Real Madrid locker room starting to doubt key staff member’s approaches amid injury crisis | OneFootball

Real Madrid are currently reeling under an unprecedented injury crisis and currently have nine stars unavailable due to physical setbacks.

The team’s win over Osasuna just before the international break proved very costly on that front with Eder Militao, Rodrygo and Lucas Vazquez all suffering blows on the night.

The Brazilian defender, in particular, fell prey to a gruesome ACL tear and will not participate for the rest of the season.

Tensions growing

As revealed in a recent report on The Athletic, 17 Real Madrid players have been injured so far this season with even the likes of Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham missing games.

The English outlet further relays that the situation has mounted pressure on the team’s physical trainer Antonio Pintus and there are now serious internal doubts over his methodologies and possibly even his future.

Real Madrid are going through an injury crisis. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

For starters, many consider Pintus’ techniques to be very old-fashioned for the modern game, especially given the gruelling schedule that is very demanding in itself.

Several voices in the dressing room are unhappy with the media attention he has garnered in recent times and the management disagree internally over the importance of the distance covered by players during games.

The internal tensions go far beyond Pintus with complaints now rolling in over the assistant coach and coach of set-pieces Francesco Mauri for his temperamental behaviour on the sidelines although the primary victim is the former.

The Italian fitness trainer’s relationship with Carlo Ancelotti is said to have been strained in recent times especially after he refused to take accountability or responsibility over the recovery of injured players.

Further, he believes that the team is doing enough on the field in terms of distance covered and physical output while Ancelotti and Co. believe there is a need to improve the same.

Needless to say, fingers will be pointed at Pintus until the injury situation improves, and if it does not change soon, he could well face the axe.