Real Madrid's Star Trio Invite Criticism as Performances and Commitment Dip

Real Madrid, and indeed Barcelona, know how quickly fortunes can change in football.

While Barcelona look at last to have found their "mojo," for Los Blancos, just 50 days after winning the FIFA Club World Cup and despite still sitting top of La Liga, the wheels have well and truly fallen off.

Since lifting the trophy in Morocco on December 20 last year they have just won five games out of nine, with three defeats and a draw with 17 goals scored and 13 conceded. The previous 28 games saw them win 24 of them with just three defeats and a draw and a goal tally of 94 for, and just 18 against.

The question marks over the form and fitness of Ronaldo has been one of the major concerns. His goalscoring average has gone down from 1.03 goals a game to 0.57 during 2015. He shoots less on goal and if that wasn’t bad enough, his recent attempts to spruce up his image have run into turbulence (more of that later).

But it isn’t just about Ronaldo. Everywhere you look there are worrying traits and the most worrying of all is one of a lack of attitude, a problem illustrated not just by Ronaldo, but also Gareth Bale’s and Karim Benzema’s unwillingness to shoot on target. No goals in a match for the first time this season, but even worse, barely a shot on target from the three stars of Real Madrid.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

There is also a huge problem with the 4-3-3 system being played. As long as Carlo Ancelotti, or the club, are unprepared to bite the bullet and leave one of their 80, 90, 100, or whatever million euro signings warming the bench, then that’s the system he’s going to have to use. Ancelotti claims that was the system that earned them the Club World Cup and the Champions League, ignoring the fact that the 4-0 drubbing of Bayern Munich and victory in the Champions League final came via the use of a 4-4-2 approach.

In the words of the coach himself, what Real showed against Atletico was nothing; and plenty of it. Nothing by way of commitment, no pressure, no adequate circulation of the ball, nothing to suggest they were ever going to win any of the 50/50 challenges and precious few of the aerial battles.

Goalkeeper Iker Casillas didn’t help the situation by making an error for Atletico’s opener then, instead of holding his hands up, compounding the situation by claiming it wasn’t his fault at all, another indication of a player unwilling to be self-critical or self-analytical—something which some people feel was one of the major reasons for the demise of the past Galacticos.

It’s worth remembering, however, that had it not been for a wonderful save by Casillas from Sevilla’s Vitolo, they could well have dropped points in that game as well.

Injuries have hardly helped either. Remove five of the best players from any of the top three sides and they will be affected. James Rodriguez, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Modric were all unavailable but even so this is a club that has spent enough money to suggest that they should have enough to bring to the party to enable them to cope with such an eventuality. 

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Talking of parties, and back to CR7, the Madeira man’s recent attempts to develop his image as a role model in addition to his unquestionable genius as a footballer seem to have run into choppy waters of late. His decision to go ahead with his 30th birthday bash, with about 150 guests, just hours after such a comprehensive thumping has also caused consternation and criticism in some quarters.

Not one of the Spanish players attended the lavish do.

The waters were further muddied with the publication on social media sites of Cristiano singing with performer Kevin Roldan. Opting to perform a song with his music organiser for the night that announced his desire for "no-strings" sex will probably not go down as the best decision he has ever made.

This comes on the back of his disrespectful gesture, pointing at and then pretending to buff up the World Club champions badge after he was sent off against Cordoba. It was roundly condemned as “ugly and arrogant” by coach Miroslav Djukic and will have won him few new friends.

But it’s on the pitch where Ancelotti will have the greatest concerns. Real Madrid’s front three didn’t get a sniff against Atletico and what’s worse, didn‘t really looked that worried about it.

The one thing that keeps them on the pitch is their capacity to score copious amounts of great goals. When they fail to do that, then their unwillingness or inability to track back and put in a defensive shift means they will be the first in line to be made scapegoats for the team’s plight.

They should heed the warning.