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Real Madrid's miserable season continues as they failed to register a win against 17th placed Villarreal who are currently fighting it out in the relegation zone. Los Blancos were held back to a 2-2 draw as their abysmal form adds further to their misery in the current 2018/19 season.
Despite winning three UEFA Champions Leagues in a row, Real Madrid have endured a poor start to the current campaign. The heavy defeats against their arch-rivals Barcelona and poor displays against most teams in the first half of the season propelled them to sack their coach Julen Lopetegui and appoint Santiago Solari at the helm.
In the last few seasons, whenever Real Madrid were performing poorly in domestic competitions, they have managed to turn the table in the Champions League with the help of their greatest performers. But that looks very unlikely now for Los Blancos who are struggling against bottom sides of the league.
Despite ending the year on a high by winning the Club World Cup, against a better opponent like Villareal, it is crystal clear that things are not just going in the direction they would have liked.
Real Madrid are fourth in LaLiga and seven points behind leaders Barcelona. Fighting for the top 4 spot is unnatural and way below the expectations and standards of Real Madrid. Even then, securing a Champions League spot looks the only achievable target for them as they are far from their best.
Without further ado, let us evaluate four reasons why Real Madrid will fail to get their hands on a major silverware this season.
#1. Lack of an efficient forward
Real Madrid are unable to find the net throughout the season. Despite the best efforts of Karim Benzema, he has not been a great finisher in the last few years and one player is not enough to carry the goal scoring load. With little help from the likes of Gareth Bale, Mariano Diaz and Marco Asensio, Real Madrid has suffered immensely in front of goal this season.
After the departure of their greatest goalscorer in the history, Real Madrid failed put the ball into the net and more so, in times of need. It's obvious that an extra-terrestrial goalscorer like Cristiano Ronaldo will be missed and the current Los Blancos forwards are nowhere near the calibre of the Portuguese forward.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the talisman who drove Real Madrid to unprecedented heights through his superior goal-scoring prowess in the last few seasons. Moreover, he was a leader up front and motivated the whole team through his unbending will, unending hunger and formidable will.
There are many instances where Real Madrid forwards have failed to convert the chance. Even whilst leading a match, Real Madrid has failed to kill the game by scoring more and that mistake came back to haunt them repeatedly. It is safe to say that unless current forwards step up, they will not get anywhere near to winning a trophy this season.
#2. Failure at the transfer window
Real Madrid's transfer policy is not what it was used to be in the Galacticos' era. They are focusing on youth and investing in young teenagers with world class potential. Recent signings like Vinicius Jr., Marco Asensio, Odriozola, Rodrygo Goes and Lunin are a testament to the fact.
The new transfer policy comes with its advantages but unfortunately, to maintain with their sky-high expectations, Real Madrid still need world class players instead of young players with no experience at the biggest stages. With all due respect, most teenagers are not in the place to take on the huge responsibility and pressure at Santiago Bernabeu.
Moreover, they have let go of world-class players like James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata, Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo. There were no plans to bring in a top player to fill the shoes of Cristiano Ronaldo after his departure in 2018 and evidently, this has played a catalytic effect on Real Madrid's downfall.
There is no doubt that the players Madrid brought are light years behind the stars that have moved out of the club. Florentino Perez and Los Blancos' management must quick to fix their mistakes but it maybe is too late to save this season.
#3. Lack of proper ideology and system
With the evolution of football, the necessity of a proper ideology and the reliance of a system more than individual brilliance is more prominent than ever. World's greatest coaches and teams were built around ideologies where individual brilliance was a secondary priority.
The fruits of a sustainable system are many while the most notable instances currently being Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid or even Napoli under Maurizio Sarri. Under the tutelage of Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid too had glimpses of a proper strategy and shape. But currently, they are very far away from all that.
The only notable image whenever Real Madrid players are in possession is to move the ball into wide areas. The wingers cross the ball and hopefully, it reaches the target man sometimes. But barring the numerous occasion of crossing, most forwards are toothless in the final third and they seem like they have no clue what do with the ball or when to release it.
There is a lack of dynamism which comes with the lack of following a proper philosophy or an effective style of play. Only time will tell whether Santiago Solari is the man to make these players follow a particular style of play.but there's certainly no proof of that yet.
#4. Lack of defensive organisation
Even in the last few seasons, Real Madrid were prone to unnecessary goals which eventually led to their downfall in the LaLiga. There's a saying from Sir Alex Ferguson where he mentioned defence wins a team titles. It is still true to this day and Real Madrid are nowhere near following it.
The defensive blunders and mishaps have only increased for the Los Blancos this season. It is shocking to see world-class defenders leaving holes at the back and failing to form an organised unit even with all their experience.
Although Marcelo brings a lot to the plate on the offence, he has rarely been seen defending when they concede. Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane gets beaten or fights a lone battle when quality rival attackers come through.
It is crystal clear that Real Madrid's defence is without any proper shape or organisation as they have conceded a huge amount of goals in LaLiga. If they keep conceding goals, trophies will remain as a pipe dream till the end of the season.
