Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted Thursday there was no excuse for his team's sluggish start to the La Liga season, despite salvaging a 1-1 draw against lowly Las Palmas with a late Vinícius Jr. strike.

Ancelotti took responsibility, acknowledging that the team must improve its cohesion and vowing to work harder to elevate its performance.

"It is clear that we are struggling to find the soundness of last season. But we must not look for excuses. The schedule is tight, and we have to recover quickly because on Sunday we have another game," Ancelotti told a news conference.

"I need to have a clearer strategy, to give the players more clarity in what I want. It's costing us more than we thought. We have to work and concentrate on the path we want to take."

After only one win in three matches to start the season, last year's La Liga and Champions League winners, Real Madrid, are fourth in the standings with five points, four behind leaders Barcelona.

Ancelotti was asked about Kylian Mbappe, who joined Madrid in July from Paris Saint-Germain but has yet to score in La Liga. The coach refused to criticize individual players.

"Our game has been slow. There is not much mobility, and the strikers are receiving the ball with the opposing teams already close. When we don't have the ball, we leave too many spaces between the lines," Ancelotti said.

"I don't think it's a mental problem because the team trains well. It's just that sometimes you don't find the best way to play. Things are not going well, and we have to fix it soon."