Real Madrid Manager Carlo Ancelotti has agreed with his Atletico Madrid counterpart Diego Simeone that their biggest weakness is out wide, where they can be attacked. However, he tried to soften the criticism of his side, which he felt was over the top – ‘questioning the entire thing for a team that has won 6 out of 7 seems too much for me.’
He was asked early on how the criticism was affecting him, but noted that evaluating the games is something he does for a living.
“It doesn’t affect me. That said, I must evaluate the things that we are not doing well, which are not many, but we must work on them. My evaluation is different from that of many people. So far we have done well and we must continue.”
Much of the Madrid press had focused on Real Madrid’s diamond formation in the aftermath, questioning whether it was getting the best out of his players.
“Each system has its weaknesses: the diamond is not perfect, but neither is the 4-4-2 or the 4-3-3. Every formation has its weaknesses. The diamond allows us to press higher, to be more energetic, but you can be caught out of position from crosses, because the central midfielders do not always reach the flanks. We are working on this. The problem is obvious and can be fixed.”
The other key point of cirticism for the Italian himself was the decision to drop Joselu Mato from the starting XI and bring in Luka Modric instead. Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo Goes struggled to click up front, but Ancelotti was asked why he changed so many pieces for the match.
“Modric could play in that position without problems and from Bellingham, I only changed the defensive idea, because in attack he was to do the same. I don’t think I changed that many pieces.”
Asked exactly what the weaknesses of the diamond system, Ancelotti again agreed that the flanks were their big problem.
“It is difficult for us to control the wings, especially in our own half. And it is something that we must work on, that’s true. It is something that we saw in preseason, but in La Liga it was functioning for us: only three goals conceded until the Metropolitano. But there, we forgot what to do.”
He confirmed that they had also spoken to the defenders about how to defend balls from wide out, and there’s no doubt that Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba were just as much at fault as the full-backs themselves. No doubt the opponents coming up will look to exploit that area too, although the return of Carvajal should help with that.
