Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti looked frustrated after Los Blancos’ defeat to Real Betis on Saturday night, but there was also an equally concerning familiarity. The Italian manager questioned the attitude of his side, and the performance could have consequences.
Los Blancos were beaten by the better side at the Benito Villamarin, who forced Betis deep to defend late on, but did not work Adrian sufficiently in the closing stages. It has been reported that the main concern at Real Madrid was the attitude shown by the star-studded line-up.
“Attitude and commitment,” were two of the reasons behind their defeat cited by Ancelotti to Diario AS after the game. All the teams are running and we have not known how to do the same. This game must serve as a wake-up call. It’s a lesson…”
“It seemed that in recent times the team was much more organised and compact, and against Betis we did not know how to do it,” Ancelotti continued, with the intention of sending a strong message to his players. Real Madrid have now suffered eight defeats this season, compared to just two in the entirety of last year. In addition, they have taken just five points from their last five La Liga games.
Relevo say that while Ancelotti had been planning for David Alaba to return to the starting line-up against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, and more generally for the decisive games coming in the final three months of the season. However Alaba looked short of sharpness, albeit so did Antonio Rudiger, and it means that Raul Asencio will be back in the defence on Tuesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu. They also point out that Real Madrid’s last three defeats – against Barcelona, Espanyol and Betis – have all coincided with the absence of Asencio.
It also looks as if Fede Valverde will make it back for the derby clash against Atletico Madrid too, with Lucas Vazquez’s defensive frailties evident against Betis once again. Ancelotti will still be without two of his key midfielders though, with Jude Bellingham suspended, and Dani Ceballos likely out injured until May. Both represent problems for Ancelotti to solve.
Who cares 🤷🏽♂️😅
Spanish press!!!!!!!!!!!!
All they want to do is SACK the coach after every game.
He is doing MIRACLES with what he has.
No team has more injuries this year than RM.
GOOD players are left aside to rest for more important games .The young ones are not good enough.
Maybe the press should hire Pep.G.He just signed a new contract!!!! By the way Leverkusen is SECOND.NO INJURIES.
GO PRESS GO! Maybe they should coach RM,
The Galacticos approach is outdated. Instead of bonafide stars that live and breathe football you’re now hiring social media personalities with side businesses that just happen to also play football.
Ancelotti is right. It’s about attitude and commitment, and unfortunately for him not all of his players have it.
Defences win leagues… and RM have been decimated in the backline all season. Right now “Alaba” is just a name, a memory. The guy was out for a year and is in retirement age territory so it is unfair for Ancelotti to even consider him as a starter. Not sure why reinforcements were not brought in on loan… like Kepa. No obligation to keep them, just cover for the rest of the season. That daft decision is costing the season. Raul Asencio is the light… there are more like him (e.g. Joan Martinez) but again – injured. Games are not just won by the players… coaches decisions and also the boardroom play a huge part – and RM’s personnel in those areas have not stepped up so far.
@John – it is incorrect to label this team as “Galacticos” (but actually a compliment for them). Most of these players were bought young and developed in-house. There is a secret to that… and the reason why MBappe (yes, a Galactico in the old sense) took half a season to even understand how he can fit in. That secret is the reason RM wins so many CL titles. I will need to write a full article to explain it because the pundits try to understand RM through the prism of how other teams operate… and since no explanation is available, they are labelled as “lucky”. 6 out of 9 is not luck… it is mystical stuff.
Point taken; I suppose then that I would wonder why the effort and commitment that Ancelotti speaks of is missing? Is it maybe because many of those youngsters didn’t come through the academy? It seems that with the history and tradition that club have that certain attitudes and fundamentals would be cemented early on, but if some of them either were only briefly there or went straight to the first team then maybe some of that was missed? Serious and well-intended questions, by the way; I know that academy players from Barca get a more in-depth indoctrination than non-academy players and it generally takes them longer to assimilate, so just curious if you think that might also be the case with Real.
*the non-academy players take longer to assimilate at Barca…