From the outside, Alvaro Arbeloa seemed a surprise choice to replace Xabi Alonso as Real Madrid manager in January — but the Champions League victory against Manchester City over two legs was a promising reward for the club hierarchy’s faith in the former Madrid, Liverpool and Spain right-back.
Nobody knows the 43-year-old better than his coaching staff, but little has been written about them since the mid-season change in the dugout. From a childhood friend of Arbeloa’s to a former mentor who once worked for Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, they have been together since Arbeloa was put in charge of Madrid’s under-19 team in 2022.
Despite having virtually no previous experience at elite level, they have earned a positive reputation at Real Madrid. They are a close-knit and at times secretive group who have often been found watching academy matches together or going for runs around Madrid’s training complex.
When Carlo Ancelotti returned to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2021, the club were keen for Arbeloa to make the step up as an assistant on his team, but Arbeloa preferred to make his own way, with his own staff.
So, who are the people helping Arbeloa take his on-pitch decisions? Here, The Athletic provides a guide.
Julian Carmona (assistant coach)
Arbeloa’s relationship with Carmona, his main assistant, goes back to their childhood. They started playing football together at the Salvador school in Zaragoza, the northeastern city in Spain where Arbeloa’s father Agustin was posted as part of his work for the army.
Other top athletes have gone to the same school, including the former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera and the Olympic long-distance runner Carlos Mayo.
As Arbeloa enjoyed success as a player — he started at Real Zaragoza’s academy before moving to Real Madrid for the first time, then going on to Deportivo La Coruna and Liverpool before returning to the Bernabeu — Carmona played for regional semi-professional teams in the province of Aragon, where Zaragoza is located. He later took on roles as a fitness coach and trainer for modest teams, including the third-division side Ejea.
Carmona, 42, also spent some summers helping players get into shape, including Birmingham City forward Carlos Vicente.
When Arbeloa took charge of Madrid’s under-14s in 2020, the club did not initially approve Carmona’s move to Madrid’s academy. It eventually happened in 2021 with the under-16 team, and since then, he has been Arbeloa’s right-hand man, responsible for areas including set pieces and attacking situations. Arbeloa moved up to the under-19s in 2022 and then Castilla (Madrid’s ‘B’ team) in 2025.
Unlike previous assistants at Madrid, such as Sebas Parrilla (who worked under Alonso) or Davide Ancelotti (Carlo’s son), Carmona does not tend to give many instructions to the players during games in this role, although he is involved in dead-ball situations. In the academy, he was more involved in correcting players on the pitch.
The backroom staff usually run around the cities where the team play their away games. Before they were promoted to the first team, it was normal to see Carmona getting his steps in around the Valdebebas training ground early in the morning.
During those regular runs on away days, Carmona and Arbeloa set the pace.
Julian Carmona, left, speaks to Alvaro Arbeloa at the training ground (Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ricardo Da Silva (fitness coach)
Known by those close to him as “Richi”, Da Silva is Arbeloa’s trusted lieutenant when it comes to physical preparation — although some things have changed since his elevation to the first team.
He took an eclectic route to the Madrid academy, working in Azerbaijan, Slovenia, and for now-defunct Ukrainian side Dnipro. He also has a Master’s degree in sports science.
Da Silva (see top picture), 36, spent two spells at fellow Madrid club Rayo Vallecano with their women’s team and ‘B’ team (from 2011 to 2013 and from 2017 to 2018) and Valencia (2019 to 2021) before establishing himself in the academy and working with Arbeloa from his days in charge of the under-16s in 2021.
He now reports to Antonio Pintus, Madrid’s long-standing head of physical training, who played a background role during Alonso’s time in charge but who is now back in charge of the team’s fitness. Da Silva also now works alongside Sebastien Devillaz, who is close to Pintus. He is officially listed as an “assistant” on the club website.
Da Silva is described at Valdebebas as a modern fitness coach who is more inclined to work with players on the pitch than in the gym. He places particular emphasis on the use of GPS systems and closely monitors players’ workloads.
Antonio Pintus is Ricardo Da Silva’s boss (Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Francis Sanchez (analyst)
Francisco Sanchez — better known as Francis — is described by those who work with him at Valdebebas as “Arbeloa’s eyes on the pitch”. He taught Arbeloa on the World Cup winner’s UEFA Pro coaching course in 2022, where the Madrid manager shared classes with former Atletico and Spain striker Fernando Torres and ex-Mexico and Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez.
The same sources say Sanchez, 55, is in constant contact with those in the dugout and frequently intervenes in match situations, despite usually being seated in the commentators’ seats. He stays in touch with the bench through phone calls with Carmona.
Before meeting Arbeloa, he worked under Simeone as a first-team analyst for Real’s city rivals Atletico until 2022. Sources close to the academy say there were a lot of jokes made about Sanchez joining from Atleti at first, and that he is the person who Arbeloa most debates tactics with — but that there is a lot of trust between them, with the now-Madrid head coach delegating lots of tasks to him.
Francis Sanchez worked with Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
Sanchez was never an elite player, but made a name for himself in the professional game through studying and producing technical and video reports. He even published a book on the subject of football and analysis titled ‘What is your rival hiding?’.
Sanchez is in charge of drone analysis during Arbeloa’s training sessions. Sources close to the academy say Arbeloa will ask to watch back certain moves which have been filmed by Sanchez and will send them on, with Arbeloa then watching them on his tablet to make any corrections.
During matches at the Bernabeu, Francis sits in the commentators’ booth, alongside other analysts who worked with the first team before Arbeloa’s arrival. They provide half-time analysis to Arbeloa in the dressing room and are in contact via their phones, laptops and tablets.
Pablo Garcia (fitness coach)
The Athletic can reveal that Garcia is the latest addition to Arbeloa’s physical training staff, although this has not yet been made official. Pintus played a big role in the decision to promote Garcia, as he knew him from the academy. Arbeloa would have preferred Castilla’s Alex Salvador to move up with the rest of his staff, but the club trusted Pintus.
Garcia, 32, is present for training sessions at Valdebebas and is in charge of strength training for some players.
There was a gap in that area after the departure of physical trainer Javier Arnaiz following Alonso’s sacking. Garcia has been with Madrid since 2018 and is described by training-ground sources as a coach with the potential to help players get stronger and try to avoid injuries — which has again been a problem for the Bernabeu club this season.
His background has allowed him to focus on team performance analysis, while he has worked with teams such as Leganes, when they were in La Liga, and lower-league Gimnastica Segoviana.
Kevin Cardeiro (assistant)
Cardeiro joined the staff in 2022. He studied for a degree in law and business at the University of Las Palmas on the Canary Islands, but soon after started training as a football coach.
He spent time at former Serie A side Chievo Verona during an Erasmus year abroad — the European Union’s initiative to support education, training, youth and sport — and had a brief stint at Las Palmas’ academy from 2013-2015.
The 32-year-old is described as an experienced and dedicated worker by Valdebebas sources.
Alvaro Arbeloa with Kevin Cardeiro (Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)
After arriving at the Real Madrid academy in 2017, he learned a lot as an assistant to highly-regarded coaches in the youth setup. He was generally focused on individual analysis, producing videos of players to improve certain tactical or technical aspects, while also helping them with individual exercises in training.
Cardeiro is now focused on the development of young players, such as the 18-year-old midfielder Thiago Pitarch, who has started playing regularly for the first team following injuries to Jude Bellingham and Dani Ceballos. But he will also help the stars improve individually — something Alonso’s staff struggled with, given some players were unhappy with his methods.
Is there anyone else I should be aware of?
Not all of Arbeloa’s staff have been elevated to the first team.
His former Madrid team-mate and ex-goalkeeper Diego Lopez is one of those who has stayed with Castilla as a goalkeeping coach. Arbeloa wanted him to join the staff in 2023, but he was eventually appointed last year. Madrid already have the well-established Luis Llopis in that position for the first team, who has worked closely with Thibaut Courtois for several years.
With Dr Niko Mihic in charge of the medical department for the first team and Pintus in charge of conditioning, Arbeloa’s former physical trainer Alex Salvador, siblings Alberto Isla (a rehabilitation specialist) and Dr Elena Isla, have also stayed with Castilla. The Isla siblings’ father is Alberto Isla, a well-known doctor in Spain who has worked with several media outlets.
