MADRID, 9 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, defended the Brazilian Vinicius Jr this Wednesday because “it is happening that he seems to be a provocateur” when he is a player who “receives more fouls and slaps”, and also the French Karim Benzema, absent a match more against Cádiz this Thursday, qualifying as “nonsense” to think that he is reserving for the World Cup in Qatar.
“I agree, it is happening that it seems that he is a provocateur and he is the one who receives the most fouls, the most slaps, the most pushes. This is reality and it seems something else. football or personally, but it is something that should happen with all players. Fair play is an important part of football,” Ancelotti said at a press conference.
In any case, he did not hide that the Brazilian must “improve” in certain attitudes on the field, but that a player “enters the field to play football and not to provoke”. “He has to improve in this aspect, he is very young and he is going to improve it because he loves football and tries to play it in the best possible way”, he pointed out.
“You have to learn what?” he replied, asking if he could teach him to control these issues. “The provocation is not usual, one cannot teach to avoid it because he thinks that in football there is no such thing, I cannot teach Vinicius how not to get into this”, he added.
In addition, he confirmed that Karim Benzema will also miss the game against Cádiz, a new absence due to some minor inconvenience and that the Italian has not been bothered by “anything”. “The first disappointment is Karim because he arrives as a Golden Ball at the World Cup without the minutes he needs to have a good condition, it is silly to say that he has been erased,” he settled.
“He doesn’t have a serious problem, he hasn’t stopped because he has continued to train individually, but his feelings weren’t good to play a game,” added the Reggiolo man, who warned that the Frenchman “never” feared missing out on Qatar. “He had a major injury against Celtic and he recovered, and the last two injuries are not important, they are small things,” he said.
In this sense, the Madrid coach made it clear that “at no time” has he thought that any of his players have thought of reserving for the World Cup because he believes “in their professionalism and seriousness.” “Until they are here they are going to give everything. I see that in training, which is very competitive and with games on a small field, where tackles are more frequent, remove the leg. A month ago the team was doing very well and the World Cup It was very close too,” he stressed.
Ancelotti also referred to the current form of his team. “The first part of the season has been good, despite the last period that hasn’t been good and it bothers us, especially the last two games because Leipzig hasn’t affected us at all. We haven’t done well, but the stretch It has been very good and we have achieved goals such as the Super Cup and first place in the Champions League”, he pointed out.
“It could be better in the League, but this team has had some absences that have cost us like Karim’s or Courtois’s. I’m not here to look for excuses because the first leg has been as we wanted and we want to leave the last one behind with the match this Thursday”, underlined the Italian.
He believes that the level “has dropped because the intensity has dropped due to playing many games.” “This is noticeable against teams that don’t play in Europe and have fewer games and can play at a higher level, it’s quite normal. The difference is less noticeable when you play against those from European competitions,” the coach explained.
Nor does he see that having rotated little has been key. “The rotation is an important aspect, but you also have to consider the dynamics of the players. How am I going to remove Rodrygo or Valverde when they score all the games, I think we have rotated a lot”, he explained.
Regarding Aurelien Tchouameni’s current moment, Ancelotti acknowledged that “he has lacked a bit of continuity”. “He has had the injury and it has stopped his good moment. He has to learn to improve positionally, but I think we have seen a Tchouameni with Kroos and another without Kross and they are not similar. Kroos’ presence may help him in this regard “, he confessed.
Finally, he had words of praise for Marco Asensio. “I think he has been the best in recent games, in terms of assistance and work. He has had a strong character in times of difficulty and I think what he is doing on the pitch is a deserved award,” he praised.
