Carlo Ancelotti has leapt to the defence of Gareth Bale after the winger was once more the recipient of whistles from Real Madrid fans at the weekend.
The Welshman has faced accusations of selfish play throughout the season and was again targeted by Los Blancos’ faithful during the 4-1 win against Real Sociedad following more perceived instances of going for glory by himself.
“Bale’s doing his best to help the team,” the Coach said at a Press conference ahead of Madrid’s encounter with Sevilla on Wednesday.
“He did very well last year. He’s scored in his last three games and having a fantastic season. I’m happy with Bale, he’s doing very well.
“I don’t listen to the whistles, I don’t think about them and I’m not concerned. Bale’s playing well and in optimal condition. I hope it stays that way.
“Bale prefers to play on the right because that he can shoot more. He can play anywhere in attack. Depending on how a match unfolds, he may switch wings.
“[Conceding early goals isn’t] a work problem but rather our initial approach. We must improve our concentration and start [games] with different rhythm.
“We’ll fight until the last game. Holding an advantage [over your rivals] is good, but it doesn’t decide anything.
“We signed Chicharito because we needed him, but I didn’t know how many minutes we needed from him.
“He said he was happy to be here and work with us. He’s extremely professional and therefore I’m grateful to have him.
“I hope my players [understand the 4-4-2/4-3-3 hybrid] in the dressing room. It’s not that complicated. We try to defend with two lines of four and attack with three.
“It’s a system that we started using against Barca in the Copa [del Rey final last season] and applied it in matches against Bayern [Munich] and Atletico [Madrid].
“Our work and philosophy remains the same for whoever plays, but obviously each player has different traits. Isco aids our attack, [Asier] Illarramendi our defence.”
