. You can see it like, OK, you're
[1:02:45] going to do that move. All right, We're going to take
[1:02:46] we're going to get that brand. We're going to take this brand.
[1:02:48] OK, you're going to get Hubo. We're going to we're going to
[1:02:51] get Louis Vuitton, right? Like it it, it's funny how that
[1:02:54] stuff works, how we don't see it that way.
[1:02:56] But when you kind of take a step back, you, you, you realize that
[1:02:59] I think from a commercial standpoint, probably our our
[1:03:04] number one opposition is probably PSG People might that
[1:03:08] controversial, but I think that's pretty on point.
[1:03:11] Like PSG is probably who we compete with from a from a
[1:03:15] prestige standpoint in branding. 100%, I think.
[1:03:18] I think unfortunately also from a sporting perspective now for
[1:03:20] the same signings, unfortunately, because they have
[1:03:23] Nuno, Mendez, Vitinia, who would be amazing for us, both of those
[1:03:26] guys, John Nevis would be phenomenal for us.
[1:03:28] Yeah. And just to clarify, because you
[1:03:30] know, bars and fans are going to say all your yes, Barcelona is
[1:03:33] always our number one rival no matter what.
[1:03:36] As long as Real Madrid exists, Barcelona, you will be our
[1:03:39] number one rival. I just want to clarify that I'm
[1:03:41] Speaking of I don't think. No, Barcelona aren't competing
[1:03:45] for the same signings. They're they're, they're selling
[1:03:48] part of their assets for money where like, they're not in the
[1:03:51] same financial league anymore. So, yeah.
[1:03:52] And. Yeah, but somehow they've
[1:03:54] somehow they're pulling it together sporting and they've
[1:03:57] won, in my opinion, too many leagues while they've been
[1:04:00] broke. And like, at some point we have
[1:04:02] to have that conversation. That's why.
[1:04:04] That's like a after season, summer type of conversation, but
[1:04:07] we'll have it at some point. That's why we were totally
[1:04:10] against the sacking of Alonzo and that's why for me this game
[1:04:12] was just a big told you so frankly, like that's not going
[1:04:15] to change the bottom line as far as like if you want better
[1:04:18] results, that's not what's going to do it.
[1:04:20] If you want Castillo guys, I get it.
[1:04:21] Like you want, you want low expectations, you want to change
[1:04:24] the vibe at the club, fine. But like then again, you should
[1:04:28] never have brought him in in the fucking first place.
[1:04:29] Like Jesus. And lastly, I think Khabiba
[1:04:34] Nadal for president, man. I love what he said, I love what
[1:04:38] he said. I think it speaks to the change
[1:04:41] that's needed. And I know a lot of Real Madrid
[1:04:43] fans are gonna hate the take, but sometimes you need to get
[1:04:47] you, you need to get knocked out.
[1:04:49] Yeah, to to come back, refresh, right.
[1:04:51] It's not, it's not just a punch in the face.
[1:04:53] Sometimes you you need to get hit hard, you know, like it
[1:04:55] needs, it needs to be painful. You need to learn how to suffer.
[1:04:59] And I think this team needs a new backbone and structure.
[1:05:04] I don't want to say we need a new 11 or we need to get rid of
[1:05:07] every player, but something within the element of the
[1:05:10] players needs to change in order for for the ship to course
[1:05:14] correct. And sometimes again, you need to
[1:05:17] lower the expectations so far down that you can build back up
[1:05:20] in a way that that makes sense versus the intruding tribe.
[1:05:24] Let's just plug and play because of Real Madrid and we expect to
[1:05:28] be the best every year and win everything.
[1:05:29] And it's like, OK, how far does that take you though?
[1:05:32] Yeah, yeah, what we'll end up doing is probably at some point
[1:05:36] the rest, I mean the rest of the season, probably most post game
[1:05:38] shows, it's gonna be like Keeper Cell.
[1:05:40] We're just gonna keep, you know, every game you're auditioning
[1:05:42] guys. So this game very clear.
[1:05:44] Like at this point Vinnie needs to put together like a prime
[1:05:47] Vinnie stretch to not be sold in my eyes.
[1:05:49] And it'll be curious. We will be back guys for Levante
[1:05:53] Xavier, thanks for coming on and we'll be back guys.
[1:05:56] So make sure you like, subscribe, comment, tell your
[1:05:59] friends about the show. If you are curious about who
[1:06:01] Pepe Alvarez is, Xavier gave us the juice today.
[1:06:03] So tell all your friends and we will see you all next time.
[1:06:07] Thanks for joining.

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