There is no such thing as a doubt that regardless of successful the La Liga and UEFA Champions League solely final season, Carlo Ancelotti had one other immense problem awaiting him at the beginning of this 2024-25 season, i.e., discovering a method for his workforce to thrive with out the presence of Toni Kroos within the Actual Madrid midfield.
The German maestro left the Merengue membership final summer season, and his distinctive skillset, standing within the dressing room, information of Los Blancos’ type of play, and general expertise made it unattainable for Actual Madrid to switch him of their squad.
Because of this, Ancelotti had no different method than adjusting his different midfield choices to minimise the affect of Kroos’ departure, and fortunately, he had a number of the world’s greatest midfielders at his disposal to recover from this astronomic drawback.
Whereas accidents to some key gamers have hampered Ancelotti’s plans to readjust his midfield in a method that not solely doesn’t make the workforce miss Toni Kroos but additionally will get the very best out of his present gamers, there are nonetheless some clear actions taken by the Italian for this function.
Though few folks would have predicted it, there has additionally been a big downgrade to Actual Madrid’s defensive recreation this season. Though accidents to key gamers like Carvajal and Alaba have been a transparent reason for this drawback, issues in midfield have additionally contributed.
To recover from this challenge and to switch the German maestro’s potential to assist the workforce evade preliminary strain, Ancelotti has tried a double pivot midfield construction in some video games this season. Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga have been essentially the most typically used pivots for the Italian, however different gamers like Valverde and Ceballos have additionally performed typically on this function.
Along with offering better defensive solidity, this double-pivot system has additionally allowed the Actual Madrid workforce to play the ball from the again with extra ease and fluidity, particularly offering the workforce with an additional possibility when the opposition is placing intense strain on the backline.
Equally, the function of two different key midfielders, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham, has additionally undergone a change within the absence of Kroos. Ancelotti has given this duo extra dynamic roles this season.
Valverde’s excessive power and stamina permits him to cowl numerous floor in the midst of the pitch, and one clear method during which he has changed Kroos is thru his lengthy passes from the correct facet of the pitch to the left flank that normally discover Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, or Fran Garcia by bypassing nearly the whole thing of the opposition midfield.
Equally, Ancelotti additionally needed to play Bellingham in a extra constrained, deeper midfield function, particularly earlier within the season when Eduardo Camavinga was injured. Nevertheless, he has obtained extra freedom just lately, as Camavinga has returned whereas .
However regardless of these changes, Kroos’ potential to advance the ball along with his immaculate lengthy passes remains to be unattainable to switch. One other method during which Ancelotti has tried to recover from this drawback is by shifting his build-up play extra in the direction of the wings.
That is significantly apparent from the elevated significance that Fran Garcia has gotten this season, whereas Lucas Vazquez can be a fullback who excels extra on the offensive facet of the sport than the defensive facet. The function of wingers like Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Kylian Mbappe, and Brahim Diaz additionally stays important on this side.
Whereas there have been video games the place the workforce’s weaknesses within the midfield have been fairly obvious, the workforce’s ends in the final stretch of the yr have been giant encouraging. It stays to be seen how Ancelotti’s changes will stand towards tough opponents within the second half of the season, however there is no such thing as a doubt that the Italian has some clear adjustments to switch a midfielder of Toni Kroos’ stature.