Real Madrid's failings exposed brutally
The 4-1 humiliation of Los Merengues by Ajax in the UEFA Champions League has reverberated across the world of football.
With a judicious mix of youthful talent and experienced heads, Erik Ten Hag’s men corrected the errors of the first leg and thoroughly humiliated the defending champions.
None of this has come as a surprise to anyone who has been watching Real Madrid for the last 5 years.
The three-peat UCL wins under Zinedine Zidane came as a result of a perfect storm; a young manager who commanded the respect of the dressing room, a huge squad of talented players, stars looking to go out in a blaze of glory and sheer luck.
It’s instructive to note that in LaLiga (which demands sustained excellence unlike cup competitions), Real Madrid have been top dogs just once in these five years (by three points over Barcelona)
Zidane and Ronaldo saw it coming
From the outside, it looked like the 2016/17 version of Real was almost unbeatable. In tight games, the likes of Marco Asensio, Alvaro Morata, James Rodriguez, Mariano Diaz et al were coming off the bench to influence matches regularly.
However, this meant that some underperforming players were not scrutinized as harshly as they should have been
Cristiano Ronaldo’s consistency covered up the glaring deficiencies of fellow forwards like Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale. The excellence of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric cleverly disguised the pedestrian play of Isco amongst others.
The biggest advantage Real had in the Zidane era over its rivals in Europe was the quality of the bench. We are talking about a side that could call up players who would be first teamers for any other club.
Things began to unravel when these understudies got tired of a few minutes here and there. Morata (Chelsea), James (Bayern), Diaz (Lyon) left leaving the bench looking thin and short on quality.
Nobody knew this better than Zidane and after last season’s UCL triumph; he quietly took his leave with his reputation spotless. He left behind a team on the brink of atrophy and decay.
Ronaldo obviously saw the handwriting on the wall as well. It’s almost certain now that his agent; Jorge Mendes might have been the one to offer the player to Juventus.
Shorn of their superstar and their manager’s calming influence, things quickly unraveled. Players who had won it all seemed to lose interest overnight. Raphael Varane, Casemiro, Sergio Ramos, Kroos, Modric amongst others came back from the World Cup out of shape and out of form.
This cost Julen Lopetegui his job, a sacking that looks more ill-advised with each passing day.
Baffling transfer policy did not help
Even a child could have easily identified problem areas that Real Madrid needed to fix after last season. The attack sans Ronaldo was not scoring enough goals. Priority attention ought to have been paid to this position.
However, Florentino Perez dithered; obsessed by his Galactico pursuit of a big name player (Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and co). This meant that possible targets who could have helped to add goals (the likes of Timo Werner and Inaki Williams) were ignored.
The central defence had become a problem. Ramos’ brain farts had become more frequent and costly. It became very obvious that Nacho Fernandez (loyal and committed) was not good enough for a team like Real Madrid, ditto for the youngster, Jesus Vallejo.
While a team like Barcelona quickly moved to plug its defensive gaps (Clement Lenglet arrived from Sevilla and Jean-Clair Todibo joined in January), Madrid sat on their hands and did nothing.
It should be noted that the club had seen the signs of decline in the team. Hence, the signing of various young talents for considerable amounts; Vinicius Junior (€61m), Rodrygo Goes (€45m), Alvaro Odriozola (€35m) Brahim Diaz (€17m), Andriy Lunin (€8.5m).
However, these players are much too young and inexperienced to be tasked with such a huge rebuild without an adequate support cast of older heads. This was where the transfer policy has delved into the bizarre.
There was no pressing need for the club to spend €35m on Thibault Courtois (unless they had plans to sell Keylor Navas). The Odriozola buy could also have been shelved as Achraf Hakimi was already available (he is doing well on loan at Borussia Dortmund).
What Next?
There will be an inquisition and it will not be pretty. Santiago Solari’s cluelessness has only been matched by Perez’s incompetence. It is set in stone that the Argentine will not be the manager at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu next season.
A new manager; one who can accelerate the regeneration of the team is needed (step forward Mauricio Pochettino riding a white horse).
Then, there has to be a massive clearout. The likes of Modric, Benzema, Bale and Marcelo have been brilliant servants for the club, it is time to honour them and send them on their merry way.
Then, funds will need to be made available for the new manager. With the income from potential sales and given how parsimonious the club has been in the last 5 years, there should be funds available to strengthen.
The obsession with Galactico signings needs to die and die quickly. Eden Hazard isn’t going to add anything that the team does not already have. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe might cost too much given the other areas that need fixing.
Above all, Madridistas are going to have to be patient. This mess will take more than one season/transfer window to be fixed.