Real Madrid loses the game | Football | Sport

What changes will Toni Kroos’ departure mean for the team? Carlo Ancelotti was asked on the day the German said goodbye to the Bernabeu. “That’s a good question. Let’s see, let’s see… – the Italian began. “On an environmental level, those who are here need to take more responsibility. And on a technical level, ugh… (pause) You have to see it, you have to see it. We can think that it will be a more vertical style with players who have much more energy but less playing time,” said the Madrid coach, recognizing the complexity of the issue.

There is not a single section of the field where the transition as part of the white team was prepared more slowly. Veterans gradually left or lost fame, and young people came and gradually gained weight. Casemiro left in 2022, Modric lost his permanent position in the fall of 2023, and Kroos retired in 2024. In parallel, Camavinga signed in 2021 for 31 million, Valverde reached eleven in the spring of ’22, Tchuameni cost 80 million in the summer of 2022 and Jude Bellingham arrived in 2023 in exchange for another 103 million to 30% in variables.

These four represent the club’s commitment to a generational change of midfielders, a more physical quartet than their predecessors. In Lille they met for the first time this year (not in their careers), and their enormous difficulties in producing football somehow symbolized Madrid’s problems with chewing the game or the birth of another model under Ancelotti in this new life. without Kroos.

The fiasco in France confirmed the stagnation of the white core. Whether it’s three or four plays, the creative output in those first two months has generally been equally consistent, with the exception of some Bellingham outbursts and the wait to see what kind of impact Camavinga, injured thus far, can make. Unless he was able to escape, a lane in which almost everyone denied him, he was often doomed to a slow deployment, without clear direction and insufficient intensity, until emergency situations forced him to. Of the 22 goals he scored, only three came in the first half.

Warning in Las Palmas

After 11 games, the most basic stats already show a hole in the wide zone offense. If last season the most chances were created by three players (Kroos, Bellingham and Modric), then this season it is two strikers and the oldest midfielder (Vinicius, Modric and Rodrigo). And the same thing happens with the shortlist that makes the most passes in the final third: Kroos and Bellingham, Valverde, Vinicius and Rodrygo are missed from Valverde. Again, two attackers, according to Opta, and the orphanhood of a German pensioner, who from time to time continues to travel to the sports city. “There’s also a risk that Carlo will tell me: ‘Now stay,’” he joked a few days ago on a podcast with tennis player Alexander Zverev.

The new scenario puts under a magnifying glass the contributions of the young midfielders who have gone from being Kroos’ gregarious partners (notably Tchouameni, Camavinga and Valverde) to taking on more leading roles in creation, and Carletto’s work with them at Valdebebas. . The Italian was already tested with the same Lille quartet at the beginning of last year: they were in the starting line-up in the pre-season classic in the US, in the league premiere in San Mamés and in Vigo, in line with the club’s intention to speed up the season. transitional generation in the core. Kroos and Modric often started from the backline until the manager quickly and successfully concluded that the German was his best attacking figure. The one who was sacrificed when everyone was there was Camavinga.

After seven weeks of competition, problems with attacking midfield productivity are repeated and the Italian coach’s analysis is repeated. “We are not quick in handling, the ball comes to the strikers when the opponent is closed,” he commented on August 29 in Las Palmas (1-1). “We have forwards who need to play more vertically than usual. If you get there slowly, it’s a problem,” he said in Lille after an evening spent at a very slow pace. A move to force a fourth half in their last two games has helped them avoid the defensive imbalance they complained about at the start of the season, but it has not contributed to the dangers.

Ancelotti’s confession

In the absence of confirmation of the role of the returning Camavinga, Tchuameni, Valverde and Bellingham are the constants for now. Modric is a regular substitute and even Ceballos had his window, but neither of them solved the riddle. He has his best leg on the bench – Arda Guler, Lille’s latest agitator – and he has conditions – according to Ancelotti – to drop heights and play as an inside player, although he has hardly considered this option. The Turk is not done coming into the background either as a playmaker or in the center. In France, without Mbappe and Rodrigo in the eleven, the fiery Endrick became the chosen one.

On Tuesday, Carletto admitted publicly for the first time that the midfield problem had reached an impasse. “The truth is that we are not finding anyone who can replace Kroos. We must adapt to absence. We have no idea who can replace him because he is irreplaceable. We need to find another way to play, and we will find it. At the moment we have not shown our full potential,” he admitted the day before it became clear that Madrid had a hole in its football creation.

Despite Kylian Mbappe’s rapid recovery, the forward was not called up to the France national team for the new international break. “I spoke to Kylian, who has another game ahead (tomorrow against Villarreal), and asked questions because he has a minor problem, but one that requires care so that he recovers well. “I’m not here to take risks,” commented Didier Deschamps this Thursday after proposing a list that does not include Ferland Mendy, but Tchouameni and Camavinga.

The new white star played the last 40 minutes of the match in Lille this Wednesday. Madrid announced last Wednesday that he would be out for around three weeks with a left biceps injury, but he was unexpectedly included in the Champions League squad on Tuesday and ended up playing almost the entire match. second half. On the other hand, Madrid announced that they have Militau and Rodrigo for tomorrow. Both felt uncomfortable.