MADRID, 11 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, has assured that the team has “total confidence” in goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, called up to start after the serious injury to Belgian Thibaut Courtois, although he has acknowledged that they will think “whether to put in another goalkeeper” in the squad, given the Ukrainian’s lack of “experience”.
“Now we give all the confidence in the world to Lunin, who is a great goalkeeper who has already shown his quality. We have total confidence in him, we think he is a great talent; he lacks experience, and he will have it game by game On a personal level we are very sad about what has happened to Courtois, but we have a very long squad to avoid these problems that can happen”, he declared at the press conference prior to the first league game against Athletic Club.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of signing another goalkeeper. “We have total confidence in Lunin. In the next few days we will think about whether to put a goalkeeper in the squad. A starter… We have confidence in Lunin and we continue with Lunin,” he said, joking about what he would ask of a new goalkeeper. “Let him stop with his hand. With his feet, it’s better to have a striker who hits,” he said.
Despite Courtois’s serious injury, the Italian coach was “very calm”. “We have time to think about it until the 31st. We have very young goalkeepers behind Lunin, who have a lot of potential, like Cañizares or Fran, but the season is very long. We’re going to think about this only as a number. Fran is 17 years old, If we think about the idea of signing another goalkeeper, it’s only by number, because we have a lot of confidence in Andriy”, he insisted.
“Emotionally, yesterday was not a good day; we had an injury to an important player, but this usually happens in football. These things happen in football. Now we wish Courtois that he can recover soon”, he assured. “We were saddened by a teammate who has to stay out for a while, but we have to look forward. I have never worried about the players not being able to be in a game. At the time the injury of Thibaut, we thought about giving Lunin all the confidence, and he has it from everyone. The only thing he lacks is experience,” he said.
In another order of things, the Real Madrid coach explained that they do not need to reinforce the forward line this summer. “The problem we’ve had this season is defensively, offensively we’ve scored a lot of goals and we’ve had a lot of chances to score. There’s been a bit of a lack of success, but it’s quite normal in preseason because the striker still doesn’t have the freshness to score. We are very good up front, we have several options; Joselu is very good in the area, he stands out very well, and Brahim, between the lines, can create more solutions for us”, he indicated.
In addition, he assured that Vinícius and Rodrygo must “continue with their progression”. “They are two players who have progressed very well in recent years, with a lot of continuity, and this is what they have to do. How many goals? I don’t know. We have a team with several options, because there are many players who can contribute goals: Vinícius, Rodrygo, Joselu, Bellingham, Valverde, Kroos, the defenders from set pieces…”, he listed.
Regarding Vinícius, he affirmed that he is “very well” and that he has arrived “in optimal condition”. “He has worked very well on vacation. He just wants to play and I think he’s going to do well. The racism protocol is very clear, and if there are insults the referee will have to stop the game. I hope it doesn’t happen, but it can happen” he expressed.
He also believes that the number ‘9’ will remain deserted. “I am very satisfied with this squad, I am very excited because I have seen something very good in the preseason. I see the players very animated, very connected, they work very well, with a lot of commitment. We are confident that we will compete all season season”, he explained, stressing that Jude Bellingham “is more dangerous as a midfielder”.
The Reggiolo coach believes that Turkish Arda Güler’s recovery time will be “quite short”. “He has a problem that he has to fix. Going into details is a bit complicated because of the privacy issue, but Arda’s problem is very small and I think he can recover very soon,” he stressed.
He also insisted that errors in the defensive aspect in preseason are not a quality problem, “but one of collective work, sacrifice and concentration.” “This week we have worked on it, we have adjusted the pressure better. I have forced them to press higher and we have lost a bit of balance, but the work done can be better evaluated tomorrow,” he added.
Regarding the team’s game for this course, Ancelotti insisted that they have many alternatives and that will allow them to develop different schemes. “We are with the same desire and enthusiasm to be able to compete. This preseason has told us that we can play in a different way. We have a fairly wide and varied squad to be able to handle different systems,” he said.
“In the preseason we have almost always used diamonds, which have turned out very well in some aspects and not so well in others, such as in the defensive profile; there will not be just one system this season, I think we can play with a 4-3-3 with a center forward, with a 4-2-3-1 with two pivots… I’m not betting on a single system, we have the possibility of using different systems this season”, he continued.
Lastly, he described as “positive” the conversation they have had with the referees, who have explained the novelties of this season at the regulatory level. “With added time, there is one more minute for every goal scored, it may be that we have more; we have to get used to this. We have talked about racism and that there is a very clear protocol,” he said.
Ancelotti considers that the referees made “excessive use of VAR last season” and that now it must “enter a little less”. “About the atmosphere, in Spain it is hotter than in other places, there are more nerves on the benches, the coaches have to calm down a bit more. The referees do not have to enter the fight, the referee is a judge and to make decisions You have to be calm and calm, it is better that a referee does not enter the protest. Last year very young referees entered who lack experience, and in this type of environment they may have a little more errors. The objective of the referees is to protect the footballer and the image of football. We have to work together, but the referee is the judge of this”, he concluded.