Speaking on Fútbol en Movistar Plus+ program, the former Real Madrid player, coach, and sporting director said Vinicius “is not the same as he was,” adding that the bench decisions now come from a different era under Xabi Alonso rather than Carlo Ancelotti.

Valdano urged the Brazilian to “first improve his level and then convince the coach,” framing the moment as a test of professionalism and adaptation rather than ego or status.

For Valdano, the optics mattered as much as the performance: emotional outbursts on the touchline are “not healthy in any case,” particularly within a dressing room managing transitions and hierarchy shifts. 

Club over player: the Madrid code

Valdano’s critique hinged on a long-held Madrid principle: “the people of Real Madrid have always put the club before the player,” and he suggested that line was blurred when Vinicius took his frustration public against his own coach.

In Valdano’s framing, the fight is no longer “against the world” but with the bench, a shift he deems riskier in a club that prizes institutional authority over individual flare.

He also noted such gestures carry an implicit slight toward the incoming substitute, an etiquette breach that can erode unity and invite unnecessary scrutiny in a title-chasing environment. 

What comes next for Vinicius

The prescription was clear: elevate form, respect decisions, and realign with the standards that have historically sustained Madrid’s success, especially under a coach resetting roles and demands.

Valdano’s comments read as both reprimand and roadmap: temper emotion, perform decisively, and win back the trust that ensures minutes in defining matches.

With the Espanyol episode amplifying pressure, the forward’s response will be judged not in statements but in consistency, discipline, and end product, qualities that, in Valdano’s view, must precede any argument about status. 

Madrid’s culture rarely bends for stars. It challenges them to adapt or risk isolation within a relentless ecosystem. For Vinicius, who has often felt the club’s protection in difficult contexts, the task now is internal: channel fire into football and keep the noise off the touchline.