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Real Madrid players know the counterintuitive truth about Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso

24Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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Real Madrid players know the counterintuitive truth about Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso

Xabi Alonso did not last long as Real Madrid manager, and even though he was hyped up as the perfect successor to Carlo Ancelotti with experience as a top midfielder for Los Blancos when they won La Decima, his reign, in hindsight, was a nightmare. While Alonso is clearly an excellent coach and will always be able to boast about going undefeated with Bayer Leverkusen to break up Bayern Munich's record hegemony in Die Werkself's first ever Bundesliga title triumph, he was anything but a great fit for Real Madrid. In addition to alienating star players like Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Fede Valverde, Alonso did not exactly show up as the master tactician that he was at Leverkusen, with his ideas both proving ineffective and falling on jaded ears. Real Madrid players are prais...

Real Madrid legend is finally achieving his biggest dream

23Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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Real Madrid legend is finally achieving his biggest dream

There are a lot of current Real Madrid fans and even star players like Jude Bellingham who consider themselves Madridistas for life because they grew up watching the elegance of Zinedine Zidane as the centerpiece player of the Galacticos project in the early 2000s. Zizou then went on to become an even bigger Real Madrid legend as a manager, first learning under Carlo Ancelotti as an assistant and then building on the Decima success with an unprecedented three straight Champions League titles before returning for a second stint to win another La Liga from the grasps of Lionel Messi. After stepping down from Real Madrid for a second time after burning out during a grueling, COVID-stricken 2020/21 season, Zizou's biggest dream as a manager then became leading the French national team. ...

5 Real Madrid stars are pushing for Alvaro Arbeloa to stay permanently

23Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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5 Real Madrid stars are pushing for Alvaro Arbeloa to stay permanently

Real Madrid did not initially hire Alvaro Arbeloa to be a permanent solution at manager, but rather a stabilizing force with experience at the club who could smooth over the acrimony building up in the club after Xabi Alonso essentially treated the club's star players like a bunch of overgrown children. Well, mission accomplished. After being battered by Atletico Madrid in the first Derbi of the 2025/26 season, Real Madrid came roaring back and battled past injuries and adversity to christen the Santiago Bernabeu with a 3-2 victory over Los Rojiblancos in a thriller. And in the aftermath of the game, all anyone can do is wax poetic about Arbeloa. According to a new report from MARCA, via The Madrid Zone, some of Real Madrid's most important players are pushing hard for Arbeloa to be ...

ESPN’s Premier League Power Rankings spit out troubling prognosis for Arsenal

21Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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ESPN’s Premier League Power Rankings spit out troubling prognosis for Arsenal

Arsenal have been in the driver's seat of the Premier League title race throughout the entire season, but everyone else in the league has been watching on with envy, just waiting for the Gunners to wilt before the season ends. So far, there has been no sign of an impending collapse. Even with key players like Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka either hurt or underperforming, a tired Arsenal squad remains strong, buoyed by an elite defense and a midfield that has exerted greater control after adding Martin Zubimendi this summer. Even so, not everyone is high on Arsenal's ability to remain impenetrable this season, and ESPN's Ryan O'Hanlon recently produced a Premier League Power Rankings piece with a formula based around squad value, expected goal difference, passing accuracy in build up...

Declan Rice gives Eberechi Eze the encouragement he needs to be Arsenal’s next big star

18Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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Declan Rice gives Eberechi Eze the encouragement he needs to be Arsenal’s next big star

Arsenal delivered the goods yet again in a big game, pushing past Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 to advance 3-1 on aggregate to the quarterfinals of the 2025/26 Champions League season. Eberechi Eze was the man of the hour, scoring the go ahead goal in the tie in smashing fashion, volleying the goal home with absolute venom, reminding the world that he is one of the best ball strikers around. Well, his midfield teammate Declan Rice, who is having a Player of the Season caliber year, certainly didn't forget Eze's shooting abilities, and he praised the former Crystal Palace man highly after the match. Rice said of Eze, via Hand of Arsenal, "Eze has one of the best shots I have seen. Left foot Right foot. Unreal. Anywhere around that box, just give it Ebs. When you look at the season, we have ...

‘That’s why he is here’ – Mikel Arteta has seen the light with Eberechi Eze

18Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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‘That’s why he is here’ – Mikel Arteta has seen the light with Eberechi Eze

Arsenal just cannot stop winning, as they pulled off a dominant 2-0 victory at home in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, sending Bayer Leverkusen packing in the Granit Xhaka (and Bernd Leno) Derby. The star of the night for the Gunners was Eberechi Eze, who scored the opening goal in thunderous fashion, volleying with such ferocity that he had the stadium roaring on its feet and both fans and other players buzzing about the goal long after the game. And even Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was highly impressed with the goal, telling reporters after the Leverkusen game, via Hand of Arsenal, "The team was immense today. When you talk about technique and making contact..that’s why he is here. (Eze) Enjoy tonight, we have a beautiful final on Sunday.” "That's why he is ...

Thierry Henry thinks Declan Rice isn’t the only Premier League Player of the Season candidate on Arsenal

18Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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Thierry Henry thinks Declan Rice isn’t the only Premier League Player of the Season candidate on Arsenal

Declan Rice has been so brilliant as a leader and all around player in the Arsenal midfield that many pundits have been giving him Ballon d'Or shouts, and as the Premier League Player of the Season debates heat up, the Gunners faithful are throwing around his name plenty in conversations. But legendary Arsenal stiker Thierry Henry doesn't think Arsenal have just one Player of the Season caliber star in their side, which makes sense since they are the clear leaders in the Premier League and are now through to the Champions League quarterfinals again. Speaking on the CBS broadcast, Henry gave some love to the man between the sticks, calling Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya someone who he feels should be in contention for Player of the Season, too. And it makes sense. Raya has clearly b...

Real Madrid fans will be worried about one of their expected starters vs. Manchester City

16Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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Real Madrid fans will be worried about one of their expected starters vs. Manchester City

Real Madrid have a commanding 3-0 lead in the Champions League Round of 16 against rivals Manchester City, but out of all teams in world football, the Merengues know that no lead can be taken for granted in Europe's premier club competition. Although Alvaro Carreras is finally set to be in the squad for Real Madrid after missing a few games with an injury, the starting left back may not actually be the starter on Tuesday night. With Ferland Mendy also injured, COPE reports that Fran Garcia, who started at the weekend against Elche, could very well be the starting left back Alvaro Arbeloa has to turn to vs. Manchester City. Fran is not a bad player, but he is clearly not as confident and a cut below Alvaro and Mendy at left back. He was great this weekend, stepping up huge in a mas...

Real Madrid have called up yet another youth gem to the first team

16Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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Real Madrid have called up yet another youth gem to the first team

Real Madrid are gearing up to face Manchester City in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, and manager Alvaro Arbeloa continues to show that he is not afraid to give young players a chance in any game. Thiago Pitarch and Miguel Angel played key roles in the first leg, and over the weekend, Dani Yanez impressed and grabbed an assist in a massive La Liga win over Elche. Now, according to a report from MARCA, one more talented youth player is going to make his first team appearance under Arbeloa for the Man City game, 18 year old center back Mario Rivas. Arbeloa has called Rivas up to the first team for Man City with young center back Rau Asencio, another recent youth academy success, still out injured due to muscular issues.

‘His best quality’ – Alvaro Arbeloa says what everyone needs to hear about Kylian Mbappe

16Mar

By Joe SorianoNo Comments

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‘His best quality’ – Alvaro Arbeloa says what everyone needs to hear about Kylian Mbappe

Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe is soon ready to return to the first team squad after being shut down for a few weeks after dealing with recurring pain in his left knee. Mbappe is one of the favorites to win the Ballon d'Or a year after winning the European Golden Shoe, both scoring and creating at a high level as the clear superstar among all the superstars at the Santiago Bernabeu. Prior to the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Manchester City, Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa took some time in the press conference to single out the Frenchman and gas him up for his best quality, his intelligence. Arbeloa said of Mbappe, via the Madrid Zone, "Mbappé is an incredibly intelligent player. To me, that's his best quality, on top of all other amazing qualities ...