- FootBiz
- Posts
- FootBiz newsletter #133: Real Madrid and Man United go interim as two of football's biggest coaching jobs come open
FootBiz newsletter #133: Real Madrid and Man United go interim as two of football's biggest coaching jobs come open
As of now, the summer managerial market should be fascinating
Ed Malyon & Matt Hughes
January 13, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes
The rise of the interims.
Manchester United and Real Madrid, by some measures the two biggest clubs in the world, have both dispensed with highly-rated young coaches this month and turned to club legends as interim head coaches.
Madrid’s news came yesterday, after their Super Cup final defeat to Barcelona in Saudi Arabia.
One of the most instructive visuals in this whole farce was Alonso preparing his team to give Barca the guard of honour after Sunday’s defeat in Jeddah, only for Kylian Mbappe to wave them off and instruct his teammates to head to the dressing room.
There was no guard of honour in the end, but obviously no respect or authority either.
Once again, the Real Madrid players have claimed a manager as their victim.
The dreaded Comunicado Oficial from Real Madrid was nonetheless still quite unexpected. Mario Cortegana has been one of the best at covering the club in recent years and on Sunday night he wrote that “Alonso’s dismissal has not been seriously considered” but that contacts close to the squad were “surprised and disappointed” by this, if we needed confirmation of who got their own way.
Alvaro Arbeloa steps in to replace his former Liverpool and Real Madrid teammate. Whether he has the gravitas to wrangle the egos in that squad (and that boardroom, to be fair) is another question entirely.
Alonso had seemed the perfect hire for Madrid… until he wasn’t
As one Madrid radio station pointed out, it’s rare a coach is dismissed without ever having been whistled or jeered by the fans but this was a departure rooted in Madrid’s eternal palace intrigue. You can be the finest young coach in Europe, you may have played many years at Real Madrid but it doesn’t mean you’re the right fit for a job that is requires more of the politician than juego de posición.
A knock-on effect is that pressure on Arne Slot just increased. Whether Liverpool were even considering disposing of their title-winning coach we have no idea, but a ready-made replacement is right there. Manchester United, who are in the market for a new coach at some point this year (likely the summer) surely have to at least speak with the World Cup-winning midfielder after his outstanding work with Bayer Leverkusen, though his Anfield ties may mean he has no interest in the job.
United’s strategy, it would appear, is to hand the role to Michael Carrick until June and then have a broader selection to choose from. Luis Enrique has reportedly decided against signing an extension at Paris Saint-Germain and is an elite coach who could be on the market. Alonso joins him, while Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola are Premier League candidates whose contracts currently will expire this summer and then there are international coaches with deals up after the World Cup.
(Personally, it’s difficult to see how anyone coaching at the World Cup could feasibly agree to take over a club before the tournament. The last big time this happened, when Spain coach Julen Lopetegui was announced as Real Madrid boss on the eve of the 2018 tournament, he was fired from his post a day before the World Cup began. How could United realistically wait all year for a coach and then let them begin in mid-July? It probably rules out Carlo Ancelotti, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and any of those names.)
Carrick has taken temporary charge of United once again
As for Carrick, he does at least have more experience than Arbeloa, who follows the well-trodden path from Real Madrid’s second team, Castilla, to the first team dugout. Whenever there’s an emergency, this tends to be the move for Florentino Perez and Jose Angel Sanchez, with differing results (Zinedine Zidane good, Santiago Solari less so). Carrick has coached in the Premier League on an interim basis with United and then as the permanent manager of Championship club Middlesbrough. He was neither outstanding nor terrible on Wearside, but FootBiz sources say he turned down interest for a permanent role at Championship clubs in favour of the temporary opening at Old Trafford.
The former England midfielder has an opportunity to make a name for himself in coaching circles now. He’s taking over a team that, despite all their issues, is sixth in the Premier League table. Having been knocked out of both domestic cups and failed to qualify for Europe under Ruben Amorim, United have just the Premier League to focus on, meaning a week between games to rest and gameplan appropriately. United will play just 40 matches this season, their lowest number in decades, while clubs like Crystal Palace have already played 34.
Should Carrick manage to get United purring (or even just get lucky) then he will likely steer them back into European competition. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s brief spell in interim charge landed him the opportunity of a permanent post with Leicester City (which didn’t go well) but Carrick could easily earn himself a Premier League job out of the next few months.
Arbeloa’s path is less clear. While Madrid have settled for lower-profile bosses before, the tricky nature of steering Spain’s white giant through the political and competitive waters of elite football at home and on the continent has, as recently as yesterday, claimed the jobs of far more accomplished coaches.
Arbeloa takes immediate charge at the Bernabeu
Ultimately, while being the Real Madrid manager is as high-pressure and political a coaching job as there is on the planet, if Arbeloa can be competitive in the league (where Barca lead by just four points) and get lucky in the Champions League, the former full-back has a realistic chance of being handed the job longer term.
Perez has shown he is willing to eschew a big name if they keep their head down, focus on the things they’re supposed to, prevent rumblings from the squad and have success on the pitch.
Otherwise, two of the biggest coaching jobs in the world are going to be available this summer and there are going to be some fascinating decisions being made.
We’ll be watching.
As ever, a ton of news and analysis below the line today. If you’re not yet a premium subscriber, consider hitting the button below….
