In spite of speculation that Real Madrid are interested in the talented winger, Craig Burley doesn’t think Raheem Sterling is quite at the level of a Galactico.
ESPN FC’s La Liga correspondent Sid Lowe digs deeper into what’s plaguing Real Madrid and Barcelona during their respective winless streaks.
The guys react to Eden Hazard’s comments about playing for Real Madrid and wonder if Chelsea should begin to make preparations for his departure.
Toni Kroos is “not worried” about Real Madrid’s recent bad run of results that has seen them lose three of their last four games and fail to score in over 500 minutes.
That form has led to question marks about coach Julen Lopetegui, who took over from Zinedine Zidane in the summer, but Kroos said he is convinced the European champions will get out of the crisis.
“It’s a challenge to turn things around,” Kroos said at a news conference in Berlin. “We have shown at Real that we can do it. There have always been phases like that. I am not worried.”
Lopetegui has deployed Kroos in a more defensive midfield role, and although he claimed that he “likes” to play there, he is happy to play in a more attacking role for Germany.
“I am not a Casemiro,” Kroos said. “And [for Germany] Josh [Kimmich] played really good twice. That’s a good model for the future, one I could get used to.”
Meanwhile, former Germany captain Michael Ballack told DW Sports that he’s “surprised that [Low] kept his job” after the country’s worst World Cup performance in 80 years.
“For a long time he worked with the team and sometimes you should say that things don’t work anymore when you’re so long with a certain team,” he said.
But Kroos rejected Ballack’s criticism and insisted he is able to lead Germany forward.
“There will always be different opinions,” Kroos said. “Some might argue you should retire after a big success and others that the best time is after a big defeat. New stimuli can come from the same coach if he questions himself. Low did that. I am convinced that we can turn the corner.”
With a smile, Kroos added: “Michael Ballack is of the opinion there should have been a change and maybe he wanted to take over.”
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