‘State of Emergency’ declared at Real Madrid – tension high for Carlo Ancelotti in ‘difficult dressing room’

A week ago, after Real Madrid had lost at Anfield to Liverpool, well-connected club legend Predrag Mijatovic commented that Carlo Ancelotti had lost the dressing room. This week a ‘state of emergency’ has been declared at the white house.

Another defeat to Athletic Club has wiped away any talk of a recovery in La Liga following three straight wins, and once again the finger is being pointed at Carlo Ancelotti. According to Relevo, Ancelotti is in the crosshairs at Real Madrid again, unable to put together a strong identity, a solid plan without the ball, or motivatate a big reaction from his players.

The lack of meritocracy, with players being given starts on reputation, his tardy decisions on substitutions, and his lack of confidence in the young players are some of the issues that are again grating in the boardroom. That was in evidence in Bilbao, as Arda Guler and Endrick Felipe were sent on with just minutes remaining to try and fix things. Ancelotti continues to go for a cautious approach in big games too, waiting for chances and trying minimise mistakes, which has not worked.

Even if the young players weren’t getting chances, it is not as if their star players have been performing well, a problem headlined by Kylian Mbappe. Coming up are Girona and Atalanta away, Rayo Vallecano, the Club World Cup final and Sevilla, from which the club expect five wins before the end of the year.

The Italian manager and his staff are working in a situation of ‘maximum tension’, with a ‘difficult dressing room to manage’. The report ends by saying that it will be difficult for Ancelotti to turn things around at this point.

Ancelotti refuted the idea that the dressing room was not as healthy as it was last season several weeks ago, but undoubtedly there seems to be less spirit in this Madrid side. That is of course a consequence of results in part, but the departures of Joselu Mato, Nacho Fernandez and Toni Kroos also play a part.

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