Real Madrid: 5 players who have found their confidence again in 2021/22
Real Madrid has transitioned quickly from a team thriving on one-goal victories against mid-table opponents last season to dismantling them 5-2 and 6-1 in the new season. The transition has been quick and effective with Real Madrid finding their association back with counter-attacking and entertaining football under the new boss, Carlo Ancelotti.
Another major reason why Carlo Ancelotti was appointed for the job was that several players didn’t find regular roles under Zinedine Zidane or were injured frequently that led to a drop in their confidence. Don Carlo is an exceptional man-manager, which is why several out-of-favor stars from last season have looked sure-footed and confident so far.
Before I kick start my list with the best five, an honorable mention goes to the Welsh Dragon, Gareth Bale who was one of those players who had an encouraging start to the season. However, his injury kicked in at the worst possible time and his recovery will continue to be monitored.
5. RB Dani Carvajal
To start this list on number five, we have a player whose situation is very similar to our honorable mention, Gareth Bale. After four appearances for Real Madrid including the Champions League fixture against Inter, the star right-back Dani Carvajal had to walk off the pitch in the game against Valencia after being disturbed by an injury problem, details of which haven’t been made public by the club.
Although it did seem like a precautionary measure when Carvajal walked off the pitch, he is still expected to miss few weeks of action. We’ll see how that pans out, and for the time being, Real Madrid’s most versatile defender Nacho fills in his spot. Dani Carvajal has appeared in five of Real Madrid’s seven games in the season so far. He didn’t play the opener against Alaves and walked off in the first half of the clash with Valencia.
In the time that he played, he indeed looked like a changed Carvajal who reclaimed the top spot in the list of active right-backs in world football right now. He was an impact substitute in the 3-3 draw against Levante and his introduction changed the game around. In the following game against Betis, he scored the winner to pack a full bag of points.
From his last season that was riddled with injuries, he has improved immensely and also looks to have got his confidence back. His attacking runs on the flanks and the times he cuts into the box support the fact that he is in the best of moods and is very comfortable while playing. Madridistas hope he continues at the same pace when he returns from this untimely and unfortunate injury.