Real Madrid’s hard-fought win over Rayo Vallecano did little to ease concerns about the team’s performances. On the contrary, it added to the doubts surrounding Álvaro Arbeloa’s side, with the coach now three weeks into his tenure.

For Álvaro Benito, the uncertainty is both obvious and worrying. Speaking after the match, the former Real Madrid player and current Movistar commentator questioned the team’s identity: “Time keeps passing and we still don’t know what Real Madrid’s footballing philosophy is. Are they a counter-attacking team? Do they want to defend high, press, keep possession, dominate the game…?”

Benito stressed that dominance requires far more than intent. “To dominate, you need to meet a lot of defensive requirements, and those requirements are not being met,” he explained. While acknowledging that Arbeloa seems to have improved the atmosphere in the dressing room, Benito made it clear that this alone will not be enough. “Creating a good environment is important, and that seems to be the main objective right now, but there’s another side to this — the technical and tactical one.”

The analyst was particularly critical of the narrative surrounding the current squad. “It can’t be that an elite team is supposedly impossible to coach,” he said. Benito believes Real Madrid are approaching a decisive moment: either the team defines itself and becomes genuinely dominant, capable of controlling matches so that a poor result is merely an exception, or much more difficult times lie ahead.

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