Santiago Hernán Solari (Rosario, Argentina, 48 years old) is not only a candidate for the Real Madrid bench in case Carlo Ancelotti is dismissed in the middle of the season if the poor results continue. He is the one chosen, above the rest of the options, to take that step that no one in the club wants to happen. In fact, he was already warned on November 5 that he would have to take the reins of the team if they lost at home against Osasuna after having done so before, sadly and consecutively, against Barça and Milan. Now, waiting for the tough schedule that starts this Sunday in the League against Leganés and the commitments in Liverpool on Wednesday and against Atalanta on the next Champions League matchday, a certain peace has returned to the white ecosystem.
The Argentine, who has been the club's football director since returning to the entity in 2022, had a very frank conversation about it with the management leadership. The contacts between both parties, according to various sources consulted, began to be forged after the Clásico in which Flick's team strolled through the Bernabéu (0-4), but it was as soon as the home match against Milan (1- 3) when this strategy was agreed upon as an emergency measure. Not even the next morning, with the new setback digested, Florentino Pérez changed his mind. The bad game, the physical state, the role of Bellingham, the defensive disaster with Mbappé walking and the ostracism of Güler and Endrick had him bitter.
The president's confidence in Solari's status is complete and the club sees him as the ideal person to take charge of such a complex mission that, as demonstrated days later with the overwhelming victory against Osasuna (4-0), is totally reconducible. All we have to do is remember that Ancelotti has already been able to overcome other similar problems. Solari, although he did not express it in these confrontations, does not really want to take that step, but he also knows that one of his functions is to help the club in whatever it needs him and that he is there as the Molowny or Del Bosque of this new era . Not only does he coordinate the entire sports area with the maximum support in the face of internal tensions with Manu Fernández (responsible for the youth team) but also, although he does not like it, he is on standby as a fire extinguisher.
In no case would his pulse tremble. He was already interim coach in 2018, he knows the house from his time as a player (from 2000 to 2005) and coach of Castilla (which was where he made the leap to replace Julen Lopetegui in office) and, in addition, he maintains a very close relationship. close with many of the pillars of the locker room. For this reason, and alerted by some of the most veterans, he stopped appearing so much in training and the locker room at the beginning of last season so as not to bother anyone or give the impression that he was waiting for his moment in the shadows. Internally he is highly regarded, among many other things because he was the one who truly opted for Vinicius when he appeared in Valdebebas and some questioned his art in the definition. Of course, there are those who recognize that after Madrid's last victory in the League he was seen especially happy having lunch in a well-known restaurant in the capital. He was happy for the club, for redirecting a delicate situation and for Ancelotti – whom he admires and with whom he did not want to cross too much those days because he was injured – but above all he seemed relieved during a lunch that lasted well into the afternoon. for your situation.
There are plenty of reasons
The international break has been wonderful for Madrid to cool down an atmosphere that was already heated before these crucial defeats, as Relevo revealed days before the Clásico. Barça's defeat in Anoeta on the last day – which has reduced the gap in LaLiga to six with one game less -, the fact of not playing at Mestalla in the middle of the powder keg due to an unfortunate suspension and the possibility that they could win in Leganés to give peace of mind before visiting Anfield, have contributed to calmness even if it is tense. Even so, The conversations held in recent weeks between Solari and Florentino Pérez, José Ángel Sánchez and even Juni Calafat are valid for the moment when things go wrong again. Something that no one rules out happening. The club prefers Solari to an outside coach, Raúl González or Álvaro Arbeloa.
Solari's choice is due to multiple factors. Firstly, because his position requires him to carry out this type of responsibilities. Experience is a degree. He has personality: in that stage at the head of the ship years ago he isolated Isco and Marcelo. And his knowledge of the youth team is extensive, at this time when it has to be pushed with so many injuries. He is a regular at the matches that the reserve team, the División de Honor and even C play in the Ciudad Deportiva. And secondly, because the club would have enough, if necessary, to terminate Ancelotti, whose contract is valid until June 2026. The box for new expenses is not there. The commitment to an external coach with high demands would have no place in the short-term accounting plan and, furthermore, it would clash head-on with the hope for the future with Xabi Alonso.
But, in addition, Real Madrid's commitment to Solari is due to the fact that confidence with the other alternatives in the house is much lower. Raúl González, Castilla coach, is more outside the club than inside the club and they already consider him amortized. His promotion to the first team would only make sense if it occurs with the season already very advanced, almost in its final stretch and without options to fight for the main titles. In the style of what happened to López Caro in his day. More like a filler than a solution. And the possibilities of Álvaro Arbeloa, leader of Juvenil A, are even more remote for having never directed at a professional level. and for the fact that they don't want to burn him with a ballot like that.
However, and Although Solari is the majority's favorite in the club as interim, he has few options, if not none, to be the alternative to start a season. Either in 2025 or 2026. At that point, if Carletto does not rush or renew his contract again and one day he says goodbye, there will be a firm, long and important bet for the bench. Among the coaches (not all) there is a feeling at the moment that, no matter what happens this season, Ancelotti would not make it past June. No one is oblivious to the news about Xabi Alonso, nor where the criticism they read in the media originates from, nor does anyone forget that Brazil's dream is still latent, with time ahead of them to reach the World Cup at the head of a team that needs as May water a change of direction.
Ancelotti himself is, as always, the one who most trusts in a new comeback. He looks strong and has never thought about taking a step aside. He has faith that there will be a reaction and he feels the support of the players. Repeat over and over again, despite the bumps and curves, that we are in November and that these ideas and comings, preventive measures, veiled threats and corridor movements are what there were, are and always will be.
