After Real Madrid defeated Alaves 2-1 last night, manager Alvaro Arbeloa, in his post-match press conference, was asked about captain Dani Carvajal and his lack of minutes, and whether he would play the veteran right-back more to help him make it to the World Cup with Spain.
This was after Arbeloa had opted to start Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite the Englishman starting last week against Bayern Munich and Carvajal not playing a single minute in Munich.
“Well, I have 20 or 23 players, and I think any player at Real Madrid has options to go to the World Cup. If you’ll allow me, I’ll think about what’s best for the team,” Arbeloa said, curtly.
A tense relationship
Now, according to journalist Jorge C Picon, the relationship between Carvajal and Arbeloa has not been good practically from day one after the latter took over the reins of the first team from Xabi Alonso.
The 34-year-old club captain feels that the manager is not being fair and is taking away his chances of making it to the Spain squad for the FIFA World Cup in the summer.
Carvajal is not happy with his current situation. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
From Arbeloa’s point of view, he considers Trent the undisputed starter at right-back and does not like how Carvajal has handled his role as a substitute in the past few months.
There has been tension brewing for a while now and the signs have been there, such as Carvajal’s heated exchange with fitness coach Antonio Pintus after the Valencia game, or his distant expressions on the bench.
In the first half of the season, Alonso showed a willingness to share playing time between Trent and Carvajal: he gave the Englishman 449 minutes and the Spaniard 443.
With Arbeloa, that balance was clearly broken: Trent has played close to 1,000 minutes during this period, while Carvajal has played 442. Arbeloa has brought the captain on as a substitute 12 times, but used him only four times as a starter.
Arbeloa’s response in the press conference last night further served to confirm that all is not well between the manager and the club captain.
