Could be, but I think it would be a bit irresponsible to give either of them 90 minutes as soon as they've become available, especially in a hostile away ground. I want them to return, but I don't want them being overworked right away. I think Fede starts in the back line and then is moved up into midfield after an hour.
Even brushing aside my personal feelings and all the other nonsense with Vini these days, this is honestly a good thing. I was hoping he'd get carded in the Rayo match for this reason. This removes our biggest distraction. I'm not gonna absolve Valencia fans nor suggest Vini isn't correct to find racial abuse disgusting, but he got a red card in this game last year too. Our chances of winning this game improved with Vini being taken out of the picture for it.
Are you insane? Vini has probably been our best player in 2026. Even before Arbeloa in the Surpercopa Final too. Outrageous goals in January and best player in our two best matches in Villarreal and Monaco.
I think it's an "emergency" appointment, due to all the injuries. I also don't fully believe Mihic was removed for the stated reasons. Remember, he was kept as an advisor, still having a contract with the club - why would Perez do that if there's a clear falling out with the players and himself? Maybe Mihic was sidelined because of some issue we're not aware of. Or something the club wanted to keep a secret. But I absolutely doubt it had anything to do with Arda. In fact, Mihic later stated in an interview that there was no "removal" as he still worked as an advisor, and he specifically said Arda is a great guy and that he likes him as a person and a player. Mihic and Perez go way back. In fact Mihic was initially Perez's personal GP IIRC. There was also that little situation with Ramos testing for a prohibited substance back in 2017, under Mihic's supervision. And the whole "scandal" (released by wikileaks) got swept under the rug quickly by Mihic and the club saying it was down to some clerical error. And everybody went with it and never spoke of it again
He's one of Flo's guys. Mihic actually quit but never really left. We had an insane number of injuries under Mihic from 2021-2023. Many of them were mishandled and relapsed. The problem is not just Mihic, it can't be. But like Pintus, he was publicly shamed by the club's media arm and ultimately sacrificed for the injuries/fitness issues only to be brought back in and painted as the savior from the same injuries/fitness issues. But this time, it's Xabi's fault. This club is an administrative dump.
I wonder how much of that was the actual club's media arm, and how much of that were just irresponsible internet "journos" throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks and generates clicks. We know Pintus pushes players hard to improve their physical conditioning. Xabi's trainings were high intensity and explosive in many ways. It wouldn't have been possible to maintain both things together at the same time. But now that Xabi's gone, and Arbeloa seems to allow days off + having less strenuous trainings, Pintus can do his thing. I never hated on Pintus. In fact, I always felt he was quite well respected among players. Our medical teams, on the other hand... There's signs of the worst kind of people working there. I always think back to the nutritionist that got abused simply for trying to do her job and advise about nutrition these players should be on. The medical team just outright bullied and abused her, saying they'll get her sacked as they know how to manipulate Perez. Yeah, for those of you who don't know, or simply forgot, here's a link where you can read what she had to say about her time with Real Madrid. Absolute mob level stuff. Oh and who was the head of the medical team back then? Why that was good old Mihic. I don't know if Mihic is Florentino's guy, or if he has some dirt on him and Flo is stuck with him, but I am quite sus over his "return".
If you need to do conditioning mid season, you're not winning anything. At the end of the day, i don't believe Pintus, the docs we're firing and hiring are to blame, they are just easy "fire/hire to pretend you're aware of the situation" buttons. Trent just brought his injury issues along from Liverpool. Maybe a few less cables for the media during medical checks and more actual examining should be happening.
Someone has to be to blame, it’s not the players or the board that enables thier poor training habits.
I disagree, but whenever a club struggles to find the answers on the field, it's usually the staff without any ties to the fans that gets sacrificed. The fire/hire game with Pintus is just hilarious. Dupont got hired by Real Madrid based on his doctors thesis (it's actually online as a paper), then he revised it with "why my thesis failed in practice". When Milan were winning the so called "Milan lab" was like some outerspace institution where magicians and miracle workers resided, when they started to stink they flattened the building and sent all the medical professionals to tend to grannies at local public hospitals. Point is that the doctor isn't supposed to prevent injury he's supposed to treat it after it happened. The physio is supposed to prevent it with proper strength, stretch and recovery, but some athletes are simply more predisposed to injury than others.
🚨 Journaliste : « Y a-t-il une amélioration physique notable avec Antonio Pintus ? »🗣️ Tchouaméni : « (Rires) J’ai mon opinion, mais je ne peux pas la dévoiler. Au final, comme je l’ai dit, on travaillait différemment avec Xabi, avec sa méthodologie.Aujourd’hui, avec Arbeloa… pic.twitter.com/BxFDW3UxGW— Le Journal du Real (@lejournaldureal) February 8, 2026 Journalist: "Is there a notable physical improvement with Antonio Pintus?" ️ Tchouaméni: "(Laughs) I have my opinion, but I can't reveal it. In the end, as I said, we worked differently with Xabi, with his methodology. Today, with Arbeloa and Pintus, we're following a different approach." (Mixed zone)