Real Madrid: 5 takeaways from a horrendous 2-1 loss to Espanyol

Carlo Ancelotti totally screwed up

We have seen Carlo Ancelotti deflect blame in a tongue-in-cheek manner before, but there is no time for games after this kind of a performance. The manager must step up to the plate and take responsibility for a tactical setup that was absolutely idiotic and had no chance of working.

Ancelotti wanted to rest Casemiro after a string of uncharacteristically woeful performances. Fair enough. He decided to start all four of Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Fede Valverde. Fine.

But then why start Fede and Camavinga as wide midfielders? Who on earth plays ball-winning center midfielders as wide midfielders? They got in the way of the fullbacks and could not find space inside, preventing Toni Kroos and Luka Modric from influencing the match like we know they can. The defensive cover they provided was non-existent, as their best strengths were sapped from them, in lieu of aimless crosses (from Valverde) and drifting (from Camavinga).

Ancelotti was too late to make adjustments in the second half when it was entirely obvious that his initial XI was inadequate both offensively and defensively. Not a single player was put in a position to succeed, as Ancelotti undermined several of his star players, most namely the titanic midfield duo of Modric and Kroos. It takes a special kind of awful formation to negate those two superstars.

If I type any more, I will devolve into profanity. I cannot believe the team selection I saw from Ancelotti. Maybe instead of trying to outsmart yourself and reinvent the wheel, do what you were hired to do and focus on allowing players to play to their strengths. That’s all you are here to do.