Another Match, Another Draw: Real Madrid vs Eibar Analysis
By Josh Hill
Sunday’s match vs Eibar ended in a 1-1 tie. This is the fourth time in a row that Real Madrid tie a game, and the third la liga fixture where they miss out on 2 very valuable points. Will these ties come back to haunt them later in the season?
We are now 7 match days into the season, and Real Madrid have slowly lost their momentum. They are now in second place, and have been lucky not to drop to third place. With Zinedine Zidane having massive issues in the midfield, we have to wonder if they’re losing their chance of winning the league this year.
The Positives
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Lets go ahead and start with the pros of the match:
Cristiano Ronaldo looked close to finally coming back to his regular form. He linked up with Gareth Bale with a beautiful cross that ended in the equalizer, and was extremely close to scoring himself.
His pace is slowly coming back, and if he can learn to have a little more patience, he’ll once again be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Gareth Bale was easily Madrid’s best player. He was calm and collected, seemed to have complete control when he had the ball, and generated an impressive amount of offensive plays.
That’s not even taking into account that he scored the equalizer. The welshman keeps getting better, and is unlucky not to get the ball more.
Now lets take a look at the issues Real Madrid had this match:
Zinedine Zidane
Zidane was one of the seasons most interesting prospects. After winning the Champions League in the first season of managing top-flight football, we all had high expectations for this season.
It doesn’t seem that the Frenchman has found his stride though. He has failed to get the best out of his players, and can’t seem to find the right men for the job after injuries to his preferred first team.
It’s hard to fathom why he insists on playing Benzema when he has clearly been the worst forward for Los Blancos and is nowhere near his best form.
The same can be said for Zidane failing to start either Nacho or Lucas Vasquez. Nacho is probably the best replacement for Marcelo, with both good attacking play, and good defense. Lucas Vasquez on the right-wing, with Bale on the left-wing and Cristiano Ronaldo as the striker is also a very promising option but he has failed to play it.
Changing up the 4-3-3 formation would certainly help. A diamond 4-4-2 is his best option, allowing for both a deep midfielder and a #10.
With all the recent injuries, including that of James Rodriguez, Zidane has quite the issue on his hands. Here’s hoping that he finds his stride.
Keylor Navas
Sunday’s match marked Keylor Navas’s return to la liga this season. After a shaky performance vs Dortmund, this was supposed to be the match where he settled in after coming back from a long break. 3 minutes into the game, we saw the first mistake from the Costa Rican keeper. A routine ground ball turned into the first scare of the match. Carvajal let the ball go back to Navas, who then completely missed the slow ground ball and saw it go through his legs. He then had to dive for it. Had he been facing a team with faster strikers, it would’ve easily ended in a goal.
Less than two minutes later, Eibar scored a header. Rico was left alone by the defense, which we’ll get to later, and Keylor Navas looked sluggish in his reaction time. An in-form Navas would’ve easily stopped the header. Luckily, he did get better as the match went on but one has to wonder: How much longer until we see the Keylor Navas that played so impressively last season?
The Back-Line
The back-line for Real Madrid was atrocious yesterday. Danilo looked very uncomfortable covering the left back position. Not only was he ineffective going forward, but he was completely dominated by Pedro Leon, who bested him almost every time in both skill and pace. Zidane is most likely counting the days till Marcelo comes back, because there’s no-one that can adequately cover him (other than Nacho, who Zidane refuses to start.)
Pepe was also lucky not to have been sent off. He had two very dangerous plays that could’ve easily ended in him being carded, but he was lucky to have evaded punishment. He lost control multiple times, and needs to learn to control his emotions on the pitch if he doesn’t want to be sent off.
Varane was easily the worst defensive player on the pitch yesterday. He provided two opportunities for Eibar to score, and his injury might have been the best thing to happen to Madrid.
Nacho was the best defensive player for Madrid and had an excellent performance. That’s telling of the huge issues with the back line, as he was a substitute and played his first match of the season.
Carvajal consistently covered his flank, but left alot to be desired offensively.
The Midfield
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The more Real Madrid play, the more obvious Kroos’s fatigue becomes.
The German midfielder looks exhausted and sluggish on the pitch, and clearly needs rest. After the intense match against Dortmund, Sunday was probably his best chance to rest.
Lucas Silva should’ve covered for him. Not only is Silva used to playing deep in the midfield, but it could’ve also benefited Madrid in getting the Brazilian back into the swing of things.
Sunday’s match saw the return of Isco, who played alright. He clearly felt his lack of activity and was partially at fault for Rico’s goal, but was also the most consistent midfielder.
Kovacic lacked tactical awareness and vision, which didn’t help Los Blancos. Then there’s Asensio, who didn’t perform nearly as well as he’s done in the past.
Karim Benzema
This is gonna be a tough pill to swallow, but it has to be said: Karim Benzema should not be starting anytime soon.
He was practically invisible throughout the first half and is just taking up space on the field at this point. He’s clearly a far cry from the player he was before his injury, and its beyond me why he started Sunday, let alone the last 3 games. The sooner he’s dropped from the starting XI, the better.