“The criticism is justified, I have to be honest: against PSG we had a bad night and the first person responsible is me”
MADRID, 18 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, confessed that the team has “lowered the level” and admitted that the “criticism is justified” by the defeat in the Champions League against PSG, although he was convinced of overcoming the white morale in the match against Alavés, corresponding to the twenty-fifth day of LaLiga Santander that takes place this Saturday (9:00 p.m.) at the Santiago Bernabéu.
“I have to be honest, we played very badly against PSG, and what we usually did went wrong. We had a bad night, but this doesn’t worry me because I know the quality and personality that the players have,” Ancelotti said this Friday at a press conference the day before receiving the team from Vitoria.
The criticism for the bad game is, according to the Italian coach, “justified” because the team has played “badly”. “The first critic is me. The approach has not been good and I have to take responsibility. You have to understand and justify criticism. Many make me think, but others are nonsense. Criticism is fine, nonsense is not,” stressed.
In this sense, Ancelotti assessed that Vinicius Júnior’s losing streak, who has gone six games without scoring, is nothing more than a reflection of the rest of the group. “What is happening to the team is happening: we have lowered the level and rhythm. The team is physically well. We have conceded goals in the last few minutes, but it is something that can happen to you and it was not due to a physical downturn. ‘Vini’ has had a very intense month of January and now in the next three weeks we will reduce the number of games and it will be more effective”, he predicted.
With just one goal scored in the last four games, Real Madrid has lost an efficiency that Ancelotti is “evaluating” together with his coaching staff. “We have to hit more, but the main striker returns, who has scored many goals. When Karim is well, everything goes better. Now that he has recovered, he is going to help us fix this issue,” he said.
“MBAPPÉ DID US A LOT OF HARM, THE 1-0 WAS THE BEST”
Despite the defeat in Paris, the Reggiolo man trusts his squad to reverse the tie and avoided making a statement about the possible signing of PSG star Kylian Mbappé. “This continues to be a very competitive squad. It is clear that the club thinks about the future and each year tries to make a better squad,” he said.
Between a sports project and a possible stratospheric salary for the Frenchman from PSG to convince him, the Italian coach stated that he “is paid a lot” and declared himself “a privileged one”. “What I like is not the money I earn but what I do. I have spoken with the president and we agree that we are hurt, but we are very honest. We have played very badly, the image has not been good. The minor problem is the result because we can change it. A 1-0 is not so bad, it’s the best thing on Tuesday”, he assured.
In any case, he admitted that Mbappé did “a lot of damage” to them. “We have three weeks to think about how to fix the second leg against him. How have I slept? Wednesday was a difficult day, yesterday was better, today I have a lot of confidence and tomorrow we are going to win,” he said regarding the match against Alavés.
He defined the Basque team as a team “with rhythm” and “identity” that arrives at the Bernabéu “at a particular moment” after a defeat that has “hurt” them. “We are aware of the bad game we played. It is an important moment in the League, we have an advantage and we want to continue with this advantage”, he stressed.
What has changed in recent weeks is that Real Madrid, from a ‘low block’, “was able to make a transition with a quick pass and movements behind his back”. “In recent times we have had difficulties to play more vertically. We have not changed the strategy, we have only had more difficulty with the ball coming out from behind,” he explained.
Ancelotti stressed that he “never” said that Real Madrid was going to win the Champions League but instead promised to “compete” against the best teams on the continent. “We have competed against one of the best teams in Europe playing poorly and in three weeks we are going to compete more,” he said.