Once again, Davide Ancelotti was absolutely spot on with his Toni Kroos assessment
Former Real Madrid assistant manager Davide Ancelotti talked about how Toni Kroos deserved at least one Ballon d'Or in his career. Ancelotti has always been one of the great admirers of Kroos and has shown a lot of appreciation for the midfielder in recent times, especially after the German player retired in 2024. Ancelotti knows the amount of control that the midfielder was able to bring to Real Madrid and how they have been struggling so much because of the absence of a player like him in the current squad.
He was asked about Kroos again in a recent interview, and his answer was something that everyone else would have expected for a player like him. Ancelotti said, "Toni Kroos should have a Ballon d'Or. A player like him not having a Ballon d'Or is shocking."
Kroos is one of the best midfielders football has ever seen, but will somehow still go down as one of the most underappreciated football players of all time. He is easily up there when it comes to the greatest passers of all time, and he could genuinely be number one based on so many different factors.
Kroos showed exactly what Real Madrid were missing after his last season at the club, because he was the only one who was able to be the coach of this team on the pitch. After he left, there was no general in midfield. Every player was simply struggling with the absence of a player like Kroos, and that has been going on for the last three seasons, including this one.
Real Madrid had the option to try and sign the most similar player to Kroos in this generation, Rodri, earlier this summer, but them being so late made the player want to go to rivals Barcelona instead. Now Real Madrid are stuck with another mediocre midfield with so many problems, and they will undoubtedly pay the price once again.
As for Kroos, he had so many seasons of continued and consistent excellence that whatever he actually did went down as something that people got used to. The fact of the matter is that whatever Kroos did on the pitch was unique in its simplicity.
He did the right things every single time, and his absence is exactly why Real Madrid have been struggling so much in the last few years. There is no player like Kroos, and Ancelotti knows that just as well as every single Real Madrid fan who has been lucky enough to watch the German play for an extended period of time.
