Ancelotti on Pepe, Coentrao & Casemiro

Carlo Ancelotti has offered his thoughts on Pepe, Fabio Coentrao and Casemiro, when speaking to a Portuguese publication.

The Coach, who also commended the leadership qualities of Cristiano Ronaldo, was interviewed by A Bola, with his comments repeated by AS.

On Pepe, Ancelotti revealed he has never known a player more team spirited and denied there would be a problem with the centre-back and his young rival for a place, Raphael Varane.

“He’s very professional and works very hard. If I made a list of players with great team spirit, he would be on top,” Ancelotti confirmed.

“He tends to care more for the good of the team than himself. I don’t think Varane is a problem for him.

“On the contrary, I think Varane motivates Pepe the same way Pepe is motivation and an example for Varane. He can learn a lot from him.”

Ancelotti added that Coentrao is a player he likes but injuries have hampered his contribution and called for more effort in training.

“Coentrao is very competitive, especially in matches. He’s had no luck with injuries,” the Italian noted.

“Last season, as well as physical problems, we had other players, but later on he was of great help. He played all the big games.

“Against Bayern Munich he assisted Karim Benzema, played in the final and in all these games acted with great concentration.

“One aspect that I think can be improved is that the concentration and motivation shown in matches must also be shown in training.

“He doesn’t train with the intensity seen in matches and has to improve that. But it doesn’t mean he isn’t serious or professional.”

Ancelotti concluded by explaining why Casemiro was loaned to Porto but couldn’t reveal much about the Brazilian’s future.

“He needed to play more and Porto was a good solution for him,” he said of the midfielder.

“We are following him closely and he has been playing very well. At the end of the season, Casemiro will come back here and we’ll see what we can do.”

Tags Carlo Ancelotti Casemiro Fabio Coentrao Pepe Porto
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