Bernd Schuster's assistant, Manolo Ruiz, believes that the first international break of the season was to blame for the Real Madrid's inability to maintain their entertaining start and took a sly dig at Fabio Capello.
Los Merengues are top of the table, but have been battling to garner results following two exciting encounters with Atletico and Villarreal opened the campaign.
"Those games were very electric, but they were followed by international games, which destabilised us," Ruiz explained. "We are calm because we know the team can make considerable improvements."
Ruiz was then asked in the interview with AS, whether it had been difficult to change the team ethic from Capello's system and he could not resist taking a gentle swipe at the Italian.
"It was hard at first, but in the end every player likes to enjoy playing football," he said.
The Madrid number two defended the squad rotation system in place and stated that the plan will not be scrapped even if it is not proving to be popular with the fans.
"Everyone's talking about that, but the changes have been necessary due to the injuries several players have sustained," he continued.
"Nevertheless, our intention is not to exhaust our players. It would be a mistake not to give them any rest in 70 games. We won't change this scheme, even if it means paying a high price with public opinion."
Ruiz then reflected on several of the Madrid players that have been in the news this term, with Wesley Sneijder's rollercoaster start at the club first up.
"He came from an important club and he is a Dutch international," he stated. "But there is no need for him to carry the weight of the team on his shoulders! Other players already have that responsibility."
On Robinho, the coach revealed that he has told the Brazilian to go for goal when he has the chance: "He moves and looks to pass the ball more often... I've told him he must be a bit more selfish inside the box.
Marcelo's improvement has been rapid and Ruiz admitted he was pleased: "He has matured and made great progress on a tactical level. He knows how to defend better."
Finally, Ruiz revealed how impressed he and Schuster have been with the partnership between Raul and Ruud Van Nistelrooy up front.
"We are very happy with our strikers," he said. "Some teams have very individual strikers that only look to score for their own personal glory, but Raul and Ruud play very well together. One of them breaks through the defence while the other looks for space in which to score."
04 10 2007
Fabio Cannavaro praised Lazio for their performance, but admits 'lazy' Real Madrid have much to learn about team spirit and defending as a unit.
'Lazio played a great game and we didn't do too well, as we should not have left so much space and were lucky they didn't make the most of that,' he said after the 2-2 draw at the Olimpico.
'I have been playing in Spain for a year and there are differences. You defend less as a unit and more as individuals, so you get a lot of one-against-one or even two-against-one. This is their mentality and that is tough to change, even though we tried last season.'
Fabio Capello won the Liga title with Real, but was fired because his style of play was not considered to be entertaining enough.
Cannavaro was one of the few imports requested by Capello that remained at the club and he revealed the difficulties he has to deal with in Madrid.
'I always tell them to help out the defence, as the important thing in a team is balance and everyone fighting together,' he told Sky Italia television.
'I can't ask Ruud van Nistelrooy and Raul to work in defence, but I can tell them to adjust their position slightly during the difficult times when we are under pressure. When you are on the field with attacking midfielders like Wesley Sneijder, Guti and Arjen Robben, they get lazy and focus more on the attack rather than coming back to help out. We do discuss these things.'
Gabriel Heinze was used as Cannavaro's central defensive partner in that Champions League encounter.
'We have had injuries to Pepe and Metzelder, while we needed a bit more attacking flair down the right with Sergio Ramos, so Heinze was chosen to partner me in the centre. We have a large squad and the Coach likes to change regularly so everyone gets a rest.'
Real Madrid now share top spot in Group C with Olympiacos, who won 3-1 away to Werder Bremen, on four points. Lazio have two points, Werder are yet to get off the mark.
