Real Madrid legend Predrag Mijatovic criticized head coach Carlo Ancelotti for his passivity with what he sees as a "more mentally fragile" team.
During his latest appearance on Spanish radio station SER, the scorer of the winning goal in the 1997/1998 Champions League final also gave advice to a struggling Kylian Mbappe for whom life at the Bernabeu is proving to be difficult.
Madrid has lost three matches in the UCL and three in La Liga already this term while trying to defend its titles in each competition won last season.
At a prematch press conference to preview Saturday's meeting with Girona, Ancelotti stated that he thinks he's being criticized too much amid Mijatovic joining the throngs of negative voices piping up after this week's 2-1 defeat to Athletic Club in San Mames.
"My feeling is that he wants to please everyone and some young players who deserve a chance when he decides to [give them one], not when they demand it," the former striker said.
"I think that a conflict or anger could benefit the team, look at what I'm telling you ... Ancelotti, the pacifist that we all know, now we need an Ancelotti who gets angry.
"I'm not going to say it, to see the team's reaction. Until a year ago things worked, but now anger, a conflict, can give him something different because Madrid needs something different," Mijatovic added, though he was careful not to call for the Italian's head despite previously speaking out against his work last month.
"I don't want to say that we have to change the coach, but Ancelotti has to change something," Mijatovic stated.
Compared to other great Madrid sides, the Montenegrin sees this one as "a more fragile team mentally".
"The main problem this season is just the greatest virtue of last year, this mental strength that the team had. It has a lot of footballing quality but it is quite fragile in terms of the mental issue every time it concedes a goal and that did not happen in previous years when there were comebacks. It's more of a mental issue than a footballing one," Mijatovic insisted.
"This squad is less hungry because they've won everything they could win. All this context makes them comfortable and comfort in football is one of the main problems that kills you. They don't live the environment like when there was a little more hunger."
As for Mbappe, who Ancelotti admitted is not at his best after he missed a penalty against Athletic Club, Mijatovic seems him as a "very pressured and anxious player who wants to do important things to show that he is a superstar".
"He must calm down, and it would not be bad if he stayed on the bench for some games to see what the atmosphere is like from there. He has to get used to Real Madrid's demands and not [wait] for the team to adapt to him," Mijatovic signed off.