It seems that Zidane fought against the crisis and Los Blancos is back. Team won the last few matches in a row and now they are very close to Atletico Madrid.
Underrated pressing from Toni Kroos
German midfielder is not known for a good pressing. Unfortunately to haters, Toni Kroos is a different man this season. Zidane asked him to press higher and press more. In the matches like Alaves, Levante and Valencia the role of Kroos was big. He was playing from the deep but his main goal was pressing a little higher from the deep midfield. When Levante was trying to come out of the pressure, there was Toni Kroos pressing more and more. He created three goal chances in the first half against Levante. Two of those moments were from high pressure when Levante defenders were just losing the ball to Kroos.
If experts note that Toni Kroos is a little bit slow and not good in defensive midfield, his skills of pressing high are elite. Everyone admits that he has transformed his pressing skills and now he is good enough when it comes to putting pressure on opponents.
Mendy as the full-back
It’s not a surprise that Zidane trusts Mendy more than Marcelo. Legendary Brazilian player won everything that he could with Los Blancos. He has been part of Real Madrid’s history since 2006. Therefore, he is old and can’t defend or run faster than Mendy. Spanish experts believe that Mendy is way better than Marcelo even in the attacking line. First of all, Mendy is fast and when he is sprinting, no one can stop him without a foul. Secondly, Mendy became better in the attacking line. Marcelo’s advantage was a good performance and skills in the attacking line. Full-backs of Real Madrid are always included in the attacking option, so Mendy has to work more to get better in the attacking line.