MADRID, 15 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that “individually” his players “are improving a lot”, following their 2-0 victory against Real Sociedad on Saturday during matchday 5 of LaLiga EA Sports, thanks to two penalties scored first by Vinícius Jr. and then by Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.
“We are not at 100%, that’s true. This is quite normal, but I see that individually the players are improving a lot,” said Ancelotti in a press conference at the Reale Arena. “We can talk about all the problems in the world in this game, but we are very happy because the most important thing was to start this round of games well,” he added.
In this sense, he stressed that “there are many” commitments in the coming weeks. “We have started very well, taking into account that we are not 100%. This is quite normal when you lack everything, four midfielders, it is very difficult to find the balance and I think that the work of the midfielders who played today, Modric, Valverde, Arda, has been very good work and I value it very much,” argued the Real Madrid coach.
“The team had a difficult game and probably didn’t deserve to win because Real Sociedad played very well, they pushed hard. It was hard for us to come back from behind, but I think we held on, we suffered, we were committed even in the difficult moments of the game. I value this a lot, the commitment against a team with so much quality. We can’t always find it and today we found it,” warned the Italian coach of Real Madrid.
“The start was not good. As I said, they pressed very well in the opponent’s half, in our half. We were not always able to find the free player,” he reiterated before assessing the two possible injuries registered in his squad. “Militão has nothing and Brahim has had a problem in his adductor,” he said in this regard.
“I think that the two centre-backs will be able to rotate a bit in the next few games. It was a game where we were missing practically the entire midfield. We were a bit in a pinch in the last few games. I think that we will have more players, so we can rotate a bit more,” he said.
He then spoke about who takes the penalties. “They choose the penalties, depending on how they are. The first one was scored by Vini and the second one they decided Mbappé had to take. They took responsibility for taking the penalty and so far it has gone very well,” he analysed.
“I’m very satisfied. Afterwards, we obviously have to make the necessary and sufficient criticism to improve this game. It’s the best way, it’s a great opportunity for us to critically evaluate what hasn’t gone well. But with three more points in the table, which is the most important thing,” said Ancelotti from San Sebastian.
On the other hand, he highlighted seeing Mbappé “fresher” and also “more active when he has the ball.” “He is very dangerous. He is combining well with the forwards, he is improving a lot and I liked his performance,” added Ancelotti, who finally avoided giving his opinion on Vinícius’ controversial celebration after scoring his penalty.
“I don’t have an opinion on this. Everyone has their own opinion, I prefer to keep it to myself,” he said. “I didn’t actually see the second penalty because I didn’t see the image. But when the referee goes to the VAR, he sees it much better and it seemed to me that he had no doubts about whistling,” he concluded.