Real Madrid’s faltering start to the season has provided an anti-climax to a summer of mass, yet questionable spending. The Madrid president, Fiorentino Perez, is rumoured to be considering Manuel Pellegrini’s future as Madrid coach, following losses against likes of Milan, Seville, and even a Segunda side, in the Spanish Cup. So what exactly, at least in the eyes of Perez, in the ex-Villarreal coach doing wrong?
Fundamentally, the star-signings have failed to yield the attractive, flowing football Perez demands. He chose Pellegrini for that very reason; Villarreal were generally acknowledged as one of Europe’s most stylish side’s when in possession of the ball, and using relatively average funds, the Chilean had steered Villarreal to a Champions League semi-final, from the minnows of La Liga. Perez presumed he had his man, with Jorje Valdano offering vital advice as the director of football. Madrid were tipped to be a force within the latter stages of the Champions League, and to seriously challenge Barcelona for the La Liga title in an aesthetically compelling way.
Unfortunately Perez, a man often mislead by a brain lacking in football knowledge, commennced a pursuit of Europe’s biggest names; Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema all signing in excess of £30 million, with the Ronaldo acquisition prompting a world-record fee of roughly £80 million. Perez even listened to Valdano in the signings of Raul Albiol of Alvaro Arbeloa to add defensive steel, and uncharacteristically signed Xabi Alonso to the demand of Pelligrini himself.
The media hype surrounding Madrid grew, as it was considered by many that Perez had corrected the faults of the first Galactico era. In signing two competent defenders and a defensive-midfield ball player, as opposed to recklessly throwing money at big names, as he did previously.
However, was Pellegrini’s plea with the president to sign Alonso at any cost a cry for help? Had Pellegrini in fact, foreseen the issues the side would playing the style of football he advocates, and attempted to force through a signing which could help to overcome this? Could it be, that Perez had signed poorly, and failed to see what his coach needed to succeed in bringing about attractive football?
Pellegrini has adopted his favoured 4-2-2-2 system to Madrid, however, if we consider the midfields of both Pellegrini’s Madrid setup and Villarreal side, we begin to see an emerging problem:
Above is a graphic of Pellegrini’s ‘box-midfield’ system he employed at Villarreal. Riquelme and Pires, two players excellent when working in tight spaces, who can distribute the ball and move off it intelligently and to the benefit of the team, who are both comfortable with dropping deep, collecting the ball from the defensive midfield pairing and then releasing Forlan through on goal, or simply ticking the ball along. Villarreal’s style was built upon the swift progression of the ball along the ground, something which entails a close midfield, which are never short of close passing options. Riquelme and Pires were perfect for exactly this, and were the cornerstone of much of Pellegrini’s success at Villarreal.
We now take a look at Pellegrini’s Real Madrid setup:
The above graphic shows how much more dispersed Madrid’s midfield is compared to that of Pellegrini’s Villarreal. Kaka and Ronaldo are both looking for the ball in the final third, both looking to be released into space by a creative force behind them, leading to a stretched midfield which quite simply, is unable to move the ball in the manner Pellegrini wants. Neither Kaka nor Ronaldo by nature will drop deep and work the passing triangles in midfield to distort the opposition, neither will position themselves to create space for other teammates or to offer a short pass. Both of them want the ball played ahead of them, into space.
It’s now obvious why Pellegrini pushed Perez to sign Alonso. He had seen this coming; Kaka and Ronaldo are simply not players tailored towards attractive, passing football. Both are exponents of individual skill and forward play, not close midfield passing. Alonso was most probably a last-ditched attempt to try and shorten this gap between defensive and attacking midfield, yet quite simply, it hasn’t worked, and furthermore, Madrid’s defence is being called into question. Sergio Ramos is an inconsistent, error-prone fullback while Marcelo is simply far too offensive and disregards defensive duties. This is not in one way helped by the fact that Alonso and Diarra are often left exposed by Kaka and Ronaldo, hence there is a lack of cover at the fullback positions, a position which is instrumental in providing width in such a narrow formation.
Gonzalo Higuain’s repeated absence from the side remains a mystery. The Argentine is quickly developing into one of Europe’s premier forwards, with strength, endeavour, technique and a ferocious shot to rival Benzema on any day of the week. Unfortunately, it appears to be the ‘endeavour’ which hampers Higuain’s chances. As Graham Hunter of Sky Sport’s show Revista de La Liga explained, there are ‘snobs’ at Madrid, ‘who would rather everything be like a swan, with no ostensible effort, just graceful and smooth, and who see Higuain to be a player who doesn’t fit into that.’ This again is another ridiculous aspect of Perez’s regime – how can anyone possibly demote one of the continent’s best frontmen to the bench because he works hard, in place of a man who works no where near as hard, requires other players to be on their game for himself to succeed and who on current form, is simply not as good?
Both parties are in part, to blame. Perez should have known Pellegrini’s tactical preference and signed accordingly, possibly in Diego, now of Juventus. An intelligent playmaker of the Riquelme mould, Diego could well have been a revelation at Madrid, in Pellegrini’s short passing system and would have thrived with someone such as Van der Vaart to play alongside ahead of Diarra and Alonso. Both are much more akin to Riquelme and Pires, and both would have helped bring about a successful, attractive style of play.
Pellegrini must now prove his managerial credentials by means of adaption. Ronaldo and Kaka will not be sold, and this is the side he is most likely to be stuck with till next summer. His favoured 4-2-2-2 is unlikely to work and he will have to construct a new system, which caters for both success and style, and quickly, or his days could be numbered. Unfortunately, Perez’s insistence on the likes of Benzema, Ronaldo and Kaka being guaranteed a starting position means he may find it hard, although hypothetically of course, a possible route can be explored:
———————————–Casillas————————————
–Arbeloa———–Albiol—————–Pepe———–Ramos——–
———————–Diarra—————-Alonso————————-
——————-Kaka——-Van Der Vaart——-Ronaldo————–
————————————Higuain———————————–
Here we have a 4-2-3-1 system, with slight similarities to Madrid’s formation when Raul plays, although that is more of a 4-2-2-1-1. Van Der Vaart, who hopefully after last season to acclimatise, will be a pivotal figure ahead of Diarra and Alonso. Van der Vaart’s performances at Euro 2008 with Holland showed just how good he is at creating play, working the ball intelligently and working within a team looking to move the ball swiftly, yet into feet. He would be the one to drop deep, to link play between Alonso and Kaka, to take a backseat and command play in attack, while Ronaldo and Kaka run on in support of Higuain. The Argentine provides the perfect lone frontman; strong, tall, grit and determination, supplemented by technical ability and accuracy. He would offer the focal point of attack, a target man for incoming crosses from the fullbacks, while also providing a figure off which Ronaldo and Kaka can work.
With Van der Vaart dropping deep, Alonso and Diarra will be less stretched in working the ball towards attack, liberating Ramos and Arbeloa to bomb forward and offer width, which Alonso himself can search out.
Time will only tell as to whether or not Pellegrini can adapt and create a successful system which is allowed to pass under the obnoxious, ignorant higher powers at Madrid. If he is sacked, one only feels for the incoming manager, who again would feel the pressure of having to create attractive football under such restrained conditions.
