Zidane Needs to Be More Reckless and So Do The Players

When Real Madrid fell into trouble in the Mestalla, Zidane chose to play it safe. He was afraid to take risks, despite the situation demanding it. On the other side, when Zidane went nearly all out against Villareal, Real prevailed. Ahmed Genina tells you how Zidane and his players should be playing games.

Zidane didn’t exactly do the best approach in Mestalla

When your team is trailing by one goal away from home, with the opposition parking the bus, at 30 minutes remaining, you need to put more attack-minded players on the pitch and not change the team’s mindset.

Subbing out Luka Modric and James Rodriguez and not subbing Isco or Mateo Kovacic in made things very complicated for Los Blancos. Casemiro is very important for the team’s defensive work load, but that doesn’t mean he is indispensable. With Dani Carvajal already sending crosses there wasn’t much need for Lucas Vasquez, a player whose game is limited to crosses when facing a ten men Valencia team playing behind the ball.

As for Modric, he’s too smart and too good to be taken off, not to mention that the team was already one substitution down because of Varane’s injury. At worst he could’ve acted as cover for Carvajal who would push up the wing and send wave after wave of crosses into the box.

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Karim Benzema is another story. There doesn’t seem to be any reason behind Zidane’s patience on Benzema after over an hour of disappointing play, in a match that was already getting out of hand. Alvaro Morata could’ve been more effective as a striker at the Mestalla.

Zidane had four players who could’ve made a true difference in that situation, yet he chose to sub in only one of them. Albeit at the cost of another game changer already on the field.

Ideally, in my opinion, Zidane should’ve subbed in Morata for Benzema and Bale for Casemiro. Bale goes to the right, drops a little deeper than Morata and Ronaldo, and goes into the box whenever a cross comes into Valencia’s box. James would form a midfield trio with Kroos and Modric. Carvajal and Marcelo would go high up the pitch and await the ball to cross. Ramos covers for Marcelo, and Modric covers for Carvajal. James would occasionally exchange places with Marcelo. In fact it would’ve been better if Marcelo and James keep the exchange permanent until the end of the match, with Marcelo covering for James. Partially because Marcelo’s pace would allow him to cover better for James, rather than Ramos covering for Marcelo. Also, it would allow Ramos to drive forward to try and snatch one of his iconic last minute headers.

Another mistake that Zidane needs to note is that there is a difference between pressing high and panicking. Valencia’s second goal came because Ramos and Varane were paranoid after the first goal, not just because they were instructed to press high.

Now let’s take a look at the clash vs Villareal

Two goals conceded in a matter of minutes.. again! This time it was even worse. It happened in the second half. That meant Los Blancos had less time to get back in the game, yet, against all odds they won.

This is what happens when you attack in numbers. When you have 10 players on the field each one of them is influencing the attack on his own. The team wasn’t afraid to press high. Each of the forwards believed he would score himself. Even the defensive midfielder was a danger because he is a long distance sniper.

The end? Three goals in less than half an hour.

The secret? A reckless attitude.

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Subbing out Casemiro allowed the team to have a fully effective midfield instead of two players with an unreliable connection between them. No offense to Casemiro, but his offensive game needs improvement. It’s not about dribbling, in fact, that’s the last thing a DM needs and Xabi Alonso proves this. It’s more about passing and movement without the ball. Toni Kroos as the deepest midfielder meant the team had an accurate passer playing deep on the pitch. We also had a clinical shooter who could finish things on his own, provided opportunity arises.

Isco, who came on for Casemiro, made a huge difference. The team had someone who dribbled into space alongside Modric. This meaning more pressure on Villareal’s defensive scheme.

With the endless bombardment of crosses and long shots, Villareal made a mistake that led to the penalty and their defense was outmatched on numerous crosses. Two of those were enough – alongside the penalty – to get the three points.

Even better, once Madrid took the lead they played their counterattacking game. It was manifested in Morata’s chance in stoppage time. Had he been more clinical, he would’ve had a double.

Moral of the story: Zidane needs to have a more offensive, reckless mindset when the game requires it. At the same time, he needs to calm down when the team concedes. Panicking will get the team nowhere. He also needs to channel these mentalities to the players and finally, his substitutions should reflect this reckless yet calm mentality.

I fully believe that if Zidane notes (and he probably did after what happened in the last two matches) these little yet critical points, this team would play more to its strengths and less to its weaknesses, making Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid closer and closer to a truly invincible team.