Following a very trying and testing preseason, the start of La Liga is fast approaching for Real Madrid and questions are being asked. With pressure mounting on Zinedine Zidane, we discuss why you should put your faith in the Frenchman.
The mood at Real Madrid has become solemn due to the results and performances during this preseason. The summer started off with fans buoyed by signing after signing announced in quick succession of high-quality players, seemingly approved by Zinedine Zidane himself. What has followed since poses a lot of questions and many fans have had to jump onto the bandwagon of pessimism. My outlook however is not quite as bleak, and I hope to present arguments to help assuage some of the anxiety fans are facing before the season starts.
Zidane’s return had everyone jolt right back into a positive mood. The hero of our recent trophy laden years and leader of the most successful period of the Perez era, had returned to right what had gone so awfully wrong. Zidane had been so successful as a coach, his period in charge became known as the best representation of Real Madrid’s values – most notably the never say die attitude. What typified our recent success was the fact that Real never seemed down and out of games. A goal was always around the corner and we somehow always had enough gas in the tank to bring home the match. This is a theme that has unfortunately not been seen since Zidane’s return. This in part helps explain why fans have started to feel insecure and question whether Zidane is the right man for the job and has it in him to build a new cycle of success.
Zidane promised two things upon return, personnel changes, and system changes. The personnel side has clearly well and truly happened. While a deal for Paul Pogba was not secured it seems that Real are still in the market for at least one more player who will help complete our team. Lately it seems an audacious swoop for Neymar might be in the works, but even if that does not come to fruition, there are strong links to Donny Van de Beek, who has had a great season at Ajax and would provide a different option to Isco in attacking midfield; one that promises more goals scored and chances created.
Trying to pinpoint improvements in the system is where things start to get tricky. We have seen varied formations as we’ve progressed through preseason despite losing most games; an aggressive hammering against Atletico Madrid being a standout low. In most of these matches there has been a common issue of us looking extremely porous when defending, and not potent enough in attack. This makes for some bleak reading and leaves us with the central question of this article.
Preseason is a time to experiment and get feedback for those experiments in order to avoid losing matches or dropping points when the stakes actually matter. It’s also meant to let the players have some fun and ease themselves back into being ready mentally and physically for title challenges. This sentiment was echoed by Varane when being interviewed, he spoke about how the team was relaxed and working hard and that Zidane was working on both improving individual actions and the system’s application each game. It is important for fans to remember that and try not to get too carried away by the results.
If one can look past results, there are plenty of good things to take home. First and foremost, last season was one of our worst in decades particularly in the way of goal scoring and attack. In this preseason the side has looked much better. Karim Benzema started off in bad form but is back to looking sharp and the goals have followed, as have better results. Isco looks rejuvenated and has been one of the best players in attack, playing as a box to box and a more attack focused midfielder whose been carrying the ball from the midfield to attack. The Spaniard has also been a central playmaker in most of our good moves. Summer signing, Eden Hazard, is going through an adjustment period but has been showing his quality in bursts. With more time to adapt one can only see this improving. Marco Asensio’s injury has posed a problem for the right side and we have to wait to see what solution will be sought. Zidane has given Vinicius Jr time on the right and the Brazilian might end up making the position his own, otherwise Brahim is now back to being fit and we will get to see what kind of claim he will be able to make. Despite those questions we have seen neat link-up play, technical quality, and plenty of chances created.
Other positives include Marcelo’s improved fitness and form. He has looked sharp in attack and less a liability than seasons gone by. Thibaut Courtois seems to have nailed down the starting role in goal and has been making an effort to sweep more; a particular high for him was his impressive performance against Arsenal. Varane has shown he’s nearing his best again, not consistently yet, but already at a higher frequency than we saw last season. The midfield has been looking defensively suspect but Casemiro’s return showed his importance. He has hit the ground running, athletically dominating the central area from a defensive standpoint and helped Madrid keep their first clean sheet of preseason as the side won against RB Salzburg. Real played through their press with ease, while playing a new formation and system, to create chances and win the match. In this match, the quality from Zidane’s first stint was visible in that the players managed to suffer but found a way to win.
The positives to keep in mind hence are improved chance creation, bursts of fluid football, with the return of Casemiro, fans can expect much better dominance of the central areas, competent play through a difficult press, and players recovering form slowly but surely. What we do not have clarity over is system. That is something only time will reveal but we do already know that Zidane has brought back his tactical flexibility which makes it very difficult to play against us, and we are starting to see the element of Los Blancos being able to win difficult matches.
The last thing I would encourage fans to keep in mind is to think back to 2016/17 and how the team started that season slowly and not playing the way Zidane wanted. Madrid did get there though and that was a historically great team, arguably playing the best CL campaign we have seen and winning La Liga convincingly.
My parting message is just to say we are in a transition and it will take time to implement. If you can look at the good things we have shown, you’ll realise how much more there is to look forward to. Subtly in there are the pieces of the grand puzzle Zidane is building. The last time he did this we won 3 Champions League titles and even at that time no one saw it coming unless they were looking very closely.