Burn Güler, again without minutes… but with Ancelotti’s dart

“I had one thought before Modric’s goal and following the goal I had another thought. I think he understands it and if he doesn’t understand it, nothing happens, but I don’t have to give explanations…”, Serious, forceful, and with a poisoned message from Carlo Ancelotti to Arda Güler. The young Turkish player was warming up and ready to enter the field of play when Luka Modric received Sergio Ramos’ clearance, controlled it with his left leg, and took a sharp shot, close to the post, which Nyland, Sevilla’s goalkeeper, might not catch. . It was the first goal of the match, ultimately the only one. At that moment, the Turkish pearl was called from the Madrid bench, he sat on the bench and there was no further news from him. Güler himself thought he was going to have minutes on a special day for him: he turned 19 years old…

This twist of the script by the Italian coach is surprising, when in the press conference prior to the Sevilla team, Ancelotti himself defended the Turk and his low number of minutes that he has played. So far, Güler has only played 25 minutes in the League, spread over three games: Las Palmas (9 minutes), Girona (13) and Rayo (barely 3). In the Cup he played 59 minutes once morest Arandina, where he began to show details of his quality, and nine once morest Atlético de Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup. In total, only 93 minutes… It has not yet premiered in the Champions League…

Ancelotti, who has been defending the kid due to the number of injuries he has had and that have been preventing him from playing, already threw a dig at him on the morning of the previous game once morest Sevilla in Valdebebas: “That Arda Güler does not play is a question of competition with others. I choose the 11 that play and some have a hard time getting in because they have lost a lot of time due to injuries. He is very young and has to be patient. Obviously, he now himself has the level to start games.” The image of Arda remained in my mind, warming up on the Bernabéu sideline once morest Almería in practically the same situation as once morest Sevilla ( once morest the Almería team from the beginning of the second half, but before the white comeback, Ancelotti decided to put Camavinga. Güler’s anger was seen when he took off his bib on the way to the white bench and threw it on the ground. Surely, if Ancelotti had seen it, he would have scolded him like he did with Rodrygo in Vila-real for not greeting him following a substitution that did not The Brazilian liked it, although the Turk has also defended the Italian, thanking him for his patience with him.

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The statistical data of Arda Güler in his first campaign with Real Madrid.

From within the white club, they consider Arda Güler’s first season with the first team to be a learning experience. The footballer, when he has been available, has worked dynamically with the first team. He has done exercises, juggling, dribbles, feints, goals… that have caught everyone’s attention. Practically a friend of all the players (especially with Camavinga and Bellingham), it has been difficult for him to integrate into a city very different from the Istanbul he has known. He has changed houses, also endocrinologists and nutritionists, as well as cooks: the order that comes to him from the technical staff is that he has to gain muscle mass and that he has to develop a quality that Ancelotti demands of all his players: intensity.

Injuries, your weak point

Güler arrived following paying 20 million to Fenerbahçe (plus another 10 in variables). The white club asked him to stay on loan at the Turkish club this season, but he wanted to join the white first team. However, everything began to go wrong on the tour of the United States: there he noticed discomfort in his right knee, diagnosing an injury to the internal meniscus of his right knee. He underwent surgery and when everything seemed like he might make his debut ( once morest Las Palmas at the Bernabéu at the end of September), the day before and while Ancelotti glorified him at a press conference, the player was injured once more when taking a free kick in an exercise in Valdebebas: he suffered an injury to the left rectus femoris muscle. After three weeks in dry dock, in November he suffered another stoppage due to injury: this time he was injured once more following suffering a small muscle tear in his right quadriceps. This new mishap led to Niko Mihic, the Croatian doctor head of the white club’s medical services, ceasing to be responsible for the Madrid first team. The reason? The disparity in criteria when it comes to agreeing on treatments between the doctor and various levels of the white club.

That new injury kept him sidelined for another month. He finally made his debut once morest Arandina in the second game of 2024, and the first in the Cup. Güler made his quality evident with a direct free kick that was almost a white goal. He then appeared for just eight minutes in the Super Cup semi-final once morest Atlético de Madrid. In the League he made his debut once morest Las Palmas on the islands. His best performance was once morest Girona: he came on for Vinicius, he was active and made a personal move that led to a penalty. A maximum penalty that Joselu sent to the post strain. Tchouameni, another of his great friends, begged the striker to give the ball to the Ottoman so he might throw it. After the ruling, it was Arda himself who approached and gave the Stuttgart-born forward a very affectionate hug of support. A week later he would play the last three minutes once morest Rayo… Then, two press conferences from Ancelotti, with two messages. Poisoned or not? That depends on Güler himself…