Was Alonso really the problem? Arbeloa has struggled to turn Real Madrid’s season around

4 defeats in 8 games 

Real Madrid’s inconsistent title challenge in LaLiga hit its latest bump on the road on Monday night, when Álvaro Arbeloa’s side lost 1-0 to Getafe. A 39th minute shot from Martin Satriano was enough to keep Los Blancos at bay, as Madrid were forced to come to terms with their second defeat in three games and a four-point gap opening up between themselves and league leaders Barcelona. And, perhaps most woringly of all, it doesn’t seem as though Arbeloa has improved on his predecessor on the touchline.

Indeed, in Arbeloa’s 12 games in charge of Real Madrid, he has recorded eight wins and four defeats, with 26 goals scored and 14 conceded, giving him an average of exactly two points per game. In other words, since the Spanish coach’s arrival, Real Madrid have lost one in every three games, or 33.3%. These defeats have led to the team’s elimination from the cup at the hands of Albacete and a four-point drop in the league table, with the interim head coach now averaging fewer points than Xabi Alonso.

As we can see in the stats above, Arbeloa’s record in the Spanish capital is now someway short of Alonso’s average of 2.24 points per game as Madrid manager, when the former Bayer Leverkusen head coach picked up 24 wins, four draws and six defeats, with 72 goals scored and 38 conceded. Comparing both records, we see that Alonso accumulated a better points average than Arbeloa currently has (2.24 vs 2.00).

In this regard, the Tolosa-born coach won 70.4% of his matches, compared to 66.6% for the current interim coach, while, in percentage terms, Alonso suffered almost half as many defeats as the Salamanca-born coach (17.6% vs 33.3%). Finally, in terms of goals, Arbeloa’s Real Madrid scores 2.16 goals per match, compared to 2.11 during Alonso’s tenure. Similarly, Madrid now concedes on average 1.16 goals per match, while under Alonso the average was slightly lower, at 1.11.

But, perhaps most importantly, Madrid spent 10 matchdays top of the LaLiga table prior to Alonso’s sacking, but have only overtaken Barcelona for a solitary weekend under Arbeloa. And a four-point gap at the top of the table suggests that Madrid won’t be back on top anytime soon. The only saving grace for Arbeloa is that the Catalan league leaders have also struggled for form lately, dropping as many points at Madrid since Arbeloa was confirmed as interim head coach. However, it remains to be seen whether that will be enough to keep the whistles and jeers off the young coach’s back as we approach the business end of the season.