Friday, May 18th, 2012
Our previous team guide looked at Barcelona, and how they can improve the greatness that already encompasses them. Here, Kaushik Lakshman previews the season for their greatest protaginasts, Real Madrid. The manager remains the same, but a new influx of talent looks to propel the club to the heights they strive for.
At the end of the 2010-11 season, Real Madrid finished runners up in La Liga again, but significantly better in the Champions League and Copa del Rey. The result almost mirrors the 2003 season, which was looked upon relatively as a success, yet this past season, for the most part was not considered so. Is it the money spent? Is it the need to catch and match the greatest team ever in the history of Real’s biggest rival? Is it the pressure that gets added when the self proclaimed ‘Special One’ is the coach of the team? Whatever the answers to these questions are, one thing is for sure, expectations will be at their loftiest heights yet again.
Real has made some shrewd additions this season to the squad. In bringing Nuri Şahin, voted best player in the German Bundesliga, and Portuguese defender Fabio Coentrão, Madrid has not only added significant depth to the squad but has also taken care of the two biggest dependencies from the previous season; the presence of Xabi Alonso and the dependency for width on the left wing from Marcelo. Former canterano and another product of the farming away from home system, Jose Callejon returns to provide backup to wingers Ronaldo and Di Maria. Lens defender Raphaël Varane was bought upon the recommendation of Zinedine Zidane, and seems like a very talented player who should knock Raúl Albiol off the third central defender’s spot in due time. The jury is still out on Hamit Altintop, who is rumoured to be used as another utility midfielder, much like what is made of Coentrão transfer given his implantation in midfield throughout pre-season.
Added to the signings, the evolution of the existing squad is a key factor. There is so much chaos around the club every summer that it appears that the core of the team has been maintained, from one season to another, for the first time in ages. Gonzalo Higuaín had a cut down season thanks to injury, which in turn acted as a blessing in disguise to Karim Benzema who seems a whole different player now. It will be interesting to see how the two will be used. Ángel Di María and Mesut Özil will look to improve on their impressive first seasons by addressing certain problem areas like decision making and versatility respectively. Strange as it may seem, even with the abundance of players in these positions, the weakness seems to be centre of defence and centre of midfield. Ricardo Carvalho is not getting younger, while Pepe is not one to trust. As excellent as Alonso is he can often be caught a step or two slow and as hard as Sami Khedira works, at times his lack of technique is detrimental to play. It will be interesting to see how the new signings play into this problem.
Tactically it is heavily rumoured that last season’s standard 4-2-3-1 will be thrown away for the coach’s favourite 4-3-3, albeit is a slightly more offensive one than we were shown last season, and one with more flexibility. With the evolution of players, and the flexibility of the new signings, it sounds like an exciting proposition.
The preseason preparations have been the most intense in recordable history. Travelling to both America and Asia (only one which is usually preferred by clubs per year) has its negative impact, but considering that all purchases were made well in advance, and barring the few niggles and players who took part in the Copa America, most of the squad trained, and are on the same page. Going in to the Supercopa, typically an unimportant trophy but never can be unimportant when facing Barcelona, the team was in better shape than their rivals. For the most part of things, it was the same personnel of last year, and the same tactics of early last year, and a message more than anything that the squad had evolved. The team matched their opponents in style and confidence. Everything was accounted for and even worked out, except for the little Argentine, who time and time again proves to be the difference between the two sides. No conclusive evidence can be taken from these because neither team was at a hundred percent, but there are two key takeaways. One, Real has the talent and the confidence levels now necessary to take the game to Barcelona, and this is going to be vital. And two, more importantly, there is still work that needs to be done, and lessons that need to be learnt before December when the teams square off again.
With a lot of teams in bad shape financially whilst the big two, who were perhaps the two best teams in all of Europe last season, seemingly having gotten better, it is safe to assume that we will have another season similar to the last two, with a huge disparity in points obtained by the two and the rest of the league. Things in La Liga will boil down once again to the Clásicos, and the matter of who will drop fewer points through the course of the season. The Copa Del Rey presumably and hopefully will take a lower priority as the dream of La Decima will be chased yet again. As football has shown us time and time again though, winning the Champions League is easier said than done. The pressure and expectations that come with “Mourinho’s second season”, makes the upcoming season something to look forward to. Whether there will be titles or not, only time will tell.
Kaushik with another fascinating preview there, and if you care to follow Real Madrid’s quest then please do visit Real Madrid Football Blog which was co-founded by the man in question. There you’ll find an informative, non-bias take on life at the capital club. You can also follow the blog on Twitter here, and Kaushik here.
Tags: Di Maria, Mourinho, Real Madrid, Ronaldo
