Can Real Madrid solve their low block woes?
Real Madrid have suffered some of the most humiliating defeats of any big club this year. Losses to Deportivo Alaves, Cadiz, and Shakhtar Donetsk still hang over Los Blancos this season. So while they did not lose to Elche on Matchday 16, their failure to pick up all three points constitutes a loss in the eyes of many Madridistas who thought the worst was over as a result of this six-game winning streak.
The truth is that Los Blancos will continue to have ups and downs this season. We have known that Real’s squad isn’t quite good enough. Yes, we can talk about how much a healthy Eden Hazard can help and ask similar “what if?” questions centered on Martin Odegaard, but the injuries and the growing pains of the youth are a part of the larger conversation.
Real Madrid’s biggest problems come against low blocks, where their attacking weaknesses are exposed. They struggle for every inch and don’t have enough players who are capable of conjuring the individual magic that is necessary at Real Madrid to make facing low blocks a non-issue. But without that magic, Real fall into the same trap that a barely-there Champions League side in the Premier League would; they are effectively stymied by the most basic of low blocks.
The solution is players like Hazard, Odegaard Vinicius Junior, and Marco Asensio showing out. Until they do, we will have this bouncing-ball effect where we see a vacillation in attacking efficacy seemingly week-to-week. So you might as well get used to it mentally as a Madridista.