Carlo Ancelotti Key to the Form of Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez
Prior to Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Ludogorets last Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti remarked that he'd played a key role in Cristiano Ronaldo's rampant start to the season in front of goal.
"He's fighting for this shirt," the manager said of his main star, per Heath Chesters of Inside Spanish Football. "He's a leader that doesn't say much, but who leads by example, though he does have a manager who has set up an attacking system so he can score lots of goals, which is to my credit."
Ancelotti had a wry smile on his face as he spoke. He was joking. Not genuinely intent on accepting the accolades for Ronaldo's insanely hot start.
But he could.
And he should.
For the cool Real Madrid boss has been the key figure in his club's rapid emergence from a malaise that bordered on a crisis in the season's opening weeks. It's been Ancelotti's shrewd tactical tweaks that have given his side a chance to lean on Ronaldo's goals during the early turbulence, his subtle alterations of the system that have allowed James Rodriguez to settle in smartly at the Bernabeu, too.
Ancelotti has quickly acknowledged that last season's preferred formation, a fluid 4-3-3, won't cut it on its own in 2014-15. His personnel have changed. He no longer has the elite, two-way talents of Angel Di Maria and Xabi Alonso at his disposal. His team is even more gifted in attack than it was last time around, but the defensive shortcomings are greater, too.
Thus, Real's decorated manager has been forced to find a method that maintains his side's awe-inspiring work going forward, while also plugging the gaping holes that were exposed by Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad.
"4-4-2 is the best defensive system that exists," Ancelotti said more seriously after enjoying the humour of his own comments on Ronaldo. "4-3-3 doesn't give the balance required and it's more difficult to pressure higher upfield. Our intention is to defend with a 4-4-2 and attack with a 4-3-3."
Balance, of course, can be achieved in a 4-3-3, but the important point is that it can't be with a squad like Real Madrid's. Ancelotti, therefore, has tinkered the approach.
"When we have the ball we play with three midfielders and without it, [Gareth] Bale helps us to defend as part of a line of four, with James [Rodriguez] moving over towards the left. He's adapting well and loves to learn," the 55-year-old said after Sunday's demolition of Athletic Bilbao, per Inside Spanish Football's Chesters, expanding upon last week's mention of two specific systems for defence and attack.
The most notable part of Ancelotti's adapted method this season has been the presence of Ronaldo far closer to goal than he's ever been.
Instead of relying on the Portuguese to storm along the left wing, the 29-year-old has been placed at the head of the attack alongside Karim Benzema, with Bale joining the pair when possession is won.
Not only has that switch resulted in an unfathomable scoring run for Ronaldo—he's already struck 17 goals in all competitions this season, with 13 coming in just six league appearances—but by taking the Ballon d'Or winner away from the demands of the wing, Ancelotti is protecting his superstar's body—something that was a concern when Ronaldo entered the campaign under an injury cloud.
After a four-goal blitz when used centrally against Elche, Ronaldo himself made reference to his altered role under Ancelotti this season.
"Playing as a striker? These are coaching decisions and we must respect them. The coach has made rotations and he wanted me to play as a striker," he said after praising the work of his teammates, per Tom Conn of Inside Spanish Football.
One of those teammates, Rodriguez, is also beginning to prosper thanks to his manager's acute understanding of his needs.
When the Colombian arrived in the Spanish capital, the natural No. 10 was denied his preferred role and placed alongside Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in the midfield three Ancelotti speaks of. But without an advantage in numbers and lacking a physical presence, the 23-year-old and his central counterparts were exposed; outmuscled and out-thought by diligent opponents who preyed on the team's soft underbelly.
The switch to a 4-4-2 when defending has quelled that concern. Now in a second bank of four, Rodriguez is beginning to enjoy some extra protection—affording the World Cup sensation time to develop his two-way craft.
The results speak for themselves: Rodriguez has quickly accumulated three goals and two assists in white, with his searching diagonal balls from deep to Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale already a distinct feature of his play.
The team, meanwhile, have strung together six consecutive victories, scoring a truly ridiculous 27 goals in the process.
The ideal approach, it would seem, has been discovered.
"We're not testing things any more and we're not going to change anything," Ancelotti added after Sunday's dazzling display at the Bernabeu, when asked of his side's tactical approach. "We're trying to ensure the new players settle in. The players are all comfortable with this system."
That comfort is reflected in Real Madrid's recent results, seeing a team that lurched toward their own implosion in early September storm back to the sort of dominance witnessed in last season's European triumph.
"This was our best game," Ancelotti said of the thrashing of Athletic Bilbao. "We're much better now than we were at the same stage of last season. Now all we need is continuity."
Such a declaration might be slightly overstating the matter. But the sheer fact that one has to consider whether this incarnation of Real Madrid is better than the last speaks volumes for the work Ancelotti has done in turning the capital club around since those disastrous opening weeks.
"Ancelotti is a top class coach and he will find the balance in the team", the club's former star Roberto Carlos said last week, per Football Espana.
If he hasn't already, Ancelotti is mighty close to doing so, with Ronaldo and Rodriguez standing as two of the major beneficiaries of the manager's quiet excellence.
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