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REAL MADRID

Ancelotti advises Zidane: "Cristiano needs freedom"

The Italian put in his two cents as to how to get the best out of the Madrid No.7. "He's not a natural centre-forward. He likes finding space on the wings".

Update:
Ancelotti advises Zidane: "Cristiano needs freedom"

Carlo Ancelotti returned to talk about Real Madrid in his column for SINA Sports this week. On this occasion, the subject of his analysis was Cristiano Ronaldo. The Italian, the Madrid coach who Cristiano has felt most comfortable playing under, began with a few words of admiration for the player: "He's one of the best footballers in the history of the game, he's the best forward in the history of football. I've never coached a better player than him". Ancelotti then rationalized the best way to extract the maximum out of the Madrid No.7: "There is one position which isn't the best one for Cristiano Ronaldo - the centre-forward role. Cristiano doesn't like playing with his back to goal,he prefers to find space out wide on the wings and face the rival goal head on. Cristiano is always able to find his place, because he has a special talent in being able to move into spaces out on the pitch".

Ancelotti recalled his early days in the Madrid job when he expanded on their 4-3-3 formation: "The team was playing 4-3-3 with Cristiano starting out from the left wing. But we soon found out that he needed greater freedom to be able to cover from ground and be where the action was. That's why sometimes, we'd see Cristiano switching flanks or even acting as the playmaker. Cristiano has to have total freedom so that he is able to believe in what he can do. Giving Cristiano freedom in attack is positive because it makes him even more unpredictable".

Ancelotti concluded: "To ensure that his team mates offer him the best support possible, he has to feel as though he is free at every moment and in any part of the pitch".