"He's not attached to anyone": why did Mourinho drop Carreras from the starting line-up? | Goal.com
Real Madrid manager José Mourinho revealed on Saturday that he will field Marc Cucurella as his starting left-back tomorrow, Sunday, against Malaga in La Liga. Álvaro Carreras drops to the substitutes' bench, having started Los Blancos' first two matches this season against Espanyol and then Real Sociedad.
Spanish newspaper "AS" reported that Carreras picked up a yellow card in the 10th minute of that last match and could have done more when Real Sociedad scored, before Mourinho hauled him off for Marc Cucurella at half-time.
The newspaper continued: "Mourinho is not tied to anyone, and this is what he proved during Real Madrid's match against Real Sociedad. After a first half full of positives and negatives, the manager decided to substitute Álvaro Carreras between the halves."
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Carreras had caught the eye in a first half where Real Madrid swung from the best to the worst. His success rate in passes to the final third hit just 33%, he lost the ball six times, and he collected an early yellow card.
Those numbers left Carreras among those to blame for the equaliser, though the main culprit was Sučić. Carreras was slow to close him down and failed to get into the right position to block the shot.
All of that pushed Mourinho into a half-time change, according to "AS", even if the Portuguese pinned the call on the booking, saying: "I decided to bring on Cucurella instead of Carreras because of the caution. It was dangerous in the one-on-one duel with Kubo."
His World Cup involvement made Cucurella one of the last players to join the pre-season programme.
Seventeen days as a Real Madrid player brought three appearances, including the last friendly against Schalke and the team's opening two league matches, racking up 100 minutes before he earned his first start against Malaga.
The Spain international proved one of the brightest spots in the second half against Sociedad. He won 100% of his duels, recovered the ball three times, and was never once dribbled past.
With him on the pitch, the left flank became a genuine threat to Real Sociedad. The score swung from 1-1 to 4-1 in favour of Los Blancos in under 35 minutes.
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