Real Madrid players react to the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui

After the announcement from the Real Madrid board that they would be parting ways with manager Julen Lopetegui, the Los Blancos players had a very interesting response to the news. Here is what some of them said.

If you have followed Real Madrid for some time, you will know that the club has been through this same kind of situation before. Just three years ago, president Florentino Perez hired Rafa Benitez after firing Carlo Ancelotti.

However, the new manager didn’t work out the way the club wanted and Benitez was fired during the Christmas break. Not long after, the former player turned coach Zinedine Zidane took the helm and led Los Blancos to their most successful run in the club’s decorated history.

Many of the players and fans did not like the way Benitez handled his players and his tactical choices. Thus, when he was relieved of his duty, players were not all that sad.

That same sentiment is being shown again with the dismissal of Lopetegui yesterday.

Although players such as Isco and Sergio Ramos voiced their trust and support for the former Spanish national team manager over the last month, neither had any comment on social media when the news broke.

In fact, just three of Real Madrid’s first-team players thanked Lopetegui on social media. Those three were Toni Kroos, Dani Ceballos, and Mariano Diaz.

Here are the three posts from the players:

While these messages are heartfelt, there is a something very clear from browsing the other players’ social media accounts. They were not behind Lopetegui and did not like him all along. If anything, they are much happier now that he is gone.

This last month or so hasn’t been pretty – we as fans are fully aware – but to react like this to a manager’s firing is low-class. The message is always ‘win as a team, lose as a team.’ And while Real has been doing a lot of losing recently, I still don’t agree with the way this situation was handled.

The blame shouldn’t fall squarely on the shoulders of Lopetegui. He did his best with the players at his disposal and tried his hardest to guide Los Blancos out of the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ultimately, he failed. But, the board of directors and the president should feel part of the blame for their stinginess in the transfer window over the summer and the lack of faith they showed in the boss when things started to go downhill.

It’s time to move on from the short-lived Julen Lopetegui era folks. The players already have.

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