Carlo Ancelotti has mused on Real Madrid’s misfortune this international break and how he could replace Sami Khedira in the team.
Los Blancos are looking at the rest of the season without the German international, after he sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury whilst in action on Friday against Italy.
Madrid have also seen Xabi Alonso draw concern for an injury picked up for Spain against Equatorial Guinea.
“We have been unlucky, especially with Khedira. For Xabi it is a knock,” explained Ancelotti to reporters today.
“Khedira is a very important player for the team’s balance. Losing Khedira, we need to find another solution.
“I’m sure we will be able to manage this absence, which will be significant for us. Xabi’s knock was dangerous, it was a very aggressive game he was in to be called a friendly.
“We have several solutions in midfield. We can select a player with similar characteristics or change the system, because we have to play a system in which the players are comfortable with. We will not consider signing someone.
“I need to think about [what solution to take] because there are players we have who have not played very many minutes.
“It could be that Casemiro can come in, but we cannot ignore the absence of Khedira.”
Ancelotti was talking at the launch of his latest book, discussing the advance of tactics in football in recent years.
“I wrote this book because I like football first. And second because I tried to explain how football has changed since 1995 [when he began with Reggiana] and 2013.
“The idea of this book is to summarise all the work and how football has changed in recent years. How there are different systems of play, training systems, how these have now greatly improved because there is more monitoring and technological devices.
“And I have spoken also about the relationship with the Presidents and with a group of players.”
