Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos admits he doesn’t enjoy preseason training

Few players are as honest about what they are thinking and feeling as Toni Kroos. The German midfielder is both strong-willed and outspoken, famously asking a German broadcaster why they didn’t have a better question for him after the 2022 Champions League final.

Currently Kroos is with Real Madrid on preseason tour in Los Angeles, where they are set to face Club America on Wednesday evening local time.

Speaking ahead of the match, Kroos admitted to Diario AS that he wasn’t enjoying himself as much as he could be.

“This is not the part that we enjoy most because we don’t have games that count for anything and those are the ones that we all want to play, but it is preparation and we know how important it is because it has to last us the whole season.”

“It is another preseason, I know it is important to prepare for everything to come because the seasons are very long.”

Kroos sounds very much as if he could live without the preseason, but his performances in the latter stages of Champions League campaigns prove that he does take them seriously.

That said, Kroos often found himself the first substitute for the likes of Rodrygo Goes or Eduardo Camavinga, during the last campaign. With added competition from Aurelien Tchouameni, the German great will have to fight tooth and nail to keep his place.