Five takeaways from Real Madrid’s first three La Liga games

1. Ancelotti has got a plan

To many, Carlo Ancelotti may come off as weak manager tactically. To a certain extent, there is some truth behind that. Does that make one of the most legendary and successful managers of all time bad? No, it just makes him different, which turns out to be exactly what Real Madrid needs.

Ancelotti is a calming and refreshing presence during his press-conferences. He loves to talk and share his ideas and the reasons behind every decision he makes. He’s what media outlets love from a manager and he commands respect wherever he goes, even in the dressing room.

If we only take his post-match press conference against Espanyol as an example, we see a little bit of everything from the manager and can even take his words to show us what he has in mind for this season.

Ancelotti spoke about why he made the substitutions he made during the game as Camavinga and Rodrygo brought energy to the team as they were slow throughout the match. These substitutions completely changed the game and gave Real Madrid all three points. He even took time to explain why other players, like Eden Hazard, didn’t feature at all before going into why Antonio Rudiger started the match in the centre while Alaba moved to the left and that showed the public how he studies the opponents and tries to use his players to avoid the threats posed by the opposition.

Ancelotti considers every single player in the squad a friend, this is not a job for him. He has mentioned how this is a dream situation for any manager and how much he loves and respects the club as well as the city of Madrid. The legendary Italian manager plans to retire after his time with Real Madrid comes to an end but if that end is now or in ten years, remains to be seen.

He understands how this team works and he’s the first to raise his hand and admit mistakes when he makes them as we saw in the shock 4-0 loss to Barcelona last season. Any mistakes made by him won’t be made twice and he’ll use that as a learning experience for future matches. Not everyone is over the moon with Ancelotti as manager but everyone respects him and the work he has done not only at the club, but during his incredible career.

This is the final season of Ancelotti’s contract at Real Madrid and whether this is the end for him or there is more to come, nothing can deny him his rightful place in the history books of Real Madrid for both his stints at the club.