In a program on Spain's Channel 6, Real Madrid's legendary footballer Guti offered his own insights into the problems the team is currently facing, and emphasized in particular that Real Madrid should draw on the successes of Pep Guardiola's time at Manchester City and Barcelona. Guti's comments not only addressed the Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti previously pointed out that "the team lacks focus" problem, but also in-depth analysis of the team's deficiencies in the defensive end, and put forward specific suggestions for improvement.
Guti began by agreeing with Ancelotti's tactical judgment that the lineup he has fielded so far is reasonable. However, he also pointed out a glaring shortcoming of the team at the defensive end: "When the team loses possession, our reaction is often not quick and unified enough." In order to solve this problem, Guti suggested that Real Madrid should learn from the defensive pull-back strategy that Guardiola used during his time at Manchester City and Barcelona.
"Guardiola's team pays a lot of attention to wholeness and layering when defending," Guti explained, "When you lose possession, all the players will quickly retreat to their defensive positions to form a tight defensive system. At the same time, the front players will also aggressively counter-strike in an attempt to immediately regain possession of the ball and reduce the opponent's attacking threat." According to Guti, this tactical concept of combining defensive pullbacks with quick counter-strikes is what Real Madrid currently lacks.
In addition, Guti singled out the problems that Real Madrid exposed against Mallorca: "In that game, our front four clearly dropped off when they needed to get back on defense, leading to a serious split in the team's defense." He emphasized, "If Real Madrid wants to remain tactically unified and efficient, it is essential that all players are involved in the team's counter-strikes to form an inseparable whole."
