Real Madrid News
Serie A manager denies asking Ancelotti to be his replacement: ‘Not true’
A series of reports emerged in December claiming that AS Roma manager Claudio Ranieri had contacted Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti to replace him at the Italian club in the summer.
The Serie A manager, after all, only arrived as a stand-in to stabilise the sinking ship in Roma and is all set to leave in June. Word thus had it that he asked Real Madrid’s manager to replace him in the post.
After all, Ancelotti has proven in the past to have the skill required to turn around the situation of a sinking team.
No truth to the matter
As relayed by GOAL in a recent update, Ranieri has now come out to clarify his position and do away with the rumour of him contacting Ancelotti.
“All the reports about me calling Carlo Ancelotti to become next Roma manager starting from next season are not true. These stories are wide of the mark,” he said.
The update, needless to say, is not surprising for Ancelotti is very happy at the Spanish capital and may well continue to oversee the team next season.
There was indeed pressure on the Italian gaffer at the beginning of the season, but he has managed to turn around the team’s fortunes in style and Los Blancos are now even ahead of Barcelona on the league standings.
Well placed on all competitions and with already two trophies in the bag this season, the Merengues could well be heading for a special run and to link Ancelotti away from the club at this point would appear ridiculous.
Roma, for their part, are scouting other alternatives including Massimiliano Allegri and Vincenzo Montella among others.
Real Madrid’s adventure so far under new coach Jose Mourinho has been far from perfect and this fact shouldn’t be lost even after the team’s brilliant comeback win over AS Roma in midweek.
However, there are areas where Los Blancos have shown a clear improvement under Mourinho, when compared to previous bosses such as Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa.
One of those areas has been set plays, with Real Madrid appearing far more potent from set pieces this season.
A clear improvement from last season
As reported by Diario AS, the three goals in Rome, all from Arda Guler corners inside a seven-minute blitz, were the perfect advert for the work being done at Valdebebas.
Those strikes took Real Madrid’s set-piece tally to seven goals in just ten matches this season. Four of them have come in La Liga, one from a corner and three from free kicks, with the trio in Rome completing the haul.
It is a striking figure when set against last season’s return. Under Alonso and Arbeloa, Madrid managed 12 set-piece goals across the entire campaign, all in La Liga, split evenly between six from corners and six from free kicks.
On current trends, this side looks well placed to surpass that number comfortably.
The reason behind Real Madrid’s improvement
Attacking set pieces are led at Valdebebas by Pedro Machado, with the whole coaching staff involved and Mourinho himself giving the final green light on every routine.
Defending them, meanwhile, falls to Sami Khedira, though it is treated as a collective effort. Mourinho’s appreciation of that teamwork was clear when Bellingham headed in a Guler free kick against Espanyol, prompting the manager to leap up and embrace his assistants.
Machado, one of Mourinho’s most trusted lieutenants, has followed him from Fenerbahce to Benfica and now Madrid, part of a backroom team blending experience with young, ambitious talent.
On the pitch, Guler is the undisputed master when available, his left foot the key weapon, with Bernardo Silva, Trent Alexander-Arnold and even Diomande also trusted to initiate attacks.
Such meticulous strategy has helped Real Madrid turn into a potent side from set-pieces this season.
