European football expert Graham Hunter on how Carlos Ancellotti can get the best from Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to keep a star-studded Real Madrid purring.

Carlos Queiroz was a failure as coach of Real Madrid. But part of the solution to Gareth Bale starting his Bernabéu career well and in a positive environment actually lies in the work of the Portuguese former assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson.

During spring and summer 2007 Queiroz came up with the theory that Ronaldo would benefit United if he were played predominantly down the middle and that a sudden change of orientation would help challenge the already prodigious player.

Queiroz told more than one confidant:

He’s the kind of guy for whom the ceiling is always too low. Cristiano needs to be challenged, needs to be pushed out of a comfort zone because he’s so good that he’ll always respond to such a situation.

The Champions League, the Premier League, European Golden Boot, FIFA World Player, the Ballon D’Or and 42 goals later it didn’t seem like a bad piece of deduction and invention from Ferguson’s sidekick.

The one problem is that Ronaldo didn’t enjoy the experience. He often phoned one particular ally, ex-United fitness coach Valter Di Salvo, to unburden his blues about where he was being played.

YOU WANT ME TO PLAY WHERE?  Keeping Ronaldo sweet is key to Madrid’s title ambitions

Flash forward to summer 2013.

Carlo Ancelotti knew when he signed up for duty at the Bernabéu that Bale was joining Madrid. Having mused over some ideas the Italian figured that one terrific way to accommodate a new signing in whose selection he’d played no part, was to use Ronaldo as a striker, not off the wing, and to use Bale either wide right or wide left.

On the blackboard it makes full football sense. Ronaldo was prolific last time he played there. Bale is a snug fit to this team if he’s raking down the left or the right and shooting on sight as is his signature – more pace, more power, more goals. Everybody’s happy.

Cue a deterioration in Real Madrid’s play, Ronaldo’s scoring rate and his demeanour. He didn’t like playing out-and-out striker then and he doesn’t now.

The cutest thing Ancelotti can do right now, so that Ronaldo looks upon the Welshman not a threat but a guy with similar talents, attitudes and athleticism who can help them all win big trophies – is to restore the Portuguese to his left-wing position.

It would mean, in all likelihood, an alteration to the formation – back to 4-2-3-1.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE: Carlo Ancelotti must get the Bale/Ronaldo balance right (pic: Inpho)

What does this mean for Bale?

There is one clear, potentially very productive berth for Bale and that’s down the right. It would displace one of the stars of this early season, Angel Di Maria … but that’s life at Madrid.

Bale at full tilt down the right and either crossing to find Ronaldo’s head or, more likely, cutting in to shoot at goal off his devastating left foot – is an attractive prospect.

The only dilemma is how to keep Alonso [when fit again] Illarramendi [ €40m this summer], Khedira [German World Cup stalwart], Modric [fan favourite and Bale chaperone] plus Casemiro [bought this summer] happy when there is only a two-man midfield. Again, over to you Carlo.

But there is an option which would work, which would draw on Ancelotti’s successful past and which would accommodate Di Maria – a clever, old-fashioned winger who opens up tight defences.

When Ancelotti was at his most successful at Milan, Kaká was at his footballing and athletic peak.

He played in front of a hard-working midfield, Seedorf, Ambrosini, Gattuso, and was given license to power down the middle of the pitch using his Olympic acceleration, shooting from distance and/or laying the ball off to wide players and looking for the return into the box.

Remind you of anybody? Welsh? Name of Bale?

BALE FORCE: The Welshman can tear it up in La Liga if given room to roam

There will be a myriad of games at the Bernabéu when Ancelotti’s Madrid face 10 men behind the ball and the frustration of trying to unpick massed-rank defences.

One extra solution, which Madrid have only been able to apply via the (now departed) Özil-Ronaldo connection until now is when they catch the opposition too high up the pitch, particularly at an attacking corner, allowing the then Jose Mourinho’s side to break at high pace. They’ll continue with that and Bale will thrive.

However, with Bale, there are scenarios now where Madrid can pick the ball up not far beyond the half-way line and, even if the opposition are not caught in disarray, allow Bale to run at them.

Most top technical departments around Europe have been left wondering this summer whether Bale’s excellence relies on him athletically powering past a slalom of players – rather than having the close skills ['a trick'] to jink past defenders from a static start.

One way to allow that debate to develop slowly, rather than to be immediately in the spotlight, is for Bale to take up different positions. This depends of course on how Ancelotti wants to play against certain rivals and whether Madrid are at home or away.

Away from home, with two holding midfielders and Bale on the right. Home with Di Maria wide right and Bale playing off one holding midfielder.

Equally, if Ronaldo is on the left and Bale playing down the middle then the prospect of Di Maria’s devastating crossing from the right adds a greater likelihood of headed goals.

Right foot for standing on?

Of all the times the Welshman has hit the net for club and country you can still count his right-footed goals on the fingers of one hand.

However, the percentage of times he hits the net with a header has been steadily increasing year on year.

Not something Ancelotti’s scouting team has missed in their analysis of the new boy.

Welcome to Spain Mr Bale. These are exciting times, not only for you but for those of us who wish that excellent British footballers would more often opt to better themselves and develop as individuals in some of the continent’s top clubs.

PS: Try to keep on Cristiano’s good side. Whether that’s the left, the right or … down the middle.

• Betting: Villarreal v Real Madrid  
• Read more Graham Hunter articles here 

Graham Hunter is the author of the award-winning book, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World. He is a regular contributor to the Paddy Power Blog on football and an all-round good guy. Follow him on Twitter here

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Greece

Defender Avraam Papadopoulos suffered a knee injury and will now miss the rest of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, while his partner in the first-choice centre-half pairing for Greece, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, was awarded a controversial red card and will miss out against the Czech Republic.

Greece coach Fernando Santos, of course, has other options at centre-half but with only PAOK’s Stelios Malezas and Kyriakos Papadopoulos, of Schalke, to call upon, he will be desperate for the pair to come through the match against the Czechs unscathed ahead of a potentially-decisive final group game with Russia.

Santos’ selection problems are not only confined to defence, however, with midfielder Giorgos Fotakis also doubtful due to a thigh problem.

In contrast, the Czech Republic have no significant injury worries but, after a demoralising 4-1 loss at the hands of Russia in their opening fixture, they almost certainly need to win on Tuesday if they’re to avoid an early exit at Euro 2012.

If the Czech Republic are to reach the latter stages of the competition they will need big performances from the likes of Vaclav Pilar, who scored their only goal against Russia and managed to impress despite the defeat, Jaroslav Plasil and Premier League pair Petr Cech and Tomas Rosicky.

Indeed, Chelsea keeper Cech insists all is not lost and insists his side can still qualify from Group A.

“The first game sometimes shows what the group will be like but it’s not the key one,” noted the talented shot-stopper.

“The crucial game will be the second one (against Greece). If we fail in that one, our chances of advancing will be very thin.

“A 4-1 defeat doesn’t look the best but it’s basically the same as 1-0…you simply get no points.

“We lost a battle, not the war. The good thing is we still have 180 minutes to advance. We have to look ahead, that’s what matters now.”

Greece looked bereft of ideas in the opening 45 minutes against Poland but the extremely harsh dismissal of Papastathopoulos seemed to galvanise Santos’ side as they produced an assured second-half display. In fact, Greece could well have gone on to win the game had it not been for a fine penalty save by Polish substitute keeper Przemyslaw Tyton following Wojciech Szczesny’s second-half sending off.

The Czech Republic struggled with the pace and swift movement of the Russians and should get more time on the ball against Greece, who are well organised and rely perhaps a little too much on the ageing Giorgos Karagounis as their creative outlet.

With the stakes high for both sides this contest promises to be a close affair as both countries cannot afford to lose, especially the Czechs who could be all but eliminated should they lose and Poland win in the later kick off.

Greece are priced at 11/5 to seal the win and they’re certainly capable of taking all three points if they can replicate their second-half display against Poland for 90 minutes on Tuesday, as Poland are arguably a better side than the Czech Republic.  A win for the Czechs is 7/5, while the draw is priced at 11/5.

One market that does stand out is the half-time result and the 20/21 on offer for a draw at half-time seems a decent bet considering neither side can really afford to lose the game, with an emphasis on defence expected from both sides.

Czech winger Pilar looked lively in an otherwise uninspiring team performance against Russia and if the 23-year-old continues to impress at Euro 2012 he could secure a move to one of Europe’s big leagues after the tournament. Pilar is priced at 5/1 to score at anytime in the match, which is worth some consideration given his display against the Russians, or 10/1 to score first for the braver punter.

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Manchester City

These two sides had different fortunes last week in the Champions League, despite both teams picking up big wins against established European clubs. It was Andre Villas-Boas’ side who made it through to the last 16 of the competition, with Roberto Mancini having to settle for a place in the Europa League.

City are two points clear at the top of the Premier League but do have a game in hand over rivals Manchester United in second place. They would be delighted to come away from London with a point to extend the gap back to three points following a tricky round of fixtures on their part. The draw is priced up at 12/5 and looks the most likely outcome.

Chelsea have found a bit of form recently with wins over Valencia and Newcastle but, with respect to both of those sides, they don’t possess the quality and threat that City will bring on Monday evening.  They will though be buoyed by their recent success and it could finally ignite their season.

Monday’s game is another chance for Villas-Boas to prove that Chelsea are still in the hunt for the Premier League title and that they are capable of matching City on the field, despite not being able to compete with the Manchester club in the transfer market anymore.

Didier Drogba showed his importance to the Blues on Tuesday evening when he scored twice against the Spanish opposition to help his side into the last 16 of the Champions League. The 33-year old reminded Chelsea fans that he still has a big part to play in the future of the club despite the exit looming for his former strike partner Nicolas Anelka. Take the Ivorian to score the first goal in the game at 9/2.

Mancini’s men have already travelled to Old Trafford, Anfield and White Hart Lane in the league this season, so this is one of the few remaining difficult away visits that they will have to deal with. If they keep their unbeaten record intact it would be a big point as they look to win their first Premier League title.

The visitors have scored 24 goals on the road this season in just five Premier League fixtures. Mancini has neglected the more cautious approach he adopted last year and is quite happy for his stars to play attacking and expansive football home and away. If he continues to use these tactics at Stamford Bridge it should be make for an exciting and open game. The 14/1 on a 2-2 draw looks a really tasty proposition.

Although City can’t win the Premier League title with a win at Stamford Bridge, a defeat for Chelsea could end their slim hopes of winning the league this season. The Blues will be 13 points behind the leaders following defeat on Monday evening.

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Liverpool

It’s tempting to say the sky’s the limit for Dalglish’s side and nothing is out of reach for them in the 2011/12 campaign as the manager rebuilds the Reds squad and attempts to turn them into top-four Premier League challengers once again (10/1 Premier League Outright).

He has already bolstered the ranks with Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam and there are expected to be more big-name arrivals before the action gets underway for real on August 13 against Sunderland. Stewart Downing remains a top target despite Aston Villa’s determination to keep him (Villa 18/1 – Top Four finish) and a deal could be struck for the England winger if a fee can be agreed.

The former Middlesbrough man would certainly add more quality from out wide – something Liverpool were desperately short of under former bosses Rafa Benitez and Roy Hodgson – and should provide the service the likes of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez will crave up front.

Dalglish has other targets in the transfer market – Newcastle’s Luis Enrique and Birmingham’s Scott Dann remain on his radar amongst others – but it is thought he will have to sell some first-team squad players before making more significant purchases.

David Ngog, Milan Jovanovic, Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, Alberto Aquilani, Emiliano Insua and even last season’s PFA fans’ player of the year, Raul Meireles, have been tipped to leave should the right offers come in and certainly, with Henderson and Adam now on board, Liverpool have too many midfielders.

One of Dalglish’s biggest dilemmas next season might be how best to mould a successful side out of his squad – especially if he can’t shift some of the dead wood in the next month or so. Several experienced players, like Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez, Meireles, Cole and Lucas no longer appear to be first-choice under the Scot and will have to work hard to enjoy regular action.

However, the critics will say the reason why Liverpool have struggled to make an impact in the top four over the past few years is because their first-team squad has simply not been good enough and, while the likes of Lucas, Maxi and Kuyt are solid Premier League players in their own right, they are hardly the sorts who would make the Reds into a title-winning outfit (Manchester United 13/8f – Outright).

So Dalglish, well aware of that fact and determined to add more players of the calibre of Suarez, Carroll and Adam to his ranks rather than rely on those simply not up to the required standard, does still have plenty of work to do to ensure the Reds are able to compete at the top end of the table again.

Captain and vice-captain Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have been keen to try and quell rising expectation levels among fans ahead of next season and have said the top four is the priority with anything else a bonus.

Without the distraction of Europe, as it stands with the players at his disposal now, fourth (5/4 – Top Four finish) might be just about the best Dalglish can hope for (and even that would be some achievement) but, with a couple more top-quality additions over the next few weeks and a streamlining of the first-team squad, the Reds might just be ready to emerge as dark horses and begin to dream about a title challenge in 2011/12.

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Newcastle United

The Magpies are now back in the English top flight following one season in the Championship after stand-in boss Alan Shearer failed to keep them in the Premier League towards the end of the 2008-2009 campaign.

The North-East giants ran away with the Championship last season and will hope to re-establish themselves in the top division having surrendered their top-flight status in May 2009 following sixteen successive seasons in the Premier League.

Despite calls to strengthen the squad, Hughton has only brought in Sol Campbell, James Perch and Dan Gosling to date, with just a couple of weeks to go before the transfer window closes until January.

Newcastle and United had a number of memorable encounters during Kevin Keegan’s time in charge at St James’ Park, when the Tynesiders were a match for the majority of Premier League teams, but their star has waned in recent years culminating in relegation just over 12 months ago.

But a wave of optimism is now back at the club and they will be looking to cement their place in the best league in Europe this season.

Hughton admits the fixture computer could have been kinder to his side but he is looking to draw on the performance of the players a couple of seasons ago, when they drew 1-1 with Sir Alex Ferguson’s team on the opening day at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ (Man Utd 2/9 to beat Newcastle).

“Looking at Manchester United and the squad they’ve got and the quality they’ve got, it will be a massive challenge for us,” he said. “But this is what we worked so hard for last season to get straight back up into this division.

“It’s probably not the ideal choice. I think the ideal choice would have been to have a home game but we have been there before on the first game of the season two seasons ago and we certainly gave a very good account of ourselves so we’re aware that everything’s possible even though we’re massive underdogs.”

United are out to win back the Premier League trophy after losing out to Chelsea in the race for the title last term and they have already shown that they are well up for the fight with victory over Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the Community Shield last weekend.

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Chelsea

The Blues did the double last season, picking up the Premier League title and FA Cup, but Ancelotti believes they can go one better this time around and pick up the Champions League as well (6/1 Chelsea – Champions League outright).

Speaking ahead of the Sunday’s Community Shield fixture with rivals Manchester United, Ancelotti said:  “Last year every player did their best and we want to do the same again.  We plan to be competitive and do better in the Champions League.”

Ancelotti has also denied rumours that the left-back Ashley Cole was heading to Real Madrid to join up with old boss Jose Mourinho, and added: “I don’t need to speak with Ashley Cole. I read that Ashley Cole wants to leave.

“My answer was I want Ashley Cole to stay at Chelsea because he’s a fantastic player and there is no price for which (I would) sell him.”

Cole will start at left-back against United in a back four which will include England team-mate, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Paulo Ferreira.

United look set to give England internationals, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, at least 45 minutes in tomorrow’s game at Wembley.

New Mexico striker, Javier Hernandez, is likely to partner Rooney up front in his first competitive fixture having impressed in pre-season.

United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, has already said that Chelsea are the team to beat this season having pipped his side to the title by just one point last season.

“I think with the experience they have you always have to look at it that way.  I feel that the team that won the title last season is the one you have to look at,” said the Scot.

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Carlo Ancelotti

A whole host of Blues stars endured tough times in South Africa, despite expecting to have big tournaments with their countries.

Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and John Terry suffered an early exit with England, while French duo Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda, and Ivory Coast frontman Didier Drogba, crashed out in the group stages.

But Ancelotti feels his stars have the mental steel to respond in the right fashion, as Chelsea look to build on last season’s Premier League and FA Cup double.

Speaking to the Sun, the Italian admitted: “All my Musketeers, including Drogba, Malouda, Lampard and Terry, have played in a World Cup, which has lowered their profile.”

Ancelotti has made no secret of the fact that, following his domestic success last season, his main target in the new campaign will be the Champions League.

Having won the tournament with AC Milan (4/1 to win 2010/2011 Serie A title) as a player and a coach, Ancelotti knows exactly what is needed to lift club football’s biggest trophy.

He added: “In my first season with Chelsea, we won the Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield. But I missed out on the Champions League, so that is now my dream.

“At the moment everything here in London is good. But I know if we do not keep winning that things will soon change for me.”

Chelsea will start the new season with a clash against rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley next Sunday.

They then kick-off the new Premier League campaign with a home game against newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion on August 14 (Chelsea 1/7, West Brom 11/1, Draw 11/2 – Match Betting).

With the English top-flight looking a more open league this campaign, Ancelotti is well aware how important it will be to get off to a good start.

The ex-AC Milan boss concluded: “We must quickly rediscover the enthusiasm we had last season and the same good football.”

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Shay Given

The big-spending outfit are entering their third season under the ownership of the mega-rich Abu Dhabi United Group and have so far managed to win nothing.

Last season the club missed out on qualifying for the Champions League by a nose as Tottenham pipped them to fourth place after a long battle between City, Spurs, Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Despite failing to make it into the Champions League, City have still managed to attract some top talent as they look to bolster their squad for another charge at the top four.

Already in Roberto Mancini’s squad for next season is Germany (11/5 outright World Cup winners) international defender Jerome Boateng, Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure and Spanish star David Silva.

Those three have already cost the club £60m but that hasn’t stopped City looking at bringing in further players with the likes of Fernando Torres, Mario Balotelli and Lukas Podolski all linked with moves to Eastlands.

The club are determined to turn City into a dominant force in the Premier League and are likely to keep investing over the summer even if they have to turn their attentions away from the three previous mentioned players.

While getting into a Champions League spot will be a minimum requirement for City this season, Given is already talking up potentially challenging for the title as he now believes the club has the squad to cope with the task.

“We’re at the point where the club has invested so much and the manager understands and knows that the pressure is on to get results and trophies,” Given told The Sun.

“City have the backing to challenge the top teams in England and even in Europe in years to come.

“I don’t want to say we are going into the league to finish fourth.

“We are going in to win it and if we don’t, the next thing will be the top four.”

Last season City finished 19 points off eventual champions Chelsea but could close the gap if they can get their top stars functioning as a team.

Given went on to say that he felt despite all the big names now at Eastlands the squad morale wouldn’t suffer and felt City’s nucleus of players would keep things happy.

Manchester City will be looking to make a good start to the season but begin their Premier League campaign with a tough run of fixtures, starting away at Tottenham (5/4 to beat City) before facing Liverpool at home and Sunderland away.

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Jose Mourinho

The 47-year-old was on Monday unveiled as the successor to Manuel Pellegrini and becomes the 11th coach in the past seven years of Spain’s big-spending capital club.

Mourinho terminated his contract with Internazionale last week after two seasons at the club and Real have paid Inter a reported eight million euros (£6.8m) in compensation.

“I like to give myself a challenge and this is a big one,” said Mourinho. “I have a lot of confidence in myself and my ability as a coach.”

Sporting director Jorge Valdano said: “It’s an honour to have one of the most prestigious coaches in the world.”

The Portuguese coach arrives in Madrid off the backing of guiding Inter to a historic treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League titles.

The former Porto and Chelsea boss is charged with the task of arresting a three-year trophyless title run in La Liga.
Real have also failed to make it past the first knockout phase of Europe’s elite club competition in six seasons.

Valdano added: “We are delighted to have him here with us. The best thing for our club right now is to have Mourinho with us.”

Real suffered another season of disappointment on the home front when they lost out to great rivals Barcelona in the race for the Spanish title.

However, Mourinho said he would not be rushing into making changes to personnel until he had time to settle in.
He said: “It’s too early to speak about changes.

“I believe it’s time to analyse the situation, to get to know my club, ask lots of questions and get answers.”

He added: “If we work as a group, it’s not difficult to get results.

“I want this group to have an identity, to win everything.

“The strength of my team is always the team and not the individuals.”

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The Elephants will rely heavily on Premiership influence with five players who appeared regularly in this season’s competition and all of them very experienced internationals.

Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Aruna Dindane and Emmanuel Eboue all have over fifty international caps and the youngest, Chelsea’s Salamon Kalou, has a respectable twenty-four.

Most of the Ivorian squad play in Europe but many are outside the really big leagues- England Spain, Italy and Germany. The five Premier League men form the biggest contingent from an elite league- there are four from Spain but one of those, Didier Zokora, used to play in England.

Drogba is the talisman of the side with 43 goals in just 66 matches. Even more than that, the striker is the on-field leader of the team and major source of inspiration. His slightly below par form in Germany 2006 was a key factor in their demise.

Toure and Zokora form the anchors of the defence and midfield respectively and are the two most capped players in the squad. Each will be vital to handling the attacking challenge that they will face from the Brazilian and Portuguese sides. It helps that both are well versed in playing against Christiano Ronaldo.

Beating Portugal- or at least forcing a draw- is the key to the group as Brazil are expected to lead the way and North Korea ought to finish at the bottom. The two teams clash in the opening fixture of the group and Ivory Coast end against the Koreans. If all goes well they will know what they need in that last game.

Dindane and Kalou could be competing to play alongside Drogba, although if goals are needed to edge out Portugal, new head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson might deploy all three Premiership forwards against North Korea.

Eboue is a valuable utility man for a tournament squad with his ability to play right side midfield and right back. Eriksson is likely to start him in the back four but the Arsenal man could find himself pushed further forward at times.

Related posts:

1. Can Rooney And Drogba Top the Scoring Charts In South Africa
2. World Cup 2010 Qualification is Almost Complete
3. How Spurs can beat Arsenal to Premiership third spot

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