Is the star studded Madrid misfiring a concern for Madrid fans?
Lack of a balanced system
Ancelotti: “We lacked balance. We didn’t have balance. It wasn't a good game. We have to defend better.”
Since the start of the season, Madrid have been somewhat underwhelming. Considering the fact that they are the defending champions and the acquisition of there most coveted player, their performances have been subpar.
Ancelotti recently commented that the team lacked the right balance, and rightly so.
Madrid have set up in a 4-3-3 so far. The starting XI has been somewhat inconsistent with Ancelotti trying to find the right balace. Courtois, Militao, Rudiger, Tchouameni, Valverde, Vinicius and Mbappe have started all games so far. Rodrygo, Guler, Brahim, Modric, Mendy, Carvahal, Vazquez, Endrick, Fran Garcia, Ceballos have been in and out of the team. The star studded Madrid XI has lacked cohesion in their general play. The team looks disjointed in their attempt to build up play and create chances as roles have clashed, with other roles not fully being performed well.
Absence of Kroos
While Kroos was at Madrid, when watching them, you might not have seen Kroos, but when you watched Kroos, you would see the whole team. He was the tempo setter. The game was played according to the pace of his liking.His temperament, composure, switches of play and his ability to pick out the right pass and control a game in general, was why the team depended on him. It was easy to discredit what he did but now in his absence, it is even more clearer, that the team has lost its spine.
He was the heart and sole of this team. As a result of his absence, Ancelotti has tried to replace him but to no success so far. Evidently, there is only one Kroos.
It will be interesting to see what solutions Ancelotti comes up with,whether it will be signing a new midfielder to be their controller or finding solutions with the options he already has.
What to do with Arda Guler?
The Turkish maestro has been knocking on the first XI since the latter stages of last season with impressive performances in every outing.
This season, his inclusion in the team has provided some balance to the left sided biased attack. Whether playing as the RW or the AM, his tendency to operate in the right half spaces and the right hand side in general has provided the attack with something different. His ability to dictate attacks seems to fit well with the star studded forward line. He has the ability to pick runners in behind, score in and out of the box and dictate attacks in general, something the forward line is clearly lacking.
Vinicius, Mbappe and Rodrygo front 3?
A forward line with possibly all left wingers seems somewhat imbalanced. Having operated together since the start of the season, all the three forwards have tended to operate on the left side, arguably the angles that suit them the most on the pitch.
Vinicius's influence in this Madrid team has been unquestionable for the past 2/3 seasons. His playmaking abilities coupled with his 1v1 prowess has been a reliable source of attacking output for the Los Blancos. With Mbappe's arrival, who favours the left side of attack, there has been clash of roles with Vinicius, as each of them has been leaning to that side, as has Rodrygo. In the last match, Ancelotti instructed them to interchange their positions. To which they did excellently. This rotation provides a new dimension to their attack making it difficult for opponent's defences to shut them down. Rodrygo has started on the right side of attack previously and has played quite well. With Brahim and Guler playing on that side on different occassions this season, Ancelotti has a plethora of options depending on his tactical approach, which will be interesting to see.
Going forward, i think it is certainly interesting to see how the team develops. I trust Ancelotti will find the right balance and the team will be operating at its full potential soon.
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