Say What You Want, But Solari Has “Balls”
Santiago Solari was named as the successor to Julen Lopetegui amid some controversy as he was promoted from being the Castilla manager to taking over the first team. During his time with Los Merengues, he has had some ups and downs as it seems like the Argentinean manager will be given the chance to finish the season before his future is decided.
During his first press conference, which was a prematch conference as Real Madrid prepared to take on Melilla, he made a statement that caught the attention of many Madridistas: “The idea is to go to Melilla and play with two balls”.
Now, to focus on that statement, no one can say that the manager has not stuck by his word. Putting aside a few good results against the ‘smaller’ teams during his first few games in charge, Santiago Solari has been able to stick by what he believes is best for better or worse. His continuous problems with Isco (highlighted here by my colleague Hasan) and his reliance on using young talent whenever he can shows that he is a manager who is willing to take risks as well as not crumble under the pressures around him.
We have seen other managers in the past try to give the fans what they want by playing a certain player even if he doesn’t fully fit in the system or hasn’t been in form. That player will still be picked over another who’s maybe younger and less ‘loved’ but is still someone who is in form and can make a difference.
Putting the Isco problem aside, a more recent one is Marcelo. The Brazilian has been given numerous opportununities but he just has not been himself lately and Solari is not willing to play him when he’s not in form. Show your improvement and determination in training and you’ll get a chance on the pitch again. Sergio Reguilon joined Real Madrid from Castilla in the summer and has proven himself time and time again. Because of that, we saw that the youngster was placed at left-back against Sevilla and he had a magnificent game. It was good enough to keep Marcelo on the bench for the full 90 minutes as the Spaniard continued to show that he is truly a contender for the left-back position.
During Julen Lopetegui’s time as Real Madrid manager, he was very wary of taking any risks and even though that may not be the reason for his downfall, it didn’t help that he was unable to find solutions to certain problems. As for Solari, we can see that he’s giving chances to the players he feels are deserving of it and he knows what they are capable of. Under Solari, we were able to see increased time on the pitch for players such as Reguilon, Federico Valverde and most notably Vinicius Junior who has been able to help the team in more ways than any of us anticipated earlier in the season.
Now, this is not me saying that Santiago Solari is the right fit for Real Madrid as that’s a completely different discussion. This is me saying that we should give credit where it’s due and Solari is a manager who deserves credit for taking risks. Or, as he would like to put it, for having “balls”.