The worst-kept secret in soccer has finally been confirmed with the announcement of Álvaro Arbeloa’s impending exit as Real Madrid manager.Arbeloa, hired in January as a permanent replacement for Xabi Alonso, will not make it to the second season of his contract as he told Friday’s press conference that he will depart for pastures new after Saturday’s meeting with Athletic Club.Madrid showed massive faith in Arbeloa when they handed him a permanent, 18-month contract in January, so why is he leaving after just five months?Big-Game ShortcomingsReal Madrid came up short when it mattered most. | Pablo Rodriguez/Quality Sport Images/Getty ImagesAs Alonso learned with his own abrupt exit, Madrid officials are not prepared to be particularly patient. There is an expectation that, even if a new manager needs a little time to settle, Los Blancos should always be competing for domestic and European honors.A record of 17 wins from 27 games at the time of his announcement hardly sounds like that of a manager deserving to be fired, but the problem is where those losses came from. Arbeloa’s Madrid were humiliatingly dumped out of the Copa del Rey fourth round at the hands of second-tier Albacete, before crumpling against Benfica on the final day of the Champions League league phase to have to fight through the knockout playoffs.Los Blancos were no match for Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals and were well-beaten by Barcelona in May’s Clásico, sealing the fate of the La Liga title race in the process.Even some of Arbeloa’s victories were not as glamorous as expected. Madrid benefit from being a significantly stronger unit than the vast majority of their domestic competition and underwhelming performances were often masked by moments of brilliance from the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior that ensured the spotlight didn’t burn too brightly on the struggling manager.The nail in the coffin, however, came later.Locker Room DramaKylian Mbappé (right) ultimately sealed Arbeloa’s fate. | Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press/Getty ImagesMay was an utterly humiliating month for Madrid, who were the subject of countless negative headlines for behind-the-scenes antics.A two-day fight between Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni came after reports of issues between Arbeloa and a handful of fringe players in the squad. Antonio Rüdiger slapped Álvaro Carreras after a training-ground disagreement, but the worst was yet to come.Kylian Mbappé went public with his frustrations towards Arbeloa. While the Madrid golden child stopped short of specifically challenging the manager, Mbappé did question his team selection and admitted Madrid’s hopes of winning the La Liga title ultimately fell apart following Arbeloa’s arrival.It quickly became clear that Madrid had a problem in the locker room that Arbeloa could not control. Be it the size of the egos butting heads or simply the extent of the demands at one of the world’s biggest clubs, Arbeloa did not have the tools needed to get the job done.President Florentino Pérez’s decision to handpick José Mourinho as Madrid’s next manager speaks volumes. Mourinho, while still respected as an all-time great, is no longer seen as an elite tactician—his 2021–22 Conference League triumph with Roma is Mourinho’s only trophy since 2017—but that is not Pérez’s concern.Instead, the president wants somebody prepared to dish out a no-nonsense approach. Mourinho will not tolerate the sort of chaos that was allowed to leak into the public eye this season and will make it clear that those not prepared to confirm to the demands at the Bernabéu will quickly be out the door.Arbeloa lacks that ruthlessness and, in truth, lacks the reputation to command that sort of respect from the superstar names in the squad. The job, his first at senior level, may have come too soon.READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow