Los Blancos concede too many goals in big games, a glaring issue that their legendary Italian head coach needs to urgently address
So much of the attention around Real Madrid this year has focused on one end of the pitch – and with good reason. Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe playing up front together – and largely not making it work – has been headline news. There's drama, intrigue, and plenty of highlight-reel-worthy moments. Putting the two best left wingers in the world, in arguably the best team in the world, and asking one of them to completely transform the way they play is equal parts captivating and stupid. At its best, it looks like two brilliant virtuosos, working together in tandem. At its worst, it's youth football, children running around in the same spaces and screaming for the ball.
But Madrid are lucky, in a way. The elite players up at that end – toss in Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo for good measure – will inevitably figure out how to score goals. It might be a bit underwhelming to watch, or too dramatic for their own good, but Los Blancos will never have problems putting the ball in the net. The issue is, in fact, at the other end.
Madrid have only conceded 11 goals in La Liga, and a further seven in the Champions League, but they are frighteningly easy to cut through. And if they are to win anything – including the Spanish top flight they were supposed to run away with – then this all has to change. Madrid's leaky defence is culpable of collapsing at any given moment, and it needs to be fixed.
The importance of balance
It's worth noting, first, that this isn't just about having bad centre-backs, or some sort of glaring deficiency – although there are plenty of those. Football teams, these days, don't operate as a series of individuals. The best ones attack and defend as a team – with all 11 players involved at any given time. It is why, for example, Atletico Madrid tend to be so good defensively, while PSG's Mbappe-Neymar-Messi iteration was so bad.
This all relies not only on effort, but also balance. It's a complex thing, that varies from club to club. Some press high, others drop deep. Most clubs will change over the course of a game, or vary their structure based on the opponent. The main problem for Madrid, right now, is there's no default setting. They loosely shift into a 4-4-2 when they don't have the ball but there are gaps to be found. The players don't move in tandem. Some press right away, others hesitate. Some, such as Mbappe, don't seem to know what they're supposed to do. The result is chaos, with gaps to be found everywhere – especially in transition. It's why Barca so comfortably cut them up in a 4-0 Clasico win last month.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWhere's Kylian?
Everything about Madrid this season will somehow link back to Mbappe. That is, of course, the risk they ran in signing him to a massive contract as a free agent. Madrid may be the biggest brand of a football club in the world, but Mbappe, the individual, will generate more clicks, and spur more analysis. When he does good things, Madrid will be praised. When he does bad things, they will be condemned.
Unfortunately for Los Blancos, the good and bad have come in equal measure this season. It has long been a criticism of Mbappe that his off-the-ball work is insufficient. And for a long time, he has been so good of a finisher, creator and playmaker that it didn't really matter. At PSG, for example, he could effectively stroll through a season, get punished for his lack of work rate in the Champions League, and then point to his 40-plus goal campaign as evidence of his greatness.
And fair enough. He is a generational talent. But when teams set up to beat you, there's no real hiding place. And Mbappe looks fairly clueless out there. There are basics entirely missing. He doesn't know when to close down his man, or when to drop. He can't seem to decide which passing lanes to cut out. And when Los Blancos are struggling, running back towards their own goal, Mbappe looks thoroughly unbothered. Luis Enrique, his former head coach at PSG, called all of this almost a year ago, crying out for Mbappe to help out in defensive areas.
"I read that you liked Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan would grab his team-mates by the balls and defend like a madman. You have to set that example first as a person and as a player. You're a phenomenon, a world-class player. Not a doubt. But that's not enough for me. A true leader is someone who, when you can't help us with goals, because the other day you had two high-level players against you, you help us in everything that matters," he was filmed telling Mbappe before a Champions League tie with Barcelona.
Safe to say, Mbappe didn't listen.
Getty Images SportToo few bodies in midfield
But Mbappe isn't the only party at fault here. Vinicius, too, can be a reluctant runner. Although he does possess a bit more tactical nous – and knows exactly howto defend under Ancelotti. More broadly, though, this is an issue of numbers. Madrid tend to play in some variation of a 4-4-2 diamond or a 4-3-3. Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni tend to be locked in for the centre midfield spots, with Jude Bellingham as either an attacking midfielder or false nine.
The solution to combating that – as teams have found – is to pack the midfield. It's what Barcelona did, altering their system slightly to effectively outnumber Los Blancos on the break. It's how Milan scored two of their three at the Bernabeu, and Lille bagged one of theirs in a shock Champions League win. It is worth noting, at this point, that none of these goals were scored by midfielders; it was either a winger or a striker putting the ball in the net. But it's a question of destabilisation. Get the ball into the middle, where you outnumber an opponent, shuffle the ball forward on the break, and then your real attacking threats can go to work. It's why Lucas Vazquez was at the mercy of Rafael Leao, or Ferland Mendy undone by Lamine Yamal. Find the gaps, exploit the space, and get it to the players that can change a game. Against Madrid, it can all be laughably easy.
Getty ImagesThe inevitable injury crisis
In these situations, continuity is vital. When things are going wrong, it is invaluable for Ancelotti to be able to turn to the same group of players, and work with known quantities every week. In fact, if he had a consistent back four and midfield, some of these problems might be remarkably fixable. The issue is, injuries have hit Los Blancos hard.
At the start of the season, the back four seemed sorted, with Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Antonio Rudiger and Ferland Mendy making up one of the more formidable units in Europe. Throw in David Alaba – on the mend from an ACL tear – as a backup, and this was a very good group. Of course, things haven't worked out that way. Carvajal suffered a severe knee injury a couple of months into the season, which will rule him out for the year. Militao, too, tore his ACL in early November.
Injuries elsewhere haven't been kind, either. Eduardo Camavinga tweaked his knee. Tchouameni sprained an ankle. Lucas Vazquez pulled a muscle. Even Thibaut Courtois has dealt with knocks. Piece it all together, and Ancelotti has to figure out how to rebuild with half of his back four out, and no consistency in central midfield.
