Arbeloa's Kind Approach Could Boomerang for Real Madrid

Alvaro Arbeloa has a unique approach to managing a team as large as Real Madrid. Instead of asserting authority, the 43-year-old coach often stands up for the players when the team performs poorly. In the short term, this approach can indeed maintain the team's conducive atmosphere. However, its long-term effects are likely to be detrimental to Real.

By protecting the players, Arbeloa seeks to shield them from the onslaught of criticism. Placing the entire responsibility on the coach means allowing the players the opportunity to focus on improving their performance.

The approach has proven to be quite effective, as evidenced by Real's recovery from the embarrassing 2-4 defeat to Benfica in their last match of the European Champions League group stage. Following that negative result, Real bounced back by defeating Rayo Vallecano, and then won against Valencia on Monday (9/2/2026) in the early hours WIB.

The revival is difficult to achieve if Arbeloa does not prevent the media from blaming his players after the defeat to Benfica. At that time, the media sought Arbeloa's opinion on the performances of Vinicius and Kylian Mbappe, which were deemed suboptimal, resulting in several golden opportunities not being converted into goals. Additionally, they were considered inactive in assisting the defense.

"If you think that today's match (ended in defeat) was due to the two forwards not running enough, I completely disagree," said Arbeloa at the press conference following the match against Benfica.

This is not the first time Arbeloa has taken the initiative to protect his players. In his debut match against Albacete, Arbeloa also placed the blame entirely on himself.

Arbeloa realizes that the performance of his players will become an easy target for criticism due to their defeat against a mid-table team from the second division. By placing the blame on the coach, this could alleviate some pressure on the players.

"In this club, a draw is also bad; it is a tragedy. So imagine a defeat like this. Especially when you lose to an opponent ranked lower. If anyone is responsible, it is me, because I am the one who makes decisions about the lineup, how we want to play, and substitutions," he said.

The lack of experience in training senior teams may place Arbeloa in a position that is not the same as his players. It is no surprise that every time Real performs poorly, Arbeloa's words to protect his players from criticism sound like a broken record being played repeatedly.

By making himself a shield, Arbeloa seeks to gain more trust from his players. It would be strange for a new coach to suddenly criticize the performance of the players. Thus, placing the entire responsibility on himself is the safest step for Arbeloa.

Arbeloa could also criticize players, but he does not do so in front of the media. However, once again, the likelihood of that is very small because, as mentioned at the beginning, Arbeloa's position with the players is not equal.

Moreover, the reality is that he is a close figure to President Florentino Perez, who makes great efforts to ensure the comfort of his star players. For Perez, players are the most important assets of the club, and if he can maximize their potential, it will significantly increase their market value in the transfer market.

The dismissal experienced by Arbeloa's predecessor, Xabi Alonso, is more than enough to prove that at Real, the players must be prioritized. Alonso imposed a system that he brought from Bayer Leverkusen, which was rejected by the Real players.

Arbeloa's efforts to protect the club's most important assets are indeed beneficial in the short term. However, all of this has the potential to backfire in the long run. This is because the softer Arbeloa's approach becomes, the more serious the potential for him to be consumed by the players' inflated egos.

In managing a top squad like Real, an ideal balance is required to maximize the players' potential while also ensuring they respect the coach. Carlo Ancelotti successfully achieved this. Unfortunately, Arbeloa has yet to find that balance. He now seems to be relying solely on one side by essentially catering to the players' needs.

An overly lenient attitude or even pampering will have a negative impact on Arbeloa. He has already begun to face significant criticism from Real supporters for being perceived as a puppet manager, often blaming himself while refusing to penalize players who perform poorly in his team.

Continuously shielding players can be very dangerous. This is because star players will gain more confidence knowing that even if they are complacent and perform poorly, Arbeloa will not reprimand them for their mistakes.

This condition actually enhances the influence of players within the team, ultimately providing them with more opportunities to intervene in Arbeloa's decisions.

Essentially, every underperforming player like Vinicius or even Jude Bellingham feels increasingly confident that their negligence will eventually be overlooked by Arbeloa due to his obsession with maintaining the atmosphere in the locker room, rather than reprimanding the players for allowing their performance to decline.

Although many great coaches in the past have employed the tactic of taking responsibility for poor results to protect their players, doing so repeatedly almost always leads to problems for the team.

In essence, being a manager means being able to make difficult decisions for the welfare of the team. If Arbeloa continues to maintain an approach solely based on fear of negative reactions from the players, he will never truly be able to control the locker room in an authoritative manner as a coach should. (REUTERS)