Just in the past week, Chelski fired Maresca, and ManURE fired Amorin. Chelski are going with some English guy that was managing another one of their clubs, while ManURE have no clear favorite. Thank God for Flick; this board has to support him in the transfer market, and keep the man happy.
Man Utd weren't going anywhere with Amorin so that move makes sense. I see the Maresca firing as one less team Barca have to worry about in the CL. Ok, maybe I'd still be moderately worried if Barca were to draw Chelsea in the KO stages, but a lot less so now. That firing was about control, not results.
Oh, I agree with all of this. Chelski are run like a "player exchange," where the PNL statement matters more than the achievements on the pitch. ManURE still need a major roster overhaul; even IF Amorin were up to the task, that roster is garbage. OTOH, Chelski (if they're serious about competing) need an experienced manager and some veterans in the roster. I just doubt that they are serious about winning things, just being "good enough" to string along their gloryhunting fans and turn a profit.
Xabi Alonso put to the sword. On the one hand, this pleases me. OTOH, I don't know how, exactly, any other manager is going to get lazy pieces of shyte like Vini to press, or to act like a man. I dont know how any other manager can get that crappy midfield to pass, or to get their defense sorted. This is all on Perez, TBH. But, good to see for Culers!
When Madrid signed Camavinga, Tchouameni and then Bellingham ... I thought their midfield was set for a while. Bellingham is still a great player but faded in the system. Camavinga and Tchouameni aren't as good as I thought they were going to be. At least so far. The win yesterday was good but if it was to sack Xabi, I'd rather it have been a real beating. They had again a makeshift defense and no Mbappe. It does worry me a bit it turned out to be a close game. Then again, it was clear they also played defensively. I also saw today that Xabi first announced the lineup with Arda as a started and then changed it last minute. Dude was apparently so desperate that he tried to play a dirty trick to confuse Flick.
While I think the guard of honor thing is overplayed, the fact that Mbappe (and Rodrygo) pulled rank over Xabi says it all about the little respect he commands in the dressing room and who runs the show. At this point he probably finally just said "fuk this shit" as it's being reported he asked to leave. After this, Xabi must have thought "Nope, it won't happen here"(Mbappe asking the team, and him, not to do the guard of honour to Barcelona) pic.twitter.com/43GLfE9AFj— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) January 12, 2026
LPB: Supercopa is a meaningless title Also LPB: Sack Xabi over this disgrace But seriously, they did come close to tying it up in injury time, but 3-2 flatters them. They played like a 2nd-division side in the first half, giving up possession to the tune of 82%-18%. There's counterattacking and then there's just being dominated. Ironically, it was only Vini's play that was helping Xabi keep his job at halftime.
After Barca's next win in La Liga ... "It's incredible how time and time again La Liga teams just roll over for Barca." ....
Paris FC shocks PSG in the Coupe de France 0-1! They brought on Mendes, Dembele and Dioue midway 2nd half to break the 0-0 deadlock and Mendes turns the ball over and PFC comes down and scores
Those as$clowns pulled the same shyte under Zidane. From them acting like b!tches and skipping the Balon D'Or event, to their cryb!tch routine on RMTV over officiating, this is a club devoid of class and character. No wonder, despite their talent, that they fail. Good. And fvkc them.
While I am pretty optimistic Madrid can't right their ship this season, last time we directly helped get their coach fired (Rafa Benitez) Zidane came in and won the 1st of 3 CLs that season. Obviously their team was much better back then, but as we say in Brazil .... "a dog that's bitten by a snake has fear of a sausage" I did want for Xabi's tenure to prolong as much as possible.
Looked up Paris FC jerseys out of curiosity. Sponsor is Bahrain Victorious... So the little indie Parisian club is also sponsored by an Arab petrostate? Sigh.
Checking up on Arbeloa's Castilla in Primera Federación Group 1 (third tier): They are in 4th place, but with a 10 W - 1 D - 8 L record and GD of exactly 0. I don't think LPB has the academy system to promote from within a la Guardiola in 2008, so it's not clear what kind of project Arbeloa represents other than "caretaker." Looks more like the Darren Fletcher hire at Man U than the second coming of Pep. The team might still enjoy a "new coach bump" in the near term.
Marca on Arbeloa: "As a coach, Arbeloa arrives at the first team with a defined style of play. His base system is the 4-3-3, with high pressing, a team pushed up into the opponent's half and constant intensity. These are principles he has applied both with the Juvenil A and Castilla teams, with occasional adjustments to 4-4-2 depending on how matches develop. "In his approach, the coach has emphasized the importance of the defensive midfielder, the so-called '6', as a key player for tactical balance and clean ball control." Next Clásico is going to be a barn-burner.
I honestly think Madrid did Xabi Alonso dirty. He’s gone after 6-7 months and they’re still in the mix for every major trophy, and only 4 points off us in the league. Even the Super Cup final wasn’t some hopeless collapse, it ended 3–2 and they had enough chances that if one goes in, who knows what could have happened after. And then Arbeloa… no idea how it’ll go, new manager bounce is real, but the timing is mad. He’s coming straight from Castilla and they literally just got thrashed 4–1 by Arenas de Getxo. Also, it’s odd that Raúl ran Castilla for years, did really well, and never got a real sniff, and Arbeloa gets the keys after a short stint, he only took over Castilla last year. I’ll reserve judgment, sometimes it clicks, but sacking Xabi now feels pure knee-jerk.
Yeah, definitely would have been better if Xabi hung around a little longer. And agree that the LPB team that Zidane walked into was better, though the gap to Barca was larger IMO. But Zidane had a head start on Arbeloa just by virtue of being a way better player, and with that respect was automatic and instant.
Interesting to look at Xabi's win percentage compared to past "successful" and "unsuccessful" LPB managers: (in reverse chronological order going back to 2009) Xabi: 71% Ancelotti (2nd stint): 69% Zidane (2nd stint): 61% Solari: 69% Lopetegui: 43% Zidane (1st stint): 70% Benitez: 68% Ancelotti (1st stint): 75% Mourinho: 72% Pellegrini: 75% https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Real_Madrid_CF_managers
Meh, good luck in getting Vini and Mbappe to press, while them relying upon Camavinga or Tchouameni as key players sounds like a bad idea for LPB. Which is good for Barça.