The Club World Cup alters Real Madrid’s plans for making the decision on the coach
With the tough Champions League elimination against Arsenal over, the time has come for Real Madrid to analyze and make decisions. Not for next season, but rather for the end of this season. There’s no time to waste. In any other year, they would wait until the end of the season, as they usually do, but this one is very different because the big objective they still have left isn’t the league title or even the Copa del Rey final, no matter how tempting Barça might be as their opponent.
None of that. The main challenge now is this first Club World Cup, which Florentino Pérez and José Ángel Sánchez have had on their agenda since the start of the season. For reasons of prestige, international exposure, and brand positioning in a key market like North America, winning the first edition of the brand-new FIFA tournament is considered a strategic objective. Therefore, they are considering what the best option might be to face this competition with the greatest possible guarantees.
We’re talking about the coach, of course. Carlo Ancelotti has lost a lot of face this season, and his poor performance in the two legs of the knockout stage against Arsenal reinforces the notion among those in charge that the squad has long since let go of the Italian manager and his time is over.
Normally, he’d play in the Copa del Rey final, and at the end of the season, unless there was a radical turnaround in the team’s play and he won both titles, they would agree to terminate his contract as head coach and offer him a grateful exit, in keeping with his impeccable record. Furthermore, the Brazilian Football Federation has been waiting for him for over a year and would like to sign him in June.
The problem lies in the fact that La Liga ends on May 25th, and Real Madrid’s Club World Cup debut on June 18th against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal. The club is exploring alternative options to Ancelotti taking charge if the team’s erratic form continues or even worsens after the Copa del Rey final.
It’s about anticipating all possible scenarios. One option would be to appoint an interim manager, which could be Solari or Raúl. But the most suitable option would be for the new coach to take charge of the team weeks before the Club World Cup to work with the players, although many international players will be playing in the Nations League finals between June 4th and 8th or in World Cup qualifiers with their South American national teams.
That new manager would be Xabi Alonso because he is the option that most convinces the president. The Tolosa native remains focused on his Bayer Leverkusen side, although he’s waiting for a call from Real Madrid to activate the release clause that allows him to leave if Real Madrid or Liverpool (but not Bayern Munich) want him, in exchange for a fee as compensation for not seeing out the remaining season on his contract.
Source: Marca
