Madrid, Aug 11 (EFE).- The Italian Carlo Ancelotti, coach of Real Madrid, wanted to show from the first minute of his first press conference of the season his “total confidence” in the Ukrainian Andriy Lunin to be his starting goalkeeper, after the serious knee injury of Belgian Thibaut Courtois, although he acknowledged that “in the next few days” the club will think about whether to sign another goalkeeper before the end of the market.
“Emotionally yesterday was not a good day. This often happens in football. Now I wish Courtois that he can recover soon and give all the confidence in the world to Lunin, who is a great goalkeeper and has already shown his quality. In the preseason he has done very well and we have total confidence in him. We think he is a talent, the only thing he lacks is experience and he will take it game by game. On a personal level we are very sad, ”he explained.
“I am very calm with Lunin. We have to think if we are going to sign another goalkeeper. Behind Lunin we have very young goalkeepers, with a lot of potential, he added.
In addition, Ancelotti explained how they face the last days of the market to cover the absence of Courtois.
“If we sign another goalkeeper it is by number, because we have a lot of confidence in Lunin. The season is very long and we will think about it in the next few days, he declared.
“The confidence is total in Lunin. In the next few days we will think about adding one more goalkeeper. Headline whoever comes? We have confidence in Lunin and we will continue with him, ”he commented.
And about what he asks of a goalkeeper in case of incorporating someone, the Italian coach joked that he “stop with his hand” than “with his feet, it’s better to have a striker who hits the mark.”
Ancelotti assessed how he sees his team defensively, after conceding eight goals in four preseason games and after Courtois’ injury on Thursday.
“The defensive aspect worries me less because it is not a quality problem, it involves sacrifice, concentration… this week we have worked on the defensive aspect in pressing. I have forced the team to press up a lot and we have lost a bit of balance, but we will be able to evaluate the work done better tomorrow”, he declared.
On the other hand, Ancelotti explained the situation of another injured member of the squad, the Turkish Arda Güler, who could undergo an arthroscopy on his right knee to solve his meniscus problems.
“If you go to the operating room, the recovery time is quite short. Giving details is complicated by the privacy issue, but Arda’s problem is very small and she can recover very soon, ”she said.
