Real Madrid has sacked a youth coach in the aftermath of their 3-0 loss to Barcelona, a result which sent them packing in the Copa del Rey. His departure comes after he publicly criticized a number of Los Blancos' senior players.
The man, Alvaro Benito, had been in charge of the Juvenil B side at the club's academy but has now been relieved of his duties after slamming the likes of Kroos and Casemiro on Spanish radio. The 42-year-old did not hold back when analyzing the two midfielders' performance in the Santiago Bernabeu defeat in the recent Clasico.
Sergio Ramos was also not exempt from criticism, as Benito felt the skipper should have done better for the opening goal. His unapologetic words came after he lavished Vinicius with praise on Cadena SER for his display on Wednesday.
"I think Vinicius has been a welcome arrival and I think he has surprised everyone with the high level he has been playing at," Benito said (as per Marca).
"He's a youngster, but he shakes up the attack. We're talking about a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona and, of the 22 players, he was the one who was most able to make things happen in attack.
"For me, the problem is that there are players playing well below their level. I'm speaking about Casemiro, who isn't ready to play a single minute in my opinion.
"With [Toni] Kroos, when the wind goes in our favor then we navigate it fantastically, but when it goes against we don't even get the boat in the water. There are others like this.
"The first two goals were very preventable. With the first goal, I don't know if [Sergio] Ramos was slightly injured following the clash in the first half, but he went very tamely towards a ball that should be his.
The second goal is a great mess, with Barcelona not even needing to construct a great piece of play to get in behind. The response of Casemiro is a jog. It's surprising."
Speaking after this decision, the former Los Blancos player stated that he respects the club's decision and hopes to reunite with the Spanish once more in the future. Regardless, Benito's words might resonate with a few fans after seeing their team utterly collapse at home despite showing promise.
Saturday brings the opportunity of revenge, as Messi and Co. will return to the Bernabeu but in La Liga this time around. The likes of Benzema and Vinicius will hope for better luck in front of goal while Ramos and Co. will need to improve at the back in order to avoid another embarrassment.
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