(Football news) When asked to rate Real Madrid’s pre-season tour, their manager Carlo Ancelotti gave it a 6. That is a fair rating as Los Blancos beat AC Milan and Manchester United but lost to Barcelona and Juventus. Real Madrid have another 10 days to prepare for their opening La Liga fixture against Athletic Club Bilbao at San Mames.
Carlo Ancelotti has a lot of tough calls to make throughout the pitch. There were suggestions that Toni Kroos and Luka Modric would play less this season but Kroos was probably the best midfielder in pre-season. There are a couple of injury issues as well with Arda Guler and Ferland Mendy set to be unavailable for the first game of the season at the very least.
The one clear thing from pre-season is that Real Madrid are definitely lacking a world class striker. Against Barcelona and Juventus, Los Blancos had a total of sixty three shots and they managed to score only one goal. It is something that was expected but despite that Real Madrid seem to be stuck to their policy of Kylian Mbappe or nobody. Mbappe’s arrival is still uncertain and it is likely to be that way till the end of the transfer window. Carlo Ancelotti needs to rethink the 4-4-2 diamond system because it is hindering Vinicius Jr’s explosiveness down the wing. Jude Bellingham has had a decent tour along with the majority of the other players.
Ferland Mendy was once again below par before suffering an injury. He is likely to be out for a couple of weeks which makes Fran Garcia a guaranteed starter. The Spanish left back has had a good tour and now he has an incredible opportunity to become a guaranteed starter. The defense has been very average throughout the tour and that is something that Carlo Ancelotti will have to work on. It is expected in pre-season games but there are still some tactical things that need to be improved.
