Trent Alexander-Arnold isn't the answer for Real Madrid! Los Blancos must swallow their pride and find a proper defender in January or risk more Clasico-esque embarrassments

After Madrid suffered a humiliating 4-0 loss in the first Clasico of the season back in October, much of the post-match narrative rather inevitably centred on Kylian Mbappe and his inability to time a run. Ancelotti, though, was acutely aware that his side had bigger issues than the France forward, who, rather unsurprisingly, is starting to come good.

Granted, Mbappe's unnecessary arrival had forced the Italian into tinkering with the make-up of a double-winning forward line, leaving less room for Rodrygo and forcing Jude Bellingham into a deeper midfield role (for a short while at least). However, Madrid were also clearly suffering from a lack of control and defensive solidity.

Toni Kroos' retirement while still at the peak of his powers robbed Madrid of a peerless playmaker capable of dictating the pace of any game, while ACL injuries devastated the defence, with Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal joining long-term absentee David Alaba on the sidelines.

So, while getting badly beaten by Barca at the Bernabeu was Madrid's first Liga loss of the season, it came as no surprise to see it immediately followed by a shocking 3-1 defeat at home to an average AC Milan outfit.

"We did not see the reaction and the same problems remain from the Clasico," Ancelotti admitted to Sky Sport Italia after the Champions League meeting with one of his former clubs. "We lack solidity in defence, we are often unbalanced on the counter-attack. We’ve got to fix that, we need to be more solid and win the ball back no matter what, so that we are not so fragile.

"We have to be worried because the team has a great deal of potential and is not expressing it. We need to work on the foundations, because that is what's missing here. When you are not solid in defence, games can get complicated at any moment. We were able to recover from these situations a few times of late, but you can't do it every time."

Ancelotti subsequently held clear-the-air talks with his squad and stated on November 8: "We think we have found the solution, but obviously it is just a theory. We have to put it into practice now."

Some of the initial results were encouraging, with Madrid keeping three consecutive clean sheets in La Liga. But any time they've come up against a strong side over the past three months, Los Blancos have struggled terribly.

Madrid were completely outplayed at Anfield by a Liverpool team that they've inflicted so much misery on in recent years and the 2-0 scoreline actually flattered the visitors, while it's well worth noting that they've taken just one point from their league games against Atletico Madrid, Barca and Athletic Club so far this season.

Even when Madrid beat Atalanta 3-2 in a vital Champions League clash, the titleholders were desperately fortunate to escape with all three points from Bergamo, having relied on moments of individual brilliance from the likes of Mbappe and Bellingham to get the better of Gian Piero Gasperini's men, whose final-quarter onslaught would have resulted in the hosts claiming a deserved draw had it not been for some wayward finishing.

So, while Madrid should coast into the knockout stage (their final two league phase games are against Red Bull Salzburg and Brest), it's really hard to see them retaining either their European or Spanish crowns on current form - and in their current state.

Alaba's imminent return to first-team action is undoubtedly a big boost for Ancelotti. The Austrian's quality, versatility and leadership have all been sorely missed. However, Alaba is 32 and has been out of action for over a year - there's no telling how long it will take for him to get back up to speed.

It's, thus, easy to understand why plenty of pundits and supporters were pushing for Madrid to bring in a young centre-back during the summer transfer window - and seeing Lenny Yoro leave Lille for Manchester United rather than Santiago Bernabeu was an undoubted blow.

Vitor Reis subsequently come under strong consideration, but the Brazilian teenager now seems bound for Manchester City, who have been dealing with their own defensive deficiencies in recent months. At the other end of the age scale, Aymeric Laporte has been touted as a short-term solution but, according to the latest reports in Spain, Al-Nassr are reluctant to let the 30-year-old leave during the winter window.

It's also been claimed that while there is an acknowledgement at the Bernabeu that defensive reinforcement is required, new signings are unlikely in January because of the usual difficulty involved in getting good value for money.

Ancelotti, then, is in a rather tight spot, particularly as he doesn't seem to completely trust Raul Asencio, even though the 21-year-old showed plenty of promise during a run of starts in November and December. He has to change something, though, because, as we saw again in Jeddah, deploying Aurelien Tchouameni at centre-half against strong opposition is an accident waiting to happen - and the same goes for Vazquez at right-back.

Ancelotti refused to single out either player for criticism after the Super Cup loss to Barca, pointing out that only Mbappe had a "good game" in Jeddah.

"I'm not going to name names here," the Blancos boss told reporters. "We were not good from the first minute, and did not perform. You have to defend well to win these games. Barcelona deserved to win, they defended better than us.

"It was a collective problem. We didn't defend well at the back or in the middle of the pitch. The team wasn't compact and we have to get back to defending better because the team is not looking good. But I'm not going to point the finger at anyone."

Which is probably wise, in fairness, given an awful lot of people think that Ancelotti deserves to take a considerable share of the blame for Madrid's regression this season.

It was certainly unwise of Ancelotti to field all of his attacking stars against Barca, as the inclusion of Mbappe, Bellingham, Vinicius and Rodrygo left Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga with too much work to do, and the latter was utterly overwhelmed during what was probably his worst ever performance in a Madrid shirt.

Left-back Ferland Mendy, meanwhile, wasn't much better than Vazquez on the opposite side of the defence, and even the usually dependable Antonio Rudiger cut a desperately frustrated figure as he lashed out at the likes of Lamine Yamal. In such circumstances, throwing Alexander-Arnold or even the equally attack-minded Alphonso Davies into the mix during the January transfer window would hardly help matters much (even if such deals were possible, which seems like wishful thinking at the moment).

Certainly, bringing in a proper right-back would at least mean not having to ask Valverde, Madrid's best midfielder, to fill in there, but there's no denying that Alexander-Arnold is far better going forwards than backwards, so it's not as if opponents would suddenly stop trying to attack Real down the left even if Liverpool could be persuaded to part company with their homegrown hero in the middle of a Premier League title push. The reality of the situation is that Ancelotti has far greater need of a player capable of restoring order in the middle of the pitch, given neither Tchouameni nor Camavinga appear up to the task.

Above all else, though, Madrid are crying out for a dominant central defender - and it doesn't look like they're going to get one before the end of the month, meaning Ancelotti's best bet is dropping one of his forwards to the bench in order to make room for an extra body in midfield to give greater protection to his "fragile" back four.

Luka Modric correctly pointed out that Madrid are at least lucky that Sunday's embarrassing defeat didn't come in a more meaningful match, but the significance of the shocking showing in Saudi Arabia cannot be downplayed. Despite claiming that they had carried out a "clear" and comprehensive review, Ancelotti & Co. clearly didn't learn any lessons from October's loss to Barca, and if they don't act after this second consecutive Clasico capitulation, Madrid will endure even more miserable defeats before the season is out. Right now, in fact, any top team in Europe would fancy their chances against a side with such a soft centre.

Alexander-Arnold would be well advised, then, to bide his time before putting pen to paper on any deal with Madrid. Unless the centre of defence is strengthened, he'd be more exposed at the Bernabeu than he's ever been at Anfield.