Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti talked about the reason Brazil's youngsters are not able to mature at the pace that they expected.
In a recent press conference, Ancelotti was asked about why many talented Brazilian youngsters like Estevao and Endrick haven't been able to take the next step in their footballing career.
To that, Ancelotti gave a very direct answer, and the answer actually sounds like a slight dig at both Real Madrid and himself.
He said: “The technical staff believe the issue with Brazil’s youngsters not maturing as players is because they don’t play. Endrick, for example, and Estêvão left Brazil at 18 to go to a top European club, only to not get playing time.”
Carlo Ancelotti had the chance to play Endrick more during his time at Real Madrid, but didn't
He is absolutely right. Endrick joined Real Madrid when he was 18 years old, and he has not played consistent minutes for them since. The only time he got consistent game time was when he went out on loan to Lyon and played week in, week out and scored some really good goals as a pseudo-winger.
Ever since he has come back to Real Madrid, he has not played more than a few minutes this season. A lot of that is also down to injuries because he has not been completely injury-free, but it's also worth mentioning the amount of talent Real Madrid have in the attack, which is why Endrick has not really seen any game time.
The problem here is that, despite Ancelotti being right, he has also contributed to that in a sense. Under Ancelotti, Endrick was waiting for a very long time to get minutes for Real Madrid. In his first season at the club, he played matches in the Copa Del Rey, which was really important for him, but apart from that, there were not many games where you would see Endrick come on for Real Madrid.
In the second season, he was injured, and then soon he went out on loan to Lyon. Now, obviously, having superstars does not mean that players like Endrick, who have so much potential, cannot play, but it does put up a barrier in front of them, and that is what Ancelotti is alluding to.
He could have changed that for himself when he was at Real Madrid, but at the same time, after that, Endrick really took leaps in terms of improvement when he was at Lyon. He has not been able to show any of those leaps for Real Madrid yet.
In the preseason in August, Endrick looked really good. He scored a couple of really good goals, and his movement in the box was good as well. Now that Real Madrid have signed Carlos Espi, it is really difficult for the Brazilian to get any minutes in because the first player in the attack who comes on whenever Real Madrid need a goal is usually Espi.
Endrick would be a brilliant option to have in the attack in any case. To be honest, there wasn't really any need to sign Yan Diomande, in my opinion, because the Brazilian prodigy could have played that role really well. He would have cut inside the box to be a presence in and around the penalty area, unlike Kylian Mbappe, at times.
It remains to be seen what happens with Endrick. If he does not keep playing until January, the expectation would be for him to go on loan to another team.
It is really sad to see what's happening with such a talented player, but that is also why Real Madrid needs to start trusting their youngsters more than they trust their superstars (as much as they trust their superstars), because at some point, when these players are not performing well, it's the youngsters who come in and disrupt everything and become important for the first team.
Xabi Alonso and Ancelotti could have done the same thing. Mourinho now has a chance to do that, and hopefully he takes it and plays Endrick a bit more.
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