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Real Madrid finally registered a victory when they beat Real Valladolid in the LaLiga after five games. They lost four out of five games against Sevilla, Alaves, Leganes and Barcelona and their one draw came against Atletico Madrid. They are currently 6th in the LaLiga and still eight points behind league leaders, Barcelona.
Despite a rare positive result, it will be too soon to say that they are back. It was another lackluster outing by the Los Blancos as the visitors were unlucky as they hit the post two times after they were beaten by an own goal and a penalty. The win was hardly convincing as Real Valladolid were excellent with their defensive organization and Madrid forwards were anything but superior.
Real Madrid need changes and they need those changes fast as the season is slipping away and trophies look beyond their reach. Although Real Madrid board sacked Julen Lopetegui and appointed Santiago Solari, they still need to make huge amends to achieve anything positive this season.
Let's take a quick look at the three changes which are must if Real Madrid want to improve their fate.
#1 More responsibility from the senior players
Probably the biggest difference between Barcelona and Real Madrid is that the senior players are stepping up in times of need in the case of Barca. Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and the rest of the Barcelona players played with more hunger and commitment in the absence of their talisman, Leo Messi in these last few games.
But that's not been the case for the Los Blancos. Their main talisman and greatest goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo left in the summer to join Juventus. But the senior players in the Real Madrid dressing room are yet to step up in his absence, barring Marcelo. They have hardly shown the character and spirit associated with Real Madrid.
The likes of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale are yet to show the drive and courage one needs to show to feature in that all white kit of Real Madrid. Luka Modric had a great year till the start of the new season. He won the Golden Ball in the World Cup and also, the FIFA 'Best player' on the process. And it's no exaggeration to say that he is far from his best.
It is also a fact that these Real Madrid stars are world class. They proved it in these last few seasons as the feat of the winning the UEFA Champions League thrice will be remembered till eternity. But it is also normal that people expect the current starlets to take the mantle from Cristiano and take more responsibility on the pitch.
#2 Shuffling the attack
A distinct lack of attacking intent was to be seen in the matches that Real Madrid lost. Somehow the players seemed to have lost their pace, positioning and efficiency in front of goal. Although it is evident that Real Madrid misses Cristiano Ronaldo, it is not an excuse for these top class forwards for their horrible performances.
It is not a surprise as Marcelo was scoring more than all of Los Blancos' forwards combined in the past month. Marcelo is a left back, and still emerged as the top scorer although he dealt with injuries in the past months.
Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio came off as the worst performers amongst the forwards in Real Madrid line up. Karim Benzema whose role is more than just a typical #9, still needs to be more efficient in front of goal. Mariano got lesser minutes than the rest to prove his worth but he failed to impress with the game time he got.
The whole world knows about Vinicius' potential and he showed that yesterday. It was his shot which deflected towards the goal and he brings more to the plate than the rest of Los Blancos' forwards. Real Madrid are in a dire need of spark from their forwards and an influx of pace at the moment and shuffling the pack of starlets might be the key.
#3 More activity on the transfer market
There is little doubt about the fact that Real Madrid needs to be more active in the transfer market after the horrifying start to the season. The transfer ban, the trophies- mainly the UEFA Champions Leagues and a new outlook of the stadium depicted a lack of activity in the market which is rather unfamiliar in the case of Real Madrid.
It was foolish to not even try for a goalscorer after the departure of their greatest goalscorer in history. The father of Real Madrid's ex-coach, Julen Lopetegui, complained that his son was robbed of around 50 goals a season and he is not wrong going by the results. But the past few months might force Florentino Perez's hands.
The debacle before and against their rivals, FC Barcelona, was something which could not be ignored by the Real Madrid board. Although Real Madrid have a plethora of young talent that they bought in the transfer windows of recent years, they still need a world class forward to reduce the gap with their rivals.
