I know this is too early to comment or judge their season but since start i have just noticed their improvement in defence only in some games after the loss to PSG, but there is no improvement in attack and have struggled to even score a goal in laliga in some games, i think zidane is gonna get sacked and madrid will end up with no trophies in hand by the way i am madrid fan and really disappointed with their performance since 2seasons
I think that with the aging players like Modric and Kros in the midfield, it will help Madrid become more conservative in possession because they do not have that mobility to sprint all over the pitch as before, which i think is a good thing as it will help Madrid get much control of the game. See examples from Andres Iniesta before he left Barcelona. He completed 1,341 passes in La Liga 17/18 season with form rating 7.23 as against 1,008 passes in 16/17 season with form rating 7.08. He became more conservative because he adapted to his physical condition. I think that Madrid will need to work on the link-up to the attackers by playing Isco or Valverde as an AMF and play either Kros and Casimiro or Modric and Casimiro in a more holding midfield position. Madrid's Midfield is not so bad as far as I'm concerned, it just requires the coach to identify the strengths and weaknesses of his players and be flexible to adapt his team's shape to advantage.
It’s funny how people say Zidane’s success was Due to Ronaldo, but the managers before Zidane had access to Ronaldo and their success was not even close to what Zidane had achieved with the same players.
Post Ronaldo-Madrid have become an incredibly fascinating case study of how to rebuild without your star player, right after reaching the capacity of your teams ability and motivation. It's funny though, how we don't even talk about Isco and Asensioanymore, two of Spain's most promising attacking midfielders a two seasons ago. It's like they've been completely washed out of Madrid's DNA(let's not forget James Rodriguez too!). Very confusing????
It was very hard post ronaldo. Basically to win la liga, the entire team had to step up in scoring. 21 of their 24 players manage to do it and contribute a goal, which is said to be record!
@@sohelbashar6925 Yeah, after Sergio Ramos injuring Salah and Liverpool´s keeper making 2 terrible mistakes. That game doesn´t prove shit. Please go fuck yourself and let the grown-ups do the talking here.
It feels like so much has changed since this video was made . Valverde now provides the mobility that Modric once did . Cas has returned to his destroyer role ,freeing up toni to do what he does best . Hazard is finally regaining some kind of form . Not to mention the emergence of rodrygo. Not saying all the problems are gone.
@@Crowned-Qwesi For Casemiro's replacement. Sure we want him. Zidane will bench him and then play him once Casemiro gets injured. Casemiro already racked up 1000 minutes. Same would've been for Kroos had he not gone injured. I don't see the place for Kante in starting midfield. Next year we will get Odegaard probably and we've Valverde plus a whole lot of players who need to up their game in Isco and James,etc.
For me the main problem is that they don’t have many midfield players, that can at least defend or know how to put effort on it. Look they HAVE to play casemiro every time because, if he doesn’t play, than it’s gonna be a huge problem for Real Madrid defensively. They gonna concede a lot goals.
There is no specific terrible area, but the squad has gotten long in the tooth. Benzema, Kroos, Modric, Ramos, Marcelo all deserve immense respect for their careers, but putting them all on the same squad in 2019 makes for a sometimes creaking team. The midfield is merely good. They are not great, as they were in yesteryear. That is true about the the backfield, too. The weaknesses of their backfield make the weaknesses of the midfield more apparent, and vice versa. To be clear, it is not about rubbishing individual players. As individuals, I respect them. But I see the team as a whole I do not see Galacticos level play by Galacticos level players, for the most part.
Valverda act as a perfect sub for Long ball kroos Threw ball modric And tackling casemiero so we have a perfect balance at midfield . When ceballos and odeggard come back from loan this midfield is gonna fire.
@@ComradeOgilvy1984 What about recent results though? Yeah vs bad opposition but still very important compared to what they did vs similar opposition before. I see Valverde brings desired energy in the squad. Casemiro and Kroos have been best midfielders in the league. Forwards and Kroos have found a way to progress the ball and linkup. Now its good to see. Tbf I don't mind Casemiro if playing him makes 2 more players out in wide areas can freely attack. His stats have been really nice and he has been better on the ball recently. Still top 2 DM itw. There has been faults in Ramos' plays. He gets aggressive cuz he senses the danger. Its hard to defend with 2 people vs 3 people. Now we're getting better with defense and attack. Also why do people mention Kroos with all these oldies. He is only 29.
@@Diego-gy6hu well i agree with u but saying that he just had ronaldo kind of undermines what he did as a coach. Nevertheless, i do feel zidane doesnt deserve d the hype around him
Personnally, eventhough, getting Valverde in to replace Modric has made Kroos better since it discharged him from defending, I think Kroos has physically worsened 2 seasons ago and is not able to do what he used to 3 years ago. So, I think, when Modric will fully recover, Zidane should let him in and replace Kroos with Valverde. And in this sort of special 4-3-3 transformed to a 4-2-3-1 in the defensive phase, Modric would be able to go deeper and play in the zone 14 just behind Benzema, as he does with his National team. His ability to create, escape pressings and also his vista and good crossings would make Real Madrid more aggressive and efficient.
@@justaguy2829 Yeah thanks! I had no doubt that it would fonction! All the chances created and the stability in Midfield, if only Rodrygo was here on the right side...
@@osmanechslos5752 Totally agree. Wathcing Vasquez kind of hurts. Rodrygo was amazing last time and will be when he comes on in the second half. But I think it's a smart move from Zidane, he's young and needs to be kept on the ground
@@osmanechslos5752 I kind of like the fact zz is keeping Rodrygo out so it can take the pressure off him and continue to bring him slowly. But the team looked sharp today though.
Not really as City has shown. Kovacic and Ceballos where like for like replacements for Modric and Kroos Both should have been kept. Zidane has shown that he cannot build teams. His success was built on the success of Jose and Ancelotti
Good video, thanks. Loved the overlays across the players on the pitch, emphasising the tactical points. Could you do a similar tactical overview of successful teams?? Highlighting strengths, personnel etc... I would like to see a video like this on Pep's Bayern, on Sarri's Napoli, Ancelotti's Milan (cafu, Maldini, Kaka), The dominant Juve team featuring Vidal, Pirlo & Pogba, and many many more. Could you do this?
I hope you make a video on how zidane managed to fixed all of this. This was insightful to watch after they've just won la liga by basically turning their supposed weakness into strength, and ironically becoming the best defensive team in europe. I hope they win the ucl as well
It was a false dawn. Atletico were crap in the league and so was Barca. Zidane has shown that he cannot build teams. His success was built on the success of Jose and Ancelotti Letting both Ceballos and Kovacic leave was madness. Someone even mentioned LLorente which is just insane
IMO, Real Madrid need someone like Kante or Fabian to help significantly improve their midfield. They should try to splash the cash on improving the midfield, rather than going all out for Mbappe when they already have Rodrygo, Vinicius, Hazard and Jovic for the foreseeable future.
I believe that Zidane was well aware of this problems and tried his best to change his squad in transfer market but wasn't able to. Given that, he uses Valverde to help press the opposition's defense in their build-up and to help Casemiro cover defensive areas, enabling Kroos to act as a more offensive midfielder without putting pressure on him to press or defend and therefore increasing his work rate. His problem in goal scoring is one to remain, I believe, at least in important matches when the quality of the squad wouldn't outclass the opposition's defense and slow transitions of Benzema and Hazard alongside a lack of support from midfield(who neither have proven to be reliable goal scorers) will result in inability to threaten the opposition's goal. Of course a return with form from Asensio and improvement of Rodrygo and Jovic may result in a change of possible tactics.
Great work man, really impressive observations but just one thing ibwould like to share which might be useful for ur other videos, the role of hazard is what that really confuses me, since he has been given a role of no. 10 what benzema used to fo when ronaldo was in the club, and zidane is hoping for some link up play between hazard and benzema but, often it is not possible because of only one striker in the box and as u mentioned madrid rely heavily on crosses so benzema is not available as much as he is required and i think the role of hazard should give him more freedom to roam around the left side as oppsed to him on the center just for linking with benzema
Their percentage on completion of the last pass definitely appears lower. A lot of sprayed balls going to no one in the last 1/3. It would be interesting to see if this is confirmed by data. This is the opposite of what we are seeing in the EPL where conversion rates from chances were at record levels in 2018. Perhaps Zidane is not doing the maths. It’s wasteful energy wise and exposes them to more counterattacks. The combination of Rodrygo’s with Benzima may solve the problem with the final pass having more options generated by Rodrigo’s pace creating spaces. This also relates to your point on age in the squad.
Getting rid of Ceballos(loan) and Kovacic who were Kroos and Modric's replacements. Zidane has shown that he cannot build teams. His success was built on the success of Jose and Ancelotti
he did not sell kovacic, it was Lopetegi. And let me yell you that Modric's replacement is called Martin Oodegard. And the thing about his succes being built in Jose and Anceloti is far from the truth as zidane was the one to create the Kroos Casemiro Modric midfield, as well as the best version of marcelo and carvajal. Plus he is the only manager out of the 3 to win a trophie every season that he has been in charge
@@bryanlmd5547 Against a weakened Barca. Mourinho was dealing with Prime Barca. Even Ancelotti dealt with a Barca that won the Champions League while he was coach
@@Timbone07 Zidanbe delt with the MSN for 2 years and won the only league title that he could compete as in 2016 he came half way through the season when the league was almost imposible to winnand still came just 1 point behind barca.
i wouldnt mind Ronaldo, but u see, even a star player, if goes away and u dont replace him with anyone , you will face problem. Its not only about Ronaldo. Look at Chelsea, they lost Hazard and in first games , they lost 4-0, but they still bought Pullisic and had a great coach so they bounce back. for us neither did we have replacements like pulisic nor a manager like lampard :) problem was replacement
the reason for their drop is simple, its their over-relance on Ronaldo over the last years. now that he is gone, they are running around like headless chickens. who said one player cant change a team?
The point about how Hazard could improve the team's play is very interesting. But what does this mean in European competition where they face the likes of Liverpool, City, PSG, Juve(Ajax, Chelsea, Leipzig etc..)? How will they approach that?
ibrahimi and james can fix the link problem and valverdi the defensive one but the finishing is still a huge mess because benzema is always the starter and jovic is dying on the bench its not fair
I get the impression it's been there for many years to more or less degree but it just had been masked by CR7's goal output: remove that output and it's much more obvious.
Correlation doesn’t mean causation. Ronaldo’s departure hurt Madrid but merely coincided with a gradual decline in player performance with aging stars (modric, kross, marcelo)
He inherited a team and system already built in its prime. As a Madrid fan, Zidane never really impressed me with any tactical changes- never once did I see him make a tactical change mid game that changed the game for the better. He’s a motivator not a tactician- big difference. Kudos to him for all the success but his job was to control a locker room full of stars and keep them up to the challenge not to promote a new system. Want proof? The same guys spine of the team still exists at Madrid and they are still performing at a decent level.
A subtle problem, everybody is ignoring is benzema always dropping deep to pickup play therefore leaving a big hole in the attack (no reference point) where Ronaldo always occupy. This why rodrygo scored a hat trick by playing smart by filling the holes left centrally by benzema.
Dude, they are improving. They haven’t conceded a goal in 5 games and they’ve scored plenty. It’s totally normal to loose or draw sometimes, it happens with all the big teams . I think Zidane knows what he’s doing now. He just needed time and patience.
A lot of this has been solved. In the midfield, with Valverde the team has found that box-to-box midfielder they've been searching for, technically he's pretty good on the ball and is extremely hard working in defense. Casemiro has evolved and has gotten a lot better in possession, very press resistant using his strength and decent dribbling ability. In the beginning he often found himself too high up the pitch this season or the defense was positioned too far back, but overtime they've solved this issue with Casemiro staying in that DM role but when he moves up there is a lot of cover offered and if the team breaks down they hold up the opposition enough for him to get back. The lack of mobility with Kroos has made it difficult for Marcelo to roam forward but with Mendy you have a physically impeccable player(strong, tall, fast, etc.) who is able to cover a lot more space, he's even allowed Kroos to go forward and operate higher up the pitch as he did early in his career, with that a lot more creativity from his passes has occurred. In attack, Benzema and Hazard(as you said) have helped incredibly to link the midfield and attack, they have been the needed outlets, but again Valverde has been one of the standout players so far, many will argue he's been more outstanding then Rodrygo, Vini or Jovic as he's earned a first team spot over Modric. Crossing game was a dilemma for a while, with a lack of reinforcements coming from midfield or wide to help in the box, but again Valverde has been the missing link with his late runs, and with Kroos allowed to go forward he's been able to get good shots just outside of the area. In defense, the team has really organized well, when the fullbacks go forward, the space they leave behind is well covered and the team's defensive structure remains intact. Defensively Madrid has been amazing In the last 7 games I believe. Madrid still have issues, mainly in attack, but with Hazard regaining form along with the other wingers coming back to fitness, and Jovic getting a bit of minutes and goals. The team right now look amazing, they look as if they could have a successful season.
Well according to your video Madrid's root problem is the aging/unbalanced squad... that said... - Who do you think they could've bought to fix the midfield's defensive and offensive holes? - Why didn't they get such players? Players with those profiles - Are you going to make a Bayern vs BVB video analysis? :D As always, great work, great channel.
Juan G well, in most seasons the team to win would be Atleti, but they are also going through a rebuild. It seems to be up for grabs. Maybe we can get a Leicester season for the La Liga.
Given his recent performances, I think Kovacic would be a good fit for this side. At the same time, it would be a nice change of pace if Real didn’t try to take away one of our best players.
Now I understand why Zidane wants Pogba so much. A strong cm with good movement on the ball would solve a lot of issues. Of course that is if he performs and isnt injured.
I'd like to see a Juventus analysis myself. Up to now, i'm not particularly impressed with Juventus this season: hopefully that will change for the better ...
Surley using kroos as a deep lying playmaker could be an interesting option? Then have someone with lots of energy and decent technical ability to help out in the defensive phase and a more attacking box to box midfielder/ free 8 could work since kroos is amazing at recycling possession and passing
Another problem is the motivation of his star players, especially gareth bale. In an interview, bale openly said that he has less passion on football now compared to his younger years. He said he likes golf more now.
Either, 1. Play isco to match up the modric's ageing. 2. Rotate valverde/ kroos depending on the opposition to provide energy/passing in each game. Any way casemiro getting injured is biggest challenge. He does more tackles than anybody in the team. Either militao should be played just like marquinos in psg or get reinforcement like kante/ndidi. Still attacking wise, real madrid need young attacking goal scoring midfielder who can contribute defensively as well. Pogba is the obvious choice. Odegard can be called back as he can provide creativity just like modric used to do in the past.
In my version of "Keep it simple", midfield is the problem. Case isn't good enough for doing "lone breaker", yet neither Modric & Kroos are the great defence contributors. To me, the choices are simple: If Madrid wants Modric-Kroos duo, leave them to be creative machine and not burdens them with too much defensive responsibilities. Therefore, having at least one of great, dedicated defensive midfielder is A MUST (and that's not Case imho). Or, choose Case as the starting block, but inject more dynamic, all-rounder (capable in bothe defensive & offensive) midfielders ahead of him ("newborn" James comes to mind, not Modric/Kroos). Therefore, Case would never have to be exposed alone when defending.
So we basically need a Midfield Metronome of the highest quality. Luka Modric in his absolute prime again. Someone who can Defend, Receive, Transition, push the team up the pitch and send in that Killer ball while controlling Zone 14. I don't think there's any midfielder in the world who can do that right now. Although Kevin De Bruyne comes closer than most. I feel we should play an attack of Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema and Rodrygo Goes. There's plenty of Talent in this squad. But that Superman Midfielder that Modric once was is what we lack. He's the key to unlocking the potential of this team on the pitch. Fede Valverde is adequate, but not World Class
Absolute bullocks tell me one big team that is impressive this season except Liverpool . Real Madrid have really improved in their recent games . Zidane's style is based on high pressing and intensity , Fede valverde coming in have inject more energy into the midfield . The defence have really improved the only problem marid have was scoring goals as Benzema is the only goal scorer . Hazard is misfiring but improving game by game , Rodrygo is proving to be a top goalscorer. Besides Madrid have socred 14 goals and conceded non in their last three games. Huge improvement and it will only get better once Hazard starts firing
@@FootballMadeSimple For the mean time am pleased with what I've seen for the last 4 games i love the intensity . I think Bale should leave he's been really toxic in d dressing room . How comes he's always fit to play for Wales but not real Madrid . Also i don't see a future for James Rodriguez at Madrid . Madrid should go for Sancho and Mbappe
Simply it is due to their scoring issue. He has no Ronaldo who gave him 5-60 goals per season. Bale got problems as well. In Real, once you can't score it will be a bomb as we all know their defense is not good
Idk how to judge but it’s been 4 games with clean sheets with 3 high scoring games. 5-0 6-0 and i am watching today’s la liga game vs eibar and it’s 3-0 at half time
Zidane Main problem is "Pogba" he tries to bring the Pogba, but the transfer has not happened. So Real Madrid management asks about Donny van de Beek both Ajax and Real Madrid agreed for the initial part of the transfer. But Zidane only wants Pogba. so he refused to bring any other Midfielder.
It's not the fault of zidane in his decisions making and tactics, it's just the real madrid team that some main players are getting old. Modric, Kross, Ramos, Marcelo, Carvajal are fundamental players that have had a lot influence before, in the team, now they are not at the same level, mainly because of their age and drop of form. Courtois is not better than Navas, he has made many mistakes, conceded easy goals. Ronaldo's departure has also costs real and zidane tactics. His movements inside the box, positioning and inteligent vertical runs were deadly for opponents. Zidane has been relying on those attributes of ronaldo, let alone his absurd finishing skills, dribbles, passes, crosses and lidership. Last one is Hazard, who is one of the best players in the world and was finding very hard to show his presence in the team.
Disagreed on your every point except Ronaldo's presence!! Hazard has just started, the guy carried Chelsea to Premier League and Europa League trophies, he is surely in top 10 players of today, but he took time to find chemistry in team...just wait and watch!! Hala Madrid!!🏳️🏳️
Real Madrid will win both league title and champions league...But they need a brain in midfield.isco is the perfect option.real are lacking that penetrative through ball,they now mostly depend on crosses.isco is still the best skillfull player real have.please give him more opportunities 💯
Madrid needs more midfielders and soon they’ll need to replace Ramos and Marcelo. Hopefully they get bad players as a Barca fan lmao because I can see their offense improving a lot soon with Rodrygo maturing in the next few years and the probable arrival of Mbappe.
Zidane is out of his depth now without his Fantastic Four playing together. Modric is 34, Kroos is almost 30, Isco is one step out of the door.!! He lost it totally.
@@raidang It will, if not now then some day. Believe me the team sucks. They were lucky to get the title because Barcelona's management in terms of transfer policy, and team selection etc. are fuck all "brilliant" and further going downhill. That's why Real Madrid got away with their antics.
How about making videos on issues regarding Serie A teams and games. Serie A is knowned to be the most tactical championship around. The quality and quantity of italian coaches is internationally recongnized ...as Premier League can certainly certificate.
I just think they ran out of gas especially the midfield they weren't going to be that good in their later years so this was expected I just don't understand the disrespect zidane got
Man they are stacked...isco and james are being benched every game what makes you think ceballos would start? Also that's why kovacic and llorente left...we had too many good mids we had legit 8 world class mids how can they all play?
@@omarshakir8727 that's where there was a management problem. They should've used players like modric during big ucl games and play isco or James in other normal games
