Marca revealed that Real Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa has punished Trent Alexander-Arnold by excluding him from Sunday’s La Liga match against Atlético Madrid.
Arnold started against Manchester City and was close to reaching his usual form, and was expected to lead the right flank in the derby.
However, everyone was surprised by Arbeloa’s decision to start Dani Carvajal instead of Alexander-Arnold, raising many questions about the Madrid coach’s reasoning.
According to the latest reports, Arbeloa excluded Alexander-Arnold due to his lack of punctuality after he was late for a recent training session.
Arbeloa’s decision was aimed at enforcing discipline within the team, and he didn’t hesitate for a moment to make this decision, considering it the perfect opportunity to send a clear message to the dressing room that commitment takes precedence over all other considerations.
Arbeloa’s situation reminds us of Hansi Flick’s famous decisions with Barcelona when he excluded several players from the starting lineup for being late to pre-match technical lectures.
