Former Real Madrid assistant coach Davide Ancelotti believes the club’s current midfield is lacking the ability to consistently find players making runs beyond the opposition defence.
Real Madrid have made a positive start to the 2026/27 season under returning manager Jose Mourinho, winning six of their first eight matches in all competitions.
However, Ancelotti says the team no longer has a midfielder capable of delivering the ball with the quality provided by Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
“I don’t want everything I say about Real Madrid to be interpreted as criticism, but when Modric or Kroos were there, the ball arrived with every run into space,” he said.
“I’m not saying the current players don’t have that ability. What I’m saying is that to play vertically, you need someone who knows how to deliver the ball.”
Ancelotti added that replacing Kroos, who left Real Madrid in 2024, was an impossible task because of his exceptional quality in the position.
“You lose something you’ll never get back. Kroos was the best player in the world in his position. You can’t say ‘I need another Kroos’, because there isn’t one.”
Davide Ancelotti left Real Madrid after his father, Carlo Ancelotti, accepted the Brazil national team job in June 2025. Carlo Ancelotti subsequently joined Botafogo in his first head coach role.
Davide Ancelotti then moved to Lille this summer after turning down several offers from Premier League clubs.
His comments focus on the difference between Real Madrid’s previous midfield and the current side’s approach under Mourinho, particularly when attempting to play forward quickly and exploit space.
