The player Real Madrid acquired from Monaco wasn’t Tchouaméni.

Aurélien Tchouaméni, a summer acquisition for Real Madrid, had a promising start to his career, but his form has shockingly deteriorated recently.

Perhaps it’s because he’s accustomed to playing in a double pivot with Monaco and France and wasn’t ready to be Real Madrid’s lone anchorman. He could be preoccupied with the upcoming World Cup. Whatever the cause, Aurélien Tchouaméni has gone from being a highly anticipated new acquisition to a player who is surrounded by doubts and who crumbles more readily than a sugar cube in hot tea. If you’ll indulge me in continuing the analogy, he has been sweetening coffee for about a month and a half.

Can fatigue really explain the Tchouaméni slump?

“Forcefulness.” After Monday’s LaLigs loss to Rayo Vallecano, Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the media and used the phrase eight times. Tchouaméni is depriving Los Blancos of just that in the most physical sense. Ancelotti has attributed it to fatigue, but given that the France international is Madrid’s eighth-most utilized player and has played more minutes than midfield teammate Luka Modric, it can’t possibly be a valid explanation. Tchouaméni has played 1,312 minutes this season, including France games; at this point in the 2021/22 campaign, he had played 1,928 minutes.