The battle lines drawn in the Valdebebas media centre over recent seasons are now a thing of the past. The journalists ask questions, the coach answers, without any issues, drama, assistant coaches or stand-ins. It is a welcome new development. Ancelotti does not side-step any questions, however uncomfortable they may be, and always gets his message across, with good grace and conviction in equal measures.
One of those names brought up during the press conference was that of Jesé. The Spaniard, coming off the back of delivering wins against Valencia and PSG, does not look set to become a regular feature in the team line-up, unless Carlo has a dramatic change of heart:
"I have not talked about the starter status of players like Cristiano, Benzema or any of the others. It's hard to say whether Jesé will be a starter. He's important for Madrid. He's very young, has improved a lot and is doing a really good job. Everyone is happy. Is he a starter? He may get to play".
Although not in the starting line-up this time round, he could well be for next Thursday's 'Copa del Rey' game against Osasuna. January is a busy month and Ancelotti expects to shuffle his cards. "Of course we will be doing that. Rotation is important, especially when we have a game every three days. It's good from a fitness point of view and psychologically, to keep the whole squad motivated".
The Italian also talked about tactics, specifically the offensive strategy against teams that dig in and park the bus, saying: "All teams have problems in that situation. Playing at a high tempo is very important, so you can look for spaces more quickly".
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