Real Madrid Manager Carlo Ancelotti has been clear that his side have plenty to work on ahead of their La Liga opener against Athletic Club at San Mames. While he has been positive about their new formation, the defence has come out of preseason not looking too clever.
“It has been positive,” he told Diario AS, evaluating the preseason as a whole for Los Blancos.
“We showed two sides. Very good offensively, but defensively the team is not used to defending with the diamond. We have conceded many goals. The three of today, those of Barcelona… There was a lack of balance and we need to fix it.”
Despite those defensive issues, which led to 8 goals being conceded in four ties, despite a clean sheet against Manchester United, Ancelotti was not overly concerned by them. Their 3-1 defeat to Juventus concerned fans more than the 3-0 loss to Barcelona, given how much tighter the Clasico was.
“It’s the easiest thing to improve. Above all it is a problem of positioning, concentration and attitude. We were good at pressing up top and weak on the low block. It has been evident in the last two games. Lowering the block may be an option to consider. I’m left with two things, with the mobility we have up front and the chances we create. We are not used to this fragility.”
In general, the fact that he knows what to do next was the message he wanted to convey.
“A 6. Because there are things to try. It’s good that it’s obvious what needs to be fixed.
Neither would he commit to using their new 4-4-2 diamond formation in their first La Liga match, even if most expect that.
“At San Mames we will see. I think so. We have time to work, especially defensively. Offensively, the team likes the formation a lot.”
“It’s an obvious lack of balance. It improves with better positioning and collective work. We pressured a lot and if you get out of the pressure there are more spaces. I pushed them a bit, I wanted to see how the team behaved in that situation.”
It’s been a constant bugbear of Ancelotti’s since he arrived, that his side have struggled to consistently press. Without Benzema, in theory he should be able to push higher up, but evidently, it still needs some tweaking.
