Real Madrid centre-back Pepe has defended under-fire boss Carlo Ancelotti in the aftermath of the 4-3 Champions League home defeat to Schalke.
Despite progression to the quarter-finals of the competition, Los Blancos’ players had to suffer jeers from the fans at the final whistle after yet another below par performance.
However, Portuguese international Pepe has dismissed suggestions Ancelotti gives his squad too much leeway, whilst also comparing his methods to former boss Jose Mourinho, who some supporters were demanding return to the club following the Schalke match.
“Ancelotti will carry on at Madrid, there’s no doubt about that,” declared Pepe in an interview with Spanish radio station La COPE.
“He’s a great Coach who in a short space of time has brought a lot of joy to this club. He is not too lenient with us and has had a very distinguished career. He demands a lot.
“I don’t miss Mourinho. That was a different era and it’s over. Our training sessions under Ancelotti are much more intense and I thank God I’ve played under a Coach like him because he’s really helped me a lot.
“He says to me ‘Pepe, with your quality you must anticipate moves. You’re fast and strong and read the game well. You need to be focused’”.
Pepe feels talk of a crisis at the Santiago Bernabeu is still a little premature and attempted to analyse the situation.
“Getting whistled at the Bernabeu hurts but our fans have every right to do so. They know when we’ve had a poor game and we also recognise it.
“Even so, I don’t think we lacked attitude against Schalke. We ran a lot but not as a team, yet we didn’t go into the game as focused as we should have been and lacked intensity.
“We seem to have lost some freshness since coming back from the holidays and need to concentrate more. Things will turn around if we remain humble, although if we think everything will be okay just because of our quality then we are mistaken.
“We’ll only win games if we match our opponents in intensity. We’ve got to face every game as though it’s our last.
“We’ve hit rock bottom and now we have to respond in the right way and lift ourselves,” he asserted.
