Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who manages Real Madrid, defended his team’s performance, saying it’s “normal” for it to take time to reach their “best version” and backed his forward, Kylian Mbappé, who he says isn’t “worried” about not scoring “for two weeks.”

“He’s improving really well. Every day he’s better, excited, motivated, eager to train hard, very humble… He’s adapting really well. The last goal Mbappé scored was on August 14th. He hasn’t scored in two weeks, but that’s not enough time to be concerned. Neither we nor he are worried. Obviously, he wants to score in the next game, just like Vinícius does, but I don’t see him stressed about it,” Ancelotti said in a press conference.

“Mbappé, Vinícius, Rodrygo… We’ve got a lot of options in attack. We’ve only played three games and already scored six goals without being at our best. Scoring goals won’t be a problem, and it never has been. Sometimes we’ve had top forwards like Cristiano, and sometimes we haven’t, like last year, but everyone worked really well,” he added, referring to Real Madrid’s goal-scoring efficiency.

Ancelotti also talked about how he’s managing to integrate Mbappé into the team and the departure of German midfielder Toni Kroos, comparing it to last season when Englishman Jude Bellingham joined.

“Every year, the challenge changes because the team and its structure change a bit. That’s pretty normal. Last year, we needed time because we won a lot of games late on. This year, it’s going to take some time to adapt the team and show our best version, but it’s normal; it happens every year,” he pointed out.

He also emphasized the importance of having a “compact” team as the key to success, not just relying on forwards to do the defensive work.

“We need to have a compact team. For that, it’s really important that both the forwards and defenders work together. You get a compact team when the last two lines are tight. If the forward presses but the defense doesn’t push up, there’s no compact team. If the defense drops back but the forwards don’t, there’s no compact team. It’s not about individuals or specific lines,” he explained.

Ancelotti was speaking a day before visiting UD Las Palmas in a match he expects to be “competitive,” with “intensity” and “open because Las Palmas likes and wants to play football.”

For this game, he hinted at making minimal rotations.

“We have a lot of tools to monitor the players' fatigue. The plan is not to make too many changes until the first break, and then, when the Champions League starts, the schedule will get much tighter, so we’ll think about rotating the team a bit,” he mentioned.

He also clarified his comments from last Sunday when he said that if a player was tired, they should raise their hand and ask to be substituted.

“It’s something I’ve discussed with the players. It wasn’t a warning to anyone, as it’s been interpreted. It wasn’t a warning in Mallorca either. I talked to them about this because I think it’s important, without pointing fingers at anyone. It’s an assessment we’re doing. We’re our own toughest critics as we try to find the best possible solution,” he explained.