4 ways Real Madrid can improve offensively this season
Although most Madridistas have their eyes fixed on the summer transfer market when it comes to kickstarting the flailing attack, Real Madrid can come up with ways to improve their offensive production in the 2020-2021 season before they make a summer splash.
Los Blancos drew 1-1 against both Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid this past week, and they’ve been struggling to score against small clubs (Real Valladolid and Levante) and big ones (Atalanta) alike. It has been a rare sight to see Real score more than one goal, and Karim Benzema’s injury forced the team to come up with new solutions to put points on the board.
But Real have some talented pieces in place. Here are four ways Real Madrid can improve their offense before the season ends and make that final push in both the Champions League and La Liga.
Get Isco involved
I feel like I flip-flop on Isco sometimes, but it’s honestly because the guy really does run hot and cold. It’s not on him, though, because Isco is a rhythm player. He needs the right trust, environment, and role to produce, and he needs to be given the ball over a period of time. Once that happens, Isco can reward you handsomely. He did just that in the second half of the 2019-2020 season en route to Real’s 34th league title.
Isco showed signs of improvement in a false nine role against Atalanta before producing easily his best half of the season against Real Sociedad. Zinedine Zidane left him out against Atletico Madrid, but I’m starting to believe that it is in the manager’s best interest to get Isco out there more frequently.
More from The Real Champs
- Manchester City hold talks over Real Madrid target
- Real Madrid player confirms he is playing with a fracture
- Real Madrid superstar rejected Premier League clubs confirmed
- Spaniard ready to join Real Madrid instead of Liverpool
- PSG want €100 million Real Madrid player to replace Kylian Mbappe
But get Marco Asensio out of the starting lineup
At a certain point, a manager can believe in a player all he wants, but he has to understand that continuing to start the player isn’t doing anyone good. I’m starting to fear for Marco Asensio’s confidence. Every match he starts and fails to produce is another match Madridistas wonder just what the heck is going on. Zidane must protect the winger from further criticism and help the team by starting a player who can offer more.
Look at El Derbi. Asensio put in some good crosses from the left-hand side, but he was taking nobody on and offering zero goal threat, which is vital for a left winger in Real Madrid’s system.
Vinicius Junior comes into the match an hour in, and he changes the complexion of the game by taking players on and creating one of the two most clear-cut chances of the match for his team.
Asensio isn’t as bad as some Madridistas make him seem, but it’s true that he’s not a starting-caliber player for Real Madrid at this point. Zidane can’t keep up the charade. Pull Asensio as a weekly starter and revisit the whole concept of the 25-year-old as a week-in, week-out starter if he proves himself again.
Switch things up for Rodrygo from the right
Rodrygo is the jack of all trades, in the sense that he is Real Madrid’s most versatile forward and can conceivably start at all three positions in a 4-3-3. We know for sure he’s a decent starter on the right-hand side and a potentially great starter on the left. But we don’t get to see him often enough on the left-hand side.
Since Vinicius Junior and Eden Hazard, when he returns, are both better starters than Asensio, it can be even harder for Real Madrid to slot in Rodrygo on the left side.
But how about the diamond? Rodrygo and Karim Benzema up top, a chance for Rodrygo to play in a role that pushes his goal-scoring capabilities. He could impress in this regard, and it could give a chance for Real Madrid to see more of what they have in the 20-year-old forward. I wouldn’t mind seeing that kind of a setup, with Isco or Luka Modric at the top of the diamond feeding the duo of Benz and Rodrygo. After all, they have great chemistry.
Make Eden Hazard a big-game weapon
We are at the stage where we must understand that Eden Hazard is nearing a crossroads. He has been injured so frequently that Real Madrid have no choice but to treat their 100 million euro signing with kid gloves. We know what Hazard can be and what he can bring to the table, because we have seen him dominate in a Real Madrid kit before. As much as a few detractors would like to trick us into thinking otherwise, we have seen Hazard play great games for this club.
But they can trick us because those games have been few and far between due to injury. Hazard is an iffy call for the upcoming Champions League fixture against Atalanta, and it might be better for Los Blancos to just pack it in and wait until the quarterfinals.
Hazard is a part of Real’s best XI. I firmly believe it. However, I don’t have faith in his ability to play every week due to the frequency of the injuries.
Next. Ranking Cristiano Ronaldo's best goals for Real Madrid. dark
I know it’s not the picture-perfect solution, but why not just save Hazard for the biggest games? Get him in there when he is truly needed. Maybe even turn him into a super-sub. But find some way where he can make an impact, get on the pitch, be who he can be, and not deal with so many injuries. Most of all, put him in positions where he is closer to goal and is not so isolated on the left side where he is forced to dribble more than he should.