During the final months of last season, everyone at Real Madrid knew that three players from Carlo Ancelotti’s side were living out their final moments as meringues. These are the three players who were in the final season of their contract and it was known that the club would not offer them the possibility of renewal
The first and most obvious is that they contributed nothing or almost nothing to the team in terms of sport. His decline in recent years was more than evident, and his farewell saved him some places and wages at the club. But, moreover, if they had continued for another year in their same position, it would have been impossible to manage their egos. As bad as it was, Isco is one of the greatest talents Spanish football has produced in the last decade, Gareth Bale is one of the most expensive players in history and Marcelo is one of the best left-backs of all time. We are talking about Isco Alarcon, Gareth Bale and captain Marcelo. All three completed a cycle and had to leave the team for two reasons
Ancelotti was aware of this and let Florentino Perez know that if he had any doubts about it, stop feeling it. They couldn’t follow any of the three, and so it was. Then, once they had confirmed their departure, they began to find the equipment, although in none of the three cases did they land well. Starting with Gareth Bale, although he has played 14 games since arriving in Los Angeles and been a fixture by scoring in Play Offs to force penalties, he has only started in two of those games, far from what might have been expected
He was saved that his club had won the MLS title and that collective success could outweigh individual disappointment, but nothing else. Moving on to Marcelo, the Brazilian is also a substitute in the Greek Olympiacos, and when he played, he played at such a low level that the Piraeus fans ended up calling for his departure from the team. Finally, Isco Alarcón arrived in Sevilla, a good team in a competitive league, to prove that he still has the level to be in the elite. He did it with the endorsement of Julen Lopetegui, with whom he shone in the Spanish national team and when they faced Real Madrid
But Sevilla’s season has been a disaster, Lopetegui is no longer the coach and he doesn’t get along well with Sampaoli. In recent weeks, his unwillingness to train and his lack of participation made the Argentine coach and Monchi, the sporting director, decide that they would look for a way out for him in the winter. In short, Carlo Ancelotti was right to want not to continue at Real Madrid. Neither on nor off the field is equal
