Two-time Real Madrid Champions League winner Iván Helguera has become the latest critic of Florentino Perez’s decision making.
Xabi Alonso incredibly lasted just half a season as Madrid head coach before being sacked and replaced by academy coach Alvaro Arbeloa.
Things have unsurprisingly not improved under Arbeloa, who has no first-team professional expereince.
Perez now appears to be scrambling to find a long-term solution in the summer, and Helguera thinks it’s becoming clear that Perez could’ve avoided such a mess.
“I wasn’t really liking how Xabi’s team was playing, but tactically, especially defensively, they were a difficult team to beat,” he said on Iker Casillas’ podcast.
“I think they should have shown us how they were doing by February or March.
“I think they would have won the Albacete match and the Lisbon match too. I think they were too hasty in sacking Xabi Alonso.
“Besides, they lost the Super Cup in a match where they didn’t play badly, but we’d had our suspicions for three months.”
If sacking Alonso wasn’t bad enough Helguera was even more baffled by the replacement.
“Raúl spent many years with the reserve team and was never promoted,” he continued.
“Suddenly, they bring in a guy who’s never coached in La Liga, Arbeloa. And that same day, he’d lost 4-1 to Castilla in the Primera RFEF.
“It ‘s all a series of absurdities. Nothing makes sense. In my opinion, sacking Xabi Alonso made no sense.
“The situation hasn’t changed practically at all and, in fact, it’s gotten worse.
“Sacking Xabi didn’t make sense, and if you sack him, you need to have a coach ready who knows how to deal with all of this, not some kid who comes from the youth academy and hasn’t coached or knows how to handle it.
“I think Raúl would have handled this better because he was captain, he’s lived through this situation, and he had personality. I don’t think Arbeloa was the right person.”
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