Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti opened up ahead of the first pre-season friendly against AC Milan which will be played at the Soldier Field stadium in Chicago on Wednesday.
Madrid won La Liga and the Champions League last season and with the addition of Kylian Mbappe, the Whites would only aim to lift the titles once again as their squad has gotten stronger.
Talking ahead of the match, Ancelotti said, “It’s a bit particular. Little by little we are seeing the players. At the moment we have worked well and evaluated the youngsters from the youth academy.
“Everyone who arrives is in good shape. It’s not like before, now the player arrives prepared. We love to evaluate the youth players. We have a lot of quality and it’s a good time for them.”
The Italian asserted that he is not worried as some of the key players will join the team later.
“The truth is that I’m not worried. Because we have a spectacular squad in all positions. Mbappe has joined, which is fantastic. As I said, we don’t have much time to prepare for the first few games, but the players will come back in good shape,” he added.
“They have a programme that starts 15 days before they arrive. The most important thing is to rest. The whole group comes back on the 7th.”
Several academy players are travelling with the squad in the USA and are likely to get some minutes. Ancelotti believes that the players are focused and listen, which makes coaching easier.
“They are very focused. They want to learn, listen, improve. Coaching them, for me, is very nice. I like them all. They all have quality. I don’t know if they will play for Madrid, but they have a future,” Ancelotti said.
On the formation that he plans to use with the team this season, the manager said: “The system we are going to use can be a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2. Like we did last year. Sometimes it was 4-2-3-1…. We have the resources to use those systems.”