Ancelotti to Managing Madrid: “This season will be important for Arda Güler”

Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media after Real Madrid opened the 2024/25 campaign with a pre-season friendly defeat to AC Milan with a 1-0 scoreline in Chicago. He answered a question from Kiyan Sobhani of Managing Madrid to praise the performance of Arda Güler and outline his possible role this season, saying, “he has arrived very well, he worked a lot during the vacations. He has arrived more powerful, more resistant, and with the same quality. This season will be important for him, with more prominence. Arda’s best position is between the lines, he can be a 10, he can be a right back... He shouldn’t play on the left, with that left foot he has. If he has the opportunity to shoot, he should do it. In the future, he could be one of the three midfielders.”

Ancelotti on what he liked the most about the performance

“We competed, we fought, we did good things. The first game, with a lot of young players, the important thing was to compete. We had some good moments, others that need to be improved. It is quite normal. The evaluation is positive, it is a dream for the youth players to play this match. We have managed better with the veterans, but now they should not play more than 45 minutes. Now we have to prepare for another match. We have two more. The Brazilians are back, let’s see if they can play something in the Clásico. This is what these matches are for. Those who arrived on the 15th are already in good condition.”

Ancelotti on Brahim Díaz

“He played well, we made some good moves up top. Arda is in good shape, Endrick too, the full-backs shone. The young players made the most of the moment, we are happy for them.”

Ancelotti on the injury to César Palacios

“Palacios has a knee problem, it doesn’t look good, it’s a shame, it can happen in soccer. Hopefully it is nothing serious, we will evaluate it tomorrow.”

Ancelotti on Joan Martínez

“He has an important potential, he is very young, he has everything a central defender needs, he is very attentive, very good with the ball. He has to improve a lot of things, he can have a future at Real Madrid. He must continue in the youth academy, which does a very good job.”

Ancelotti on the team’s fitness

“The objective until the 7th is to try to put in the players who are in the best physical condition possible. We don’t do tactical work only for the young players. When they all come back, we will also work on tactics. We have to adapt the new players, but we can’t think about adapting Endrick or Mbappé in five days.”

Ancelotti on Endrick’s debut

“It’s difficult to draw a conclusion. What I see is that he has something special, he can reach top speed in very little space, very skilled in getting away from his marker, these are qualities that he has. In this sense, he is a talent. It is rare to see a player with these characteristics.”

Ancelotti on the future of the young players

“Some situations are pending. Joan, Jacobo and Asencio will train with us until Alaba is ready. With Raúl and Arbeloa we will prepare a specific plan for the three of them.”

Ancelotti on pressing

“Constantly pressing high is too high a risk, we have to press when it’s time to press hard and we can do it. At the back we are quite fast, strong. Sometimes you can go, we have to work, to press one on one in the opponent’s half. We played 4-4-2 because we ran out of midfielders, otherwise we would have played 4-3-3; Álvaro had a sprained ankle, I don’t think it’s serious. We can play with both systems, with 4-3-3 you are more solid, with 4-4-2 you can go higher.”

Ancelotti on AC Milan

“They try to play from the back, they like to handle the ball. They do that quite well. And there are young players who are very good, like the goalkeeper. It’s a time for the youngsters to show their quality.”

Ancelotti on his message to the youngsters

“I told them to enjoy the moment, playing in the Madrid shirt doesn’t happen to everyone. It was a very important moment for them. They shouldn’t throw it away with anxiety and pressure. And I think they enjoyed it.”