Strengths and Weaknesses of Real Madrid Transfer Target Ricardo Rodriguez

Real Madrid have identified Wolfsburg left-back Ricardo Rodriguez as a potential transfer target, according to Marca, with the club still in two minds over the future of Fabio Coentrao. 

Coentrao, who made just five league starts for Los Blancos last season, has been dogged by injury across the last 12 months and has subsequently struggled for form. According to a second piece from Marca, Real Madrid have grown "tired of Coentrao's constant muscle injuries and would gladly sell if a decent offer came in for the former Benfica man."

Currently, Marcelo stands as the club's first-choice left-back, but the Brazilian shouldered an immensely heavy load last season with Coentrao often sidelined, making 53 appearances in all competitions. In fact, in La Liga last season, only six full-backs completed more minutes than Marcelo, and among those six, only Atletico Madrid's Juanfran and Athletic Bilbao's Mikel Balenziaga had to deal with European football as well. 

Thus, Real Madrid are interested in adding depth at the left-back position, unconvinced Coentrao's body will allow him to play the sort of regular football the club would like. Indeed, it's an area Los Blancos have been looking to strengthen for some time. Marca reported in January that the Bernabeu-based outfit was interested in Valencia's outstanding Jose Luis Gaya. 

Now, the Madrid-based daily reports Wolfsburg's Rodriguez has been placed at the top of the list for potential replacements for Coentrao:

"

With Jose Luis Gaya out of the running, Real Madrid's list of possible left-back reinforcements has been whittled down to Bayern's David Alaba, who was put forward by his agent; Porto's Brazilian defender, Alex Sandro; Augsburg's young Ghanaian, Baba Rahman, and the 'Casa Blanca' favourite, the Swiss-Spanish player Ricardo Rodríguez, who currently plays for Wolfsburg.

Real Madrid have already put out feelers to gauge the situation with the Switzerland international and emissaries from the club travelled to Germany last season to watch him in action, although any possible move is still in the planning phase.

"

Below, we examine Rodriguez's strengths and weaknesses. 

Statistics in 2014-15

Appearances	35
Goals	9
Assists	4
Yellow/Red	3/0
Passing Accuracy	81.6%
Key Passes per Game	2.1
Aerials Won per Game	3.0
Accurate Crosses per Game	1.7
Dribbles per Game	1.3
Tackles per Game	1.4
Interceptions per Game	2.3
Clearances per Game	2.5
Blocks per Game	0.2

Strengths

ODD ANDERSEN/Getty Images

One of the first things that strikes you about Rodriguez is his size. At 180 centimetres and 77 kilograms, the Swiss carries a strong frame for a player at his position and is significantly bigger in stature than Real Madrid's first-choice full-backs Marcelo and Daniel Carvajal. Given that he's only 22, that's significant; players don't typically reach their physical peaks until their mid-20s. 

Such size means there's a real power to Rodriguez's game, both in terms of his ability in one-on-one duels and in his running capacity. At his position, no Bundesliga player with more than 20 appearances won more aerials than Rodriguez last season, and few had better dribble success rates than the marauding Swiss. 

A gifted dribbler and the owner of a magnificent left boot, Rodriguez was an effective attacking weapon for Dieter Hecking at Wolfsburg in 2014/15, consistently charging down the left flank and whipping pinpoint crosses into the box—perhaps his greatest strength. 

Possessing an ability to find the heads of team-mates with dipping balls and fire passes through congested areas, the former Zurich defender was often central to Wolfsburg's ability to open up teams in last season's impressive campaign. With four assists for the season and 2.1 key passes per game, Rodriguez led Bundesliga left-backs in both categories. 

That knack for finding team-mates with crosses and long passes also means the 22-year-old is a real threat from corners and free-kicks, and he was one of Wolfsburg's designated men in such situations last season. 

As you can see, he's a well-rounded attacking threat at left-back. However, in relation to Real Madrid, his goal tally from last season is a little deceiving, as he's both a penalty-taker and a set-piece specialist—qualities he'd be unlikely to use at the Bernabeu given the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. 

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Defensively, Rodriguez is the sort of defender who likes to stay on his feet and break up opposition moves with timely interceptions, reflected by his completion of 2.3 interceptions per game last season—a significantly higher figure than those of both Carvajal and Marcelo at Real Madrid. 

Due to his size and aerial ability, the Wolfsburg defender is also effective with headed clearances from crosses and set-piece situations, his strong frame meaning powerful forwards are rarely able to expose him physically. 

Additionally, Rodriguez possesses quick recovery skills and tenacity in one-on-one situations, qualities made evident in a fleeting but memorable duel with Lionel Messi at last summer's World Cup when he fell to ground before recovering to win the ball as the Argentinian attempted to wriggle past him.

Weaknesses

RONNY HARTMANN/Getty Images

Given his attacking prowess, it's perhaps not surprising that Rodriguez's major weakness at this point is his audacious positioning. 

Buoyed by the way his running power, dribbling skills and crossing ability can hurt opposition teams, the Swiss can sometimes be guilty of playing too high, leaving large expanses of space behind him and stretching the back four.

Real Madrid fans, of course, will be familiar with such an approach given that both Marcelo and Carvajal are attack-minded full-backs. But Madrid would need to carefully consider whether they need another such player in defence, as the man Rodriguez could potentially replace—Coentrao—is slightly more conservative than that pair and adds a sense of variety to the club's left-back stocks when fit.  

Additionally, the Wolfsburg man could be considered a somewhat reluctant tackler. In 2014/15, he averaged 1.4 tackles per game—a figure considerably lower than those recorded by elite La Liga full-backs such as Marcelo (2.3), Carvajal (2.9), Gaya (2.8), Jordi Alba (2.1), Dani Alves (4.1) and Juanfran (2.1). 

The positive offshoot of that, however, is that Rodriguez rarely picks up cards (just three yellows in 35 appearances last season) and doesn't regularly concede fouls in dangerous areas.

Overall, he's a promising package. 

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.