Arbeloa praises ex-Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for equal treatment of players, talks about previous rifts

Alvaro Arbeloa of Real Madrid

Alvaro Arbeloa of Real Madrid has come out in praise of ex- Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho stating that he gives equal treatment to all the players in the squad irrespective of their statures which makes him a different character from Machester City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

The right-back has revealed his admiration towards the Portuguese boss and has also stated how he would bring out the best from his players.

Arbeloa said, “We realised who Mou was one day in the pre-season. The Spaniards were just coming off their World Cup win and we met up in Los Angeles. There we played a game against the Galaxy and at half-time we were losing 2-0. The screams that came from that mouth! At everyone, no one was spared. We learned very quickly who Mou really was.”

“You could’ve never imagined Pellegrini yelling like that at Cristiano. We remember that chat vividly. He said: ‘You don’t want to run? It’s not a problem for me: to the bench. You neither? It’s not a problem for me: out. Whoever it was: a World Cup champion, I’ll put in Kaka or a youth player,” he added.

Mourinho took over from Manuel Pellegrini at Real after the Chilean was fired due to a trophyless campaign.

The present Chelsea manager won a La Liga title and a Copa Del Rey during his three years in Spain. But after Real’s 4-1 loss against Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of last season’s Champions League semi-final, conflicts arose in the Bernabeu between Mourinho and players like Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo leading to his eventual departure from the club.

When asked about the rifts in the locker room, Arebloa said, “Mourinho’s relationship with some of the players had deteriorated quite a bit [by the time Real lost 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last season].

“But we were professional enough to not allow it to affect us on the pitch. We lost La Liga first, then the Copa del Rey and then the semi-finals of the Champions League. The 4-1 loss was the straw that broke the camel’s back, that was it. There was no coming back from that, good or bad.”

Arbeloa returned to training recently after being out for a long time with an injury.