Q&A: Our predictions for Real Madrid’s upcoming season
Looking back at our preseason matches, what were the things you liked about it? What about things you disliked?
Looking back at the preseason matches, what were the things you liked about it? What things did you dislike?
Ben Sundock: I enjoyed the link up between Eden Hazard and Karim Benzema. Despite Benz missing some easy chances, I feel like these two could be deadly when they start to click. Throw in Vinicius or James on the forward line and we could see a ton of goals. I strongly disliked the defense. Marcelo and the center backs were consistently caught out of position. Look no further than the match against Atletico to see what I mean.
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Hasan Karim: The varying formations was something that I enjoyed, particularly the 3 at the back formation. I also feel that in majority of the games, the team had moments of showing solid pressing and build-up. The one thing in some games that concerned me was the shakiness of the defence early on in some games, however, that chopped and changed throughout, as did the squad. In terms of individuals, I liked what I saw of Eden Hazard, he was beginning to show more and more confidence and individual brilliance as the games progressed, I enjoyed the few glimpses of Ferland Mendy and most certainly the solid nature of Eder Militao.
Ali Al-Hassan: Overall, I was happy with the transfers that we made but I’m genuinely worried about our midfield and feel like an addition there is necessary (which could still happen before September). Using the 3-5-2 formation really looked good as we concentrated on the attacking threats that Marcelo particularly provides rather than his lack of defending capabilities. However, we are simply not good enough when it comes to defending and that will be something Zidane has to fix as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this has been a recurring problem for a few years now and it only seems to be getting worse.
Nithanth Ravindran: Starting with the positives, I liked how the players who were terrible last season looked this time around especially Marcelo and Modric and while they still are far from their very best there are positive signs. Add to that the performances of the new players have also been encouraging such as Militao, Mendy and Kubo. Moving on to the negatives, the biggest negative for me was the lack of any definitive playing style or system. When Zizou returned, he promised changes. These changes weren’t seen during the pre-season games. The only changes were the deviation from his preferred 4-3-3/4-3-1-2 formation to 4-2-3-1 and the 3 at the back formation. They aren’t enough as seen not only from the results but also from the performances. More importantly, the team just doesn’t seem to be worried about their performances which is a bit worrying.
Aakanksha Sharma: Honestly, I am anxious at this point. I was quite pleased in the beginning of the transfer window since we did a lot of good business in a quick span. However, the preseason was quite horrendous, did nothing to inspire confidence. It’s important to note that Zidane has been back for a few months now, yet we haven’t really seen signs of a style of play / formations or tactics other than cross & pray. I think this preseason was an epic fail, despite playing quite a few matches.
Yasheel Vyas: The best part about preseason was watching the youngsters play especially Kubo and Rodrygo. Both are just too good for Castilla but won’t get to play with the first team as of now due to the lack of non EU spots. Marcelo looked himself in the preseason and Militao has been promising. The disappointing part was of course the defense and poor form of Carvajal and Nacho. Nacho has declined immensely and that is going to be a big problem going into the season with him as a fourth choice center back. The most disappointing part was Zidane not using Hazard correctly, Zidane played him mostly in that second striker role in a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2. Hazard is the type of player that thrives with the ball at his feet and Zidane should find a way to get him involved in the play as much as he can.
AJ Desai: One of things I liked is the contribution of the new signings. We did not get to see Luka Jovic that much. Eden Hazard’s goal against Roma was amazing. I would love to see Ferland Mendy take over the left back position. Few of the things that I disliked is our back line and midfield. Seems like we are getting eaten up on every counter. Hopefully, Zidane fixes that. As of right now. No cause for alarm.
Ali Malik: I loved the 4-2-3-1 attacking formation and the counter-pressing that we saw. What I didn’t like was the inconsistency of the press and that we were not always in good defensive shape. When Kroos and Marcelo played together we also found ourselves giving up chances because Marcelo would be badly positioned defensively and in the counter-press which pulled Kroos wide and that opened us up to giving away chances. I also really disliked the 3 at the back formation – it led to boring football and didn’t help the defensive problems. Our attack has looked much more fluid in the 4-2-3-1 and I’d like to continue to see that.