Real Madrid: Zinedine Zidane should be careful in the summer window

Balance youth and experience – the ‘Zidanes y Pavones’ policy

The ‘Galacticos’ era at Real Madrid was originally envisioned to be the ‘Zidanes and Pavones’ era. Basically, the idea was to balance out superstars with home-grown or young talent. Perez has resorted to this policy in his business since 2014.

The net spent at Real Madrid in the last five years is much lower than most other big clubs, and the average age of the squad is amongst the lowest in club history.

In the early 2000’s, the club was at fault for tilting too far towards ‘Galacticos’. They went after big names and the squad need for cohesion went for a toss. Interestingly, the club may now be guilty of tilting towards ‘Pavones’, the young players.

The new arrivals in the last couple of years have been Vinicius, Rodrygo, Diaz, Odriozola, Reguilon, Llorente, Ceballos, Vallejo, Hakimi, Asensio. All future superstars in their own right, but most lack the experience of performing consistently at the big stages. It has shown this season, and Madrid has been caught out because of that.

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While it is great to nurture young talent, and buy them early at lower cost, it is also important to remember that Real Madrid is the most demanding club in the world. Only results matter there – both the club hierarchy and the fans have very low tolerance for lack of trophies. They fired manager Carlo Ancelotti who won La Decima in his first season, for not being able to win any trophies in the following season. They have fired two coaches mid-season this year, for underwhelming performances. Players are also measured against such high standards and the fans whistle their star players as well for sub-par performances.

In an environment as taxing as that, relying mostly on youth to get the job done is suicidal. To think that Vinicius was the biggest attacking threat for Madrid in their biggest matches is self-explanatory. Such insurmountable pressure and reliance on young players not only affects the results, but also hampers the confidence of some players. Asensio has been a victim of this as well.

The club needs to find the right balance between the future superstars and current superstars. Their biggest players have either left or are in the wrong side of 30. More than ever now, they need a Galactico. And that Galactico needs to be a goal-scoring forward. Nothing else will do justice to the needs of this great club right now.