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After a tremendous end to the last season, Real Madrid started this season too, with a blast, winning the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the first match in La Liga, in August. Thereafter, they started drawing and losing games even against the weaker sides of the league.
14 league games into the season, Real Madrid find themselves languishing at a lowly (by their standards) 4th place, 8 points adrift of league leaders and arch-rivals, Barcelona. Madrid's talismanic superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, has been subject to the worst slump in form, and it has only reflected onto the team.
Los Blancos undoubtedly boast a plethora of stars, but none of them have been able to shine bright enough, so far, this season.
That being said, here is a look at 3 primary reasons behind the club's downfall:
#1 Poor transfer window
9 players left the club this summer, out of which James Rodriguez, Pepe and Alvaro Morata were players who proved to be the most impactful players in last season's successful campaign.
However, James and Morata wished to leave the club as a consequence of less playing time given to them.
Pepe's departure from the club was ungrateful as he quoted "They offered me a one-year deal, they do not give two years to players over 33. There are ways of talking and negotiating. Real Madrid's behaviour has not been correct."
Though his spot was secured by Raphael Varane, Real were certainly robbed of solidity by Pepe's departure.
Following the departures, only 3 new signings were made, namely, Achraf Hakimi and Theo Hernandez (defenders), alongside Dani Ceballos (central midfielder).
To fill the spots left by them, Real Madrid needed a developed and experienced backup striker for Karim Benzema, and an attacking midfielder, who could cover James's spot. But Zinedine Zidane was ostensibly confident with his squad, and did not make further signings.
As a result, Real Madrid lost their squad depth, which led to them drawing games, and tasting defeats, in spite of having a fair amount of backup options in defence and in central midfield, and the main reason for this, is the absence of a solid backup striker and an attacking midfielder.
#2 Ineffective tactics
Every coach has a different style of managing his team. Zidane uses crossing tactics as his main weapon to win the games which did not work. One of the main reason for this is the formation he plays, that is 4-4-2, and its flaws are -
1) No wingers to provide crosses and long balls to the striker who can finish it.
2) As a result, the workload on fullbacks increases from defending, to providing crosses to the strikers, which depletes the defence, leaving only the centre-backs at the back.
3) Players are forced to adapt to a new position in which they are ineffective, for example, Ronaldo is played as a striker in 4-4-2, instead of in his natural position on the left wing. This has proved to be ineffective, and has not able to enhance gameplay.
4) With 4 midfielders, out of which one is played in a defensive role, with 3 in the centre, a hole in the forward attacking position is inevitable, resulting in an unproductive and less creative midfield.
Secondly, his tactical substitutions have been poor - Even after they concede a goal, or even when the gameplay is not effective, Zidane does not use his substitutes until the last 15-20 minutes are left.
This leads to exhaustion of the on-field players, plus the talents on the bench get untested. Moving ahead, his substitutions are not practical. For example - substituting 2 midfielders for a forward and a defender, which distorts the ongoing stability in the midfield, resulting in fewer chances being created, reducing productivity in the midfield.
This leads to concession of goals and in turn, failure to counter it results in unwanted results.
#3 Plagued by injuries
The only thing that cannot be controlled by anyone, is injuries. This season, the injury list has been pretty long for Real Madrid, with a fair number of players getting injured one after the other. The frequent breakdown of Madrid's 4-3-3 formation is largely due to these injuries. Some injuries that cost Real Madrid a number of points, are:
1) The absence of Gareth Bale in the team for long periods due to his injuries has cost them a lot of points this season. Lucas Vazquez is the only back up for Gareth Bale as a right winger, but due to his not-so-impressive performance, he has not been played regularly by Zidane, which leads to the only option left, that is a 4-4-2 formation.
2) Mateo Kova?i?'s took a long time to recover from injury, which forced Isco to take over the reigns in midfield, putting the Spaniard out of his playmaking comfort zone, subsequently blunting the Madrid attack.
3) Dani Carvajal, one of the most impactful player for the club, got injured for almost two months, and was replaced by Achraf Hakimi. Young and inexperienced, Hakimi proved to be good defensively, but failed to provide the attacking service that Carvajal did.
4) Lone striker Karim Benzema got injured for a month and hopes were shattered. With no strong backup left, only Borja Mayoral was an option, but he hasn't been fielded much due to inexperience.
Marco Asensio and Marcelo, too, have gotten injured this season, and the cycle of injuries has been worryingly repetitive, and if not for the injuries, the result of most games could have been much better.
