Real Madrid’s manager Carlo Ancelotti seems to have found out his best combination that can win games from him. Except for the spot on the right-wing, it is easier to identify the number one choice for every other position. And his players have repaid the faith he has shown in them, with the team winning 5 out of the 6 games played in the last month, with three consecutive wins that ended with a scoreline of 2-1.
But one can observe a minor problem with Carlo Ancelotti’s management, as he has been rigid with his rotation policy. He has hesitated to rest his key players like Karim Benzema, Casemiro, Vinicius Jr, Toni Kroos etc., and has proceeded with similar-looking lineups for most of the games. A manager going with his best team for every game is never a bad thing, but there is a risk of burnout at some point in the season, which will affect the team in the worst way possible.
And this is something Carlo Ancelotti had experienced in his second season as a Real Madrid manager, during which an injury to an important player like Luka Modric caused the season to derail, with Real Madrid bowing out of the Champions League and the LaLiga title race in a matter of weeks.
This calls for the need to rotate the team, to avoid the potential scenario of burnout and an injury crisis. There is a need to manage the workload of regular starters, particularly that of players who play regularly for both club and country.
11/21 at Granada
11/24 at Sheriff
11/28 vs. Sevilla
12/1 vs. Athletic Club
12/4 at Real Sociedad
12/7 vs. Inter Milan
12/12 vs. Atletico Madrid
This is Real Madrid’s schedule for the next four weeks, as back to back to back big games have been scheduled with a minimal gap in between games for the players to recover and prepare for the next game. According to MARCA, Real Madrid have already expressed their concern regarding the upcoming schedule, which could possibly become worse with the confirmation of the Bilbao game that was postponed in October.
This hectic schedule does demand a lot from the strength and conditioning coach Antonio Pintus, but it also calls for better workload management of the players and better rotation from the manager. So let us have a look at three such players who could be very useful to fill in for a starter, and can repay the manager’s faith.