The Pierre-Mauroy stadium, the home of Lille-Real Madrid this Wednesday (9:00 p.m., Movistar), does not have aspirations as ambitious as the new Bernabéu, but it is one of those venues with a retractable roof that goes beyond the monoculture of football . There, in fact, the first phase of the basketball tournament and the final rounds of handball were held in last summer’s Olympic Games. It wasn’t the first time. It has a system that lifts half of the grass as a block, moves it with rails until it is superimposed on the other half, and in the open space (a kind of well) another floor of stands is deployed and prepared for other events.
For Frenchman Aurélien Tchouameni, 24, the place brings back good memories. It was where he scored the only double of his career, with Monaco in May 2022: one with his left foot from the front and a long shot with his right. Those were times when he used his shots more: before being targeted he shot 1.1 times per game and since then the average has dropped to 0.7, according to Opta. Now his life is different and priorities have changed. He has been identified as a fundamental piece to avoid major defensive imbalances in a team that has been fielding three forwards, and he has also been asked to assume more responsibilities in the release of the ball after the departure of Toni Kroos.
Carlo Ancelotti has defined him as “irreplaceable” in containment tasks, but he has also given him the task of improving with the ball at his feet. “Little by little, he will learn to play at the right times with the ball,” the Italian commented at the beginning of the season. The coaching staff, which appreciates his qualities, expects more from the young Frenchman and works with him to make another leap, especially in the circulation of the ball. “The media have more responsibility [en este apartado]but we are going to improve,” Tchouameni accepted this Tuesday, who stated that he talks “all the time” with Ancelotti about his duties, with and without the ball.
The voluntary retirement of Kroos, the man who was almost exclusively in charge of this mission, has left the rest of the midfielders in the showcase, exposed and forced to absorb more weight in this matter even though Ancelotti is now seeking a more vertical game. A scenario that appeals to Tchouameni, the fifth most expensive footballer in Madrid’s history (80 million), whose work as a pivot pushes him to offer more guarantees and certainties in the game from behind.
To date, as Carletto admitted in the preview against a Lille with many casualties in the midfield, Madrid’s lubrication in this new stage without the German is not yet fine-tuned. “The truth is that we are not finding who can replace Kroos. We must adapt to this absence. Luke [Modric] He was the best against Atlético, but we have no idea who can replace Kroos because he is irreplaceable. We have to find another way, and we are going to find it, to play without him. The team has a lot of qualities. At the moment, we have not shown our full potential, but I am convinced that we will do so very soon,” said the Italian, who in recent weeks had explained that he is now looking for a more direct style.
If there are no risks [de recaída en la lesión]Mbappé will play from minute one
Carlo Ancelotti
In this forced transition and on the fly, a buzz has been growing around the Frenchman about his general contribution to the game. “I am very calm [sobre las críticas]. The important thing is to do what the coach asks of me. If you listen to the press too much, you go crazy. But in Madrid, if you play it is because you have quality. There are no gifts here,” the young man proclaimed this Tuesday. For now, he has been a fixture for the Reggiolo coach since last season, just like for Didier Deschamps in the national team. Until now, both have preferred Eduardo Camavinga in the pivot, back after the injury in mid-August and who is expected to play, at least, a few minutes in Lille, as Ancelotti announced last Sunday.
“It has the structure of the center”
Their coexistence, however, will not often mean competition. Either because the Italian opts for the four midfielders in some appointments or because Tchouameni must act as a central defender, increasingly less improvised. The club’s decision to play with only two natural pieces in the axis of the defense (Rüdiger and Militão) and not reinforce that position, despite all the doubts that float about when and how David Alaba will return from the cruciate fracture, have become the Frenchman into a player of double value. He never hid his lack of enthusiasm for falling behind, but circumstances have led him to do so. “He is a fantastic defensive pivot who adapts very well to a centre-back because he has the structure of a centre-back and the ability to read situations, although for me he is still a fantastic pivot,” Ancelotti massaged him a week ago.
The Frenchman intercepts the most balls in Madrid (2.7 every 90 minutes), the second midfielder who wins the most duels (4.9, behind Bellingham’s 6.9), and the third with the most recoveries (5 .2, compared to Modric’s 5.7 and Valverde’s 5.4). Ancelotti’s goal is for him to also progress with the ball at his feet. This Wednesday marks Tchouameni’s third visit to Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, where, “if there are no risks, Mbappé will play from minute one,” Carletto concluded after the club reported last Wednesday that the estimated time of The striker’s recovery would be about three weeks.
