After two disappointing defeats in La Liga that saw them fall to the third position, Real Madrid seem to be back on track after earning two emphatic victories against Rayo Vallecano (5-0) and Borussia Dortmund (3-0).
Many argue Los Blancos are still favourites to win the treble –La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League. However, despite their recent good results, there are a few problems Los Merengues are yet to solve in order to have a successful season.
1. The lack of defensive commitment from the forwards. Xabi Alonso claimed a few days ago that Real wouldn’t lift any titles if they kept defending with only seven men, complaining about the little help the defenders and midfielders receive from Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. Although the three of them have shown a better attitude lately –especially Benzema– it was clear against Dortmund that they relax too often, leaving open spaces in midfield that allow rivals to reach the box more easily.
2. The full-backs conundrum. If Carlo Ancelotti should be worried about his forwards defensive performance, he should also be concerned about Madrid’s problems when Daniel Carvajal and Marcelo play together. Both lose their position very frequently to join the attack, and that often leaves Sergio Ramos and Pepe holding the defence by themselves, with the occasional help of Xabi Alonso, who has been a key player for Los Blancos not conceding dozens of goals in counter-attacks. Both Carvajal and Marcelo should be more selective with their forrays forward, and they should become aware of the importance they have in the team’s balance.
3. Solidarity in attack. One of the problems many predicted when Los Merengues signed Gareth Bale has started to worry the Santiago Bernabeu fans, who booed Ronaldo in Rayo’s match and Bale against Borussia for their lack of solidarity. This was also clear the Sevilla game, when Ronaldo complained that the Welshman stole a last minute free kick from him. Yet the Portuguese was criticised when he didn’t assist Morata to score a clear goal against Rayo, and on Wednesday Bale did exactly the same in a counter-attack, losing the ball after having denied Ronaldo a clear pass and receiving the fans’ whistles. Ancelotti needs to manage their egos better, since the good understanding of the attacking trio will be crucial for Real to win titles this season.
4. Better sharing the minutes of play. Since the beginning of 2014, when Ancelotti found his best starting eleven with the 4-3-3 formation, the Italian has barely rotated players. Los Blancos have reached the crucial part of the season fearing that fitness problems might start punishing them. Asier Illarramendi and Casemiro should step up for Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric to get some rest, as they are probably the ones with a worse natural physical condition. While Ronaldo and Bale always seem to be in spectacular form no matter how many minutes they play, they could also benefit from some rest in order to prevent injuries –the Welshman has been sidelined too frequently this season and the Portuguese scared everyone when he asked to be replaced against Dortmund.
5. The Santiago Bernabeu’s support. Despite Real Madrid sitting third in La Liga only three points behind the leader Atletico, the fact of having lost two games in a row caused the Bernabeu’s crowd to boo constantly during the match against Rayo. No matter how well the team is doing overall in the season or how hard the players fight, as soon as the results are slightly negative the Santiago Bernabeu fans will always start booing and jeering at their own players. As embarrassing as it might seem for other clubs, this is pretty normal at Real Madrid, and that is very harmful for the club. When things aren’t going their way, the players need the support from their own people, because otherwise division and controversy will reign, as they always have, at the club. La Decima will probably never arrive at the Bernabeu’s trophy room as long as this issue is not solved.
Correct! But also, defenders and midfielders should avoid going backwards when there is an eminent attack. Shadow marking is less strategic against counter attacking teams
Totally agree, Pat. Thanks for your comment.
I agree with carvajal and marcelo exposing the back, they need to be more disciplined. Carvajal mainly cost us the match againt barca and sevilla. Pls stop over praising alonso, he is a very good player but u guys over do it with the credits. He isn’t better that toure or even busquets. I notice he freaks out in big games, barca, athletico madrid and i still remember Dortmund last year (he was voted one of the worst performers)He is very good but he isn’t the heart of Madrid. Truth be told, if Ronaldo leaves Madrid right now, we ain’t winning shit. He is the reason madrid is the biggest club today. Why boo him, he gives 100 percent in every match, yes he should have passed the ball but the match was won already against vallenco. Do u think if Madrid needed to win the title with a goal that he wont have passed the ball to Morata? This same morata denied ronaldo a hattrick againt kobehaven or was it juventus but the fans cheered him. So because Cristiano is not spanish thats why they boo him? That’s just bullshit. Old trafford still worships him and if Fergie hadn’t left the club to mediocre moyes he just might have gone back because madrid dont deserve him. Just check out his goals and assists since arriving at madrid, it’s just ridiculous. He is doing his job upfront perfectly so those in the middle and the back should do theirs. Nice write up though, keep it up.
Bale should put in more effort and play better to justify huge signing for him.To be sincere he has not played well as he is not seen at all on the feild anytime madrid is playing against barca.Bale should stopped equal with Ronaldo because they are very far from each others.He should cool down and learn so he can get result and even acheive more than Ronaldo in madrid.
When I heard that bale was dying to playmainlyor madrid I knew he wanted to rival Ronaldo and it is beginning to show, the truth is he’s not Ronaldo, he’s not in that class, his over all stats doesn’t indicate that he is a very prolific goal scorer, he is trying to copy Ronaldo in every way, he’s trying to take what cr7 is having, Ronaldo should be careful with him or else he might want to go on by taking his girlfriend as well cause you can see that he wants everything Ronaldo is having, we have people like that in this world, they will do everything to get close to take what you have, they behave like rats, and if there’s a problem then it is florentino perez problem and not ancelotti, why must Ronaldo Ronaldo keeps dropping deep to defend, I haven’t seen messi doing that, barca got people to do that, the truth here is people at madrid do not appreciate Ronaldo, he did set up an empty goal for carvajal’s during that game so what is the big deal, messi scores almost all the goals at barca and the people over there don’t care all they want is results, many times we have seen moratta selfishly decline to pass to Ronaldo, just the other time Ronaldo set up Moratta when he came on. My problem is mainly with bale, every one is beginning to how selfish he’s becoming and that is bullshit folks, I know the English media is doing everything to compare him with Ronaldo and messi but the truth is his stats doesn’t indicate that he’s on their level.
I feel sad about the behavior if fans in the stadium, and it must be frustrating for the players as well. Some one like CR7 who has been doing great and giving all of his for four seasons suddenly he gets booed and whistled because he tried to score a goal ( which he could have scored 8 times out of 10, had he shot a bit earlier) when the team is 4-0 up. It is pathetic and sad. Hala Madrid!!!
Yup, Bale is overrated and it’s not only about the huge amount of money paid for him. Have you ever seen him score in big matches or change the results on his own? No. Well, that’s what big players are all about… Players like Messi and Ronaldo. It was Ronaldo that brought victory in the match against Levante or prevented a defeat at Atletico’s ground. The fact is Bale, only scored or had decent games against easy opponents. Yes, he scored 12 goals in the league, but he couldn’t score a single goal against the current top four (excluding Real of course) and other dangerous teams like Valencia. Well, Jese did what he didn’t although he played briefly for Real. No matter what happens, I will always see Bale as an unnecessary, unsuccessful signing. Sorry to single out a player when probably the whole team should be criticized a little.
Also, Marcelo is a great player and one the best left-back’s in the world but it’s clear that Coentrao can offer more defensive stability and I believe they should be rotated more often (when Marcelo is back from the injury), depending on what type of game Real will be playing and who are their opponents! Coentrao has done a great job against Rayo and Dortmund. So, I’d suggest when Real need more of a sold defense, they put Coentrao in the starting line-up.
You guys criticising Bale should quit it, you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. There is nothing wrong with what Bale is doing, he is assisting goals, dribbling past players, scoring goals, and marking well. Saying Bale doesn’t track back is a joke, Bale does that ten times more than Ronaldo, hell even Benzema does more defensive work than Ronaldo nowadays.
As for Bale’s stats, for someone in a new country, new league, new club, different language, different football style, had no pre-season, had numerous injury problems, Bale is doing AMAZINGLY well. Should I remind you of how Modric struggled last season?
In fact putting all those off field problems aside, Bale probably still has the best stats out of any winger in world football. Yes, any winger, you can go check the stats yourself. I don’t count Ronaldo as a winger because let us face it, that guy does not do his job as a winger, Benzema and Morata spend more time on that left channel than he does almost every game. He’s become a goal hogger nowadays, like a Van Nistelrooy or Inzaghi, which is a really big shame considering that he is probably the most talented footballer to ever grace the football pitch.
Anyway, bottom line, Bale has been amazing, and stop comparing Jese to Bale and Ronaldo, he is nowhere near that level, and never will be. He’ll be good, maybe Pedro level, but he’ll never win Ballon d’or period.
Bale is doing well,and as Luis Figo said lask week,”the Bernabeu boos everyone”,remember when Zidane was booed? Even Raul wasn’t safed
I first recommend the writer but this is not the time for real madrid to start pointing fingers at one another its time to move forward as the end of the season is the most important aspect.It’s time to b united and stop comparing and giving stats about players this will never help the situation.I wish and pray la decima will arrive this season at the bernabeau stadiun Amin.
Tank you mr. Mahmud for your advise
Am appreciating ol dat our players are doing, we shld stop criticising dem, dey are giving ol dey hav. HALA MADRID.