Arda Guler started the game against Villarreal as a pseudo-winger on the right. He kept drifting in here and there but his starting position was the right-hand side, much like it has been so far this season.
The idea was for him to coexist alongside Jude Bellingham, as these two are easily Real Madrid’s best midfielders, or at least, they have been this season.
However, his influence was not there on that side, which forced Jose Mourinho to switch Fede Valverde and Arda Guler for some directness going forward.
The idea was for Real Madrid to control possession and keep the ball for long stretches, while also trying to use Fede’s pace to directly hurt Villarreal.
The problem with that was that Guler was simply not the profile Mourinho needed as a midfielder.
Arda Guler is not a deep-lying playmaker - yet
Guler is a player who is not the quickest, which is why he relies on his passing and creativity in space to get the ball to the attackers in incredible fashion. He is also not a controller just yet, which is what Real Madrid needed in that position.
There were so many instances where Real Madrid’s midfield was carved open by one or two passes, and a lot of that had to do with the amount of times Villarreal were able to do that for. If they had a player like Bernardo Silva in midfield instead of the three who played there for the longest time, perhaps the number of chances Real Madrid gave away would have been a bit lower.
Silva is the more agile and patient player out of the two at the moment, and even though Guler’s profile is to eventually become the perfect player for ball retention, he is not there yet. He still holds on to the ball for a longer period of time than he should. Even though Guler’s passing is phenomenal, he does not like to slow the game down. His actions are always positive, which is not what you need sometimes.
Against Villarreal, you needed someone who can sling passes into the attack while also be able to keep posssession for longer, and Silva would have been the better fit for that than Guler.
Eventually, Guler will get there, but Mourinho was asking too much of the Turkish international, because that is not in his locker at the moment. Right now, he is a pseudo-winger or 10 who is fantastic at creating chances and linking up the midfield with the attack. He is not the controlling profile Real Madrid need – not at the moment.
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