With Real Madrid, seven points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona as we approach the halfway point of the league season, many of Los Blancos’ faithful believe Florentino Pérez’s negligence in signing a Galáctico replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo failed Julen Lopetegui and is making life hard for Santiago Solari. However, the answer to the club’s problems is much simpler than that…
Of course, Ronaldo is a huge miss. After he signed from Manchester United, his 451 goals came during a period of immense success, but it is indolent to suggest that his absence is the sole reason why the La Liga title race appears to be over at the turn of 2019.
In fact, last season he scored only four times in the league between August of 2017 and a 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo in the first La Liga game week of 2018.
Real’s problem is a lack of depth. A look at the squad of 2016-17, which won the league trophy ahead of Barcelona after only three losses, shows that Solari does not have the strength in numbers that Zinedine Zidane possessed.
Two seasons ago, 19 players played over 25 matches in all competitions. Of those players, Ronaldo, James Rodríguez, Mateo Kovačić, Álvaro Morata and Danilo have all moved on to pastures new. Pepe also featured 18 times amongst a series of injury problems.
This season, after the loan departures of Theo Hernández, Borja Mayoral, Achraf Hakimi and Kovačić, who featured 99 times collectively in all competitions last season, as well as the departures of 13 other players including Ronaldo and Martin Ødegaard, fatigue has been a major concern.
After last summer’s World Cup, most clubs handed their returning players extended rest periods ahead of their league campaigns. Not Real Madrid, though.
Raphaël Varane, who played every minute of France’s victorious World Cup campaign, was rested only for the opening game of the season against Getafe by Lopetegui.
He has since missed only two La Liga fixtures, against Real Valladolid and Celta because of an abductor muscle tear, and has made more appearances (25) than the rest of the squad’s defenders, apart from Sergio Ramos.
The Frenchman even apologised to Lopetegui for his poor showings whilst he was the manager at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. It is easy to forget that he is still only 25 – he must be protected and nurtured, still.
Jesús Vallejo has not yet featured in La Liga. He has suffered a couple of niggling injuries, granted, but he has still not featured when available. Ramos, Varane and Nacho, as good as they are, need further support whilst the club battles on all fronts, considering the FIFA Club World Cup also.
It was the same story for Luka Modrić. He has featured in every La Liga fixture so far, playing over an hour in all but two of them after returning as a World Cup runner-up with Croatia.
It is no coincidence that he has not been at his mercurial best this season, considering that he played in all of his side’s games including 120 minutes in the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Of course, there is a fine line between rotating players for the good of the squad and fielding a weaker team. But, in 2016-17, Morata scored important goals in a narrow victory against Athletic Club, Deportivo La Coruña and Villarreal, amongst others.
This season, owing to the blatant mistrust in Mariano Díaz and an over-reliance on Karim Benzema, such tight matches are not being turned into narrow wins – as the draw against Villarreal at Estadio de la Cerámica proved, as well as a failure to score a goal in 465 minutes.
Kovačić is renowned for his energy and box-to-box dynamism in midfield, James has the ability to win matches, Morata is a proven goalscorer and the likes of Danilo provide much-needed versatility for their respective clubs.
Solari’s bench against Villarreal featured the obvious talents of Isco, Dani Ceballos and Vinícius Júnior but no substitute striker. Benzema is tired after 27 appearances already this campaign but, because of departures of Ronaldo and Mayoral, a lack of faith in Mariano and another injury to Gareth Bale, there are no alternatives – that should not be the case.
With the likes of Jeison Murillo, Thomas Vermaelen, Denis Suárez, Malcom and Munir, Barcelona are in the position that Zidane’s Real were in not so long ago: Ernesto Valverde has elite-level players waiting in the wings to fill in any position, allowing his stars a rest on the odd occasion.
A lack of depth and a series of big names struggling to find their top form, including Isco, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vázquez, is a recipe for disaster.
The UEFA Champions League is different: the matches are spread out, and Real often face teams that play to their strengths whilst possessing players that deliver on the big occasions. It’s the run-of-the-mill league fixtures that are the problem, as opposition sides sit back, soak up pthe ressure and wait for Solari’s side to tire before pouncing.
It appears that this season’s title race is already over. With ongoing rumours that Eden Hazard is on his way to Spain’s capital, it is clear that Pérez wishes to bolster the squad with a Galáctico signing or two. However, to move closer to Barcelona, the issue of squad depth must be addressed first.