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Carlo Ancelotti’s press conference before Real Madrid’s LaLiga game against Almería
The Italian sat down with the press, where he addressed the debate surrounding the Real Madrid goalkeeping situation, among other things.
The sea winds have been relatively calm since the storm at the Cívitas Metropolitano saw Real Madrid lose in another long and heated battle against Atlético Madrid. Ancelotti and his squad have come under fire, but not anything comparable to what could potentially have occurred had the stars aligned in other ways; common sense, it seems, has prevailed at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu as the side have licked their wounds and turned their heads to LaLiga and Europe.
Bottom side Almería’s presence on the fixture list is perhaps another reason behind the somewhat extraordinary calm regarding Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey loss: the club that sit on Spain’s south coast have had a torrid time this season, picking up a mere 6 points since the campaign began back in August. They look adrift, bobbing helplessly up and down on the waves, faces frozen as they contemplate what’s inevitable.
“It’s very important to play at home”, Carlo opened with before giving his general assessment of how things are at camp Madrid, “the fans help to get the best out of us. It’s a very important moment in the season, above all in LaLiga, where we have 5 consecutive games before the Champions League. We’re excited to do things well. The team is good. Despite having played extra-time on Thursday night, the players have recovered well. Training was good this morning.”
Ancelotti set ‘to put the best team out’ against Almería
And so, with the pleasantries over and the poor journalist who asks the first, general question, seemingly satisfied, the real topics people wanted to know about were probed: Goalkeepers, then? Against Atlético, Lunin didn’t have a standout performance and was arguably at fault for the first two goals scored by Simeone’s side, but according to Carlo, it’s not an issue. “Immaculate goalkeepers don’t exist”, he said, “goalkeepers make errors, just as Kepa and Lunin have. That doesn’t change the confidence I have in both, the debate is outside. I hear it, but it’s not here inside. There is no debate here.”
“We’re focussed on the game against a team that only has 6 points but they deserved to beat Girona, Atlético won late on against them and they were level with Barcelona. We have to respect them, as they have quality. They’re still alive, they’re going to fight and we have to be ready.”
Given Almería’s league position, many people outside the club have asked for changes in the XI, with fringe players such as Brahim and Joselu making a case to play more minutes. “There are lots of players who deserve to play”, commented the Italian on the whether he thought of switching up the team against the bottom side in LaLiga. “I have to keep in mind if those who played Thursday have recovered, if there’s tiredness, etc. The feeling I have is that they’re all OK, and we’re going to put the best team out as the objective isn’t to give minutes out, but to win.”
‘Extra-time could’ve been handled a bit better’
In Ancelotti’s press conference, he mentioned “the sin of being young”, which caused more than his own right eyebrow to be raised. it was brought up again on Saturday, with the coach saying “it wasn’t a dig” at any of his players, but that his analysis was that “with a little more control, extra-time could’ve been handled a bit better. We have quality players, who try things. In that sense we have a lot of success, but sometimes when people are tired, losing the ball a little less would give us more security. It’s just that.”
Vinicius Jr was a talking point in the game, with his attitude coming up once again as he received foul after foul. “the last time I spoke to Vinicius was Tuesday [the game was played on Tuesday]. I thanked him about what he said and also because he scored a hat-trick in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. I left it there. I thank him for what he tries to do, and I tell him what to improve.”
Sticking with the cup game, Ancelotti was asked if he had learned anything from the loss, to which he replied that he tries to be “as objective as possible” before adding that “the first derby in LaLiga we did badly. From then on things have improved. The game in the Copa del Rey was a good game, but there are some things that made it difficult: we weren’t vigilant at the back, but the team played well, we created a lot of chances, we controlled the game against a tough opponent.”
‘We deserved to win’ against Atleti, says Carlo
“We deserved to win”, Carlo admitted, “just as Atlético didn’t deserve to lose, like in the Super Cup. It was heads for us in the Super Cup and then tails in the Copa del Rey. They were two fantastic games.”
On Tchouaméni, who is one player who has in fact come under fire for his Copa del Rey performance, Carlo said that the game before, in the Super Cup, was played at “his best level” and that it might have even been “his best game”. Regarding the Griezmann goal, Ancelotti did admit that “he could have done better”.
We finish how we started, with the cool waters through which Madrid sail, despite the defeat. “I don’t give my opinion” on the small margin for error at Los Blancos, said Ancelotti, “I listen and try to look at what happens in the dressing room atmosphere. We have a good dynamic and we’re all happy, ready to go, motivated. That happens outside isn’t important, the team is competing and playing well. We’re going to continue, the quality is there. Apart from the injured players, we’re all good.”
Real Madrid play against Almería on Sunday 21 January at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in the Spanish capital. The LaLiga matchday-21 game kicks off at 10.15 a.m. ET / 7.15 a.m. PT. You can follow live text coverage of the tie on AS USA.