This is a year of change for Real Madrid — and that always brings complications because it is a club that has no time for transition. All that matters is winning.
For the first time since 2014, Madrid are without Toni Kroos, a bastion of their style and success for a decade. The German chose to retire at the end of last season, despite being offered a renewal, leaving Carlo Ancelotti with a huge hole to fill — and everyone is fully aware there will be no other player like him.
Nacho, another key veteran, has also left — although his footballing importance did not match that of Kroos. The problem with Nacho relates more to what has followed — Madrid’s failure to sign their top target at centre-back, Leny Yoro, and a subsequent lack of reaction in the market. Now the team looks short in that position.
The big counterbalance to all this was the arrival, after a seven-year soap opera, of Kylian Mbappe.
However, the Frenchman’s adaptation has not been easy, nor the introduction of a new system to match the new personnel. Madrid have made a slightly sluggish start to the new league campaign, drawing 1-1 at Mallorca and Las Palmas in their opening four games, while their Clasico rivals Barcelona appear transformed under new manager Hansi Flick.
With Ancelotti’s side returning to La Liga action at Real Sociedad on Saturday, here are the biggest talking points around the club right now.
Mbappe’s adaptation
There was huge expectation around Mbappe’s arrival. Everyone was wondering what his joining up with the team would be like, on and off the pitch. In an in-depth report on the Frenchman’s first months at Madrid, published last week, we described the positive impressions he made around the club from his very first day at Valdebebas back in July.
But as he went without a goal in his first three La Liga matches, there was a lot of debate in Spain about how much of a problem Madrid face in combining two key attacking players in Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, as they both tend to prefer taking up positions on the left.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker’s two goals against Real Betis at the Santiago Bernabeu before the international break provided a release of pressure. What was seen in the second half of that game, both from Mbappe and the team in general, is considered by Ancelotti to be the right way forward.
The Italian and his staff have no doubts that the 2018 World Cup winner just needs time and that he is a great No 9, even if many commentators have argued he would be more effective on the left.
The player, for his part, has repeated since his presentation that he can play in any position in attack, recalling that this was the case at his first club Monaco, with France and at PSG.
Adjusting the new system (again)
Largely because of the aforementioned addition of Mbappe, but also because of Kroos’ departure, Ancelotti went into the summer holidays with the idea of changing his system.
A year earlier, due to the signing of Jude Bellingham and the lack of a top class replacement for Karim Benzema, he opted to switch to a 4-4-2 with the Englishman at the tip of a midfield diamond. During the season he modified this, especially after a heavy defeat in the September derby against Atletico Madrid.
This time, Ancelotti’s bet is a return to his classic 4-3-3 with the ball, with Bellingham dropping back a few metres. In defence, the formation is a 4-4-2, with Rodrygo playing as a false right winger and Bellingham as a false left winger.
It is noted that the absence of high pressure from Mbappe brings the team back to a structure which is more similar to Madrid’s shape when Benzema was still here. The block is lower and the idea is to make more use of space in attack when the ball is won back.
And this process of adaptation, along with some unexpected results, has not helped to increase the predominance of young players. Arda Guler has featured in four of Madrid’s first five games (including the UEFA Super Cup), which breaks the trend of last year, but he has only played 100 minutes and fans are calling for more.
The same goes for Endrick who, not counting time added on in matches, has only enjoyed nine minutes of play. He has nevertheless impressed Madridistas — especially with his first goal.
Issues in midfield
Ancelotti and his staff believe that time is needed to settle into the team’s new system, as it is not easy to adjust so much attacking potential at the same time as learning to live without one of the world’s best midfielders.
A key figure in the transition is Federico Valverde. It is no coincidence that Kroos singled him out as the heir to his No 8 jersey or that the Uruguayan has been spotted with Kroos’ name on his boots.
Valverde has been the team’s best player so far this season. With Eduardo Camavinga and Bellingham injured, he and Aurelien Tchouameni (who has been more inconsistent this term) are expected to play an increasingly important role.
Tchouameni is the La Liga midfielder with the most touches (349), the most successful passes (278) and the highest passing accuracy (93.6 per cent, among those to have made at least 150 passes). Valverde is third on those metrics, while he and Tchouameni are joint second in terms of number of recoveries made, with 22.
But despite these statistics and Valverde’s excellent level — including his two goals already this campaign — the feeling is that something is missing in midfield. Fluidity is considered to have been lacking, something which has resulted in a lack of good balls into attack.
However, there are no alarm bells ringing. First, because time is needed. Second, because the two most important midfielders who deal well with the ball and break lines, Bellingham and Camavinga, are not playing, and as it’s normal their absences have an impact.
A shortage of centre-backs
Since the start of the summer, sources close to Ancelotti — who, like all those cited here, preferred to speak anonymously to protect relationships — said they expected the team to concede around 10 to 15 more goals this season. But they hoped this would be compensated with an increase in goals scored, especially thanks to Mbappe.
As the weeks have gone by, concerns have grown, especially after the failed signing of Yoro, who, to the surprise of the club’s board, chose Manchester United.
Before that, academy player Rafa Marin was sold to Napoli after a great year on loan at Deportivo Alaves. Afterwards, the decision to let Nacho choose his future and leave without renewing his contract was maintained.
Madrid’s idea at all times, despite Ancelotti’s request to the contrary, was not to sign in that position. It was Yoro or nobody.
This meant they only had two healthy centre-backs, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger, to start what club sources described as “the toughest and most demanding season in history”, with potentially more than 70 games across domestic, European and international competition.
David Alaba will at best return in November, while Jesus Vallejo was not initially in the club’s plans and has suffered recurring injury problems. Instead, the plan was for Tchouameni, a midfielder, to be the third centre-back, while promising young defenders Joan Martinez and Jacobo Ramon would help out after impressing on the summer tour.
The picture now looks quite different.
Martinez has just had surgery on his cruciate ligament injury. Rudiger has minor osteoarthritis problems. Tchouameni (like left-back Ferland Mendy) has returned from France duty after arriving there with another minor injury. Militao picked up a slight muscle problem with Brazil. Ramon is suffering from the same.
For the visit to Real Sociedad on Saturday, Ancelotti is only certain that Rudiger will be available. In any case, neither Militao, Tchouameni nor Ramon will be at 100 per cent. Perhaps the best alternatives are right-back Dani Carvajal or Vallejo.
Although he has publicly expressed his agreement with the board’s position, this is why internally Ancelotti has been calling for the signing of a centre-back since January.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
