Attack Is Real Madrid's Biggest Area of Concern Ahead of 2016/17 Liga Season
Real Madrid are ready to head into their 2016-17 season by opening competitive action with the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, before they attempt to take on the dual challenge of winning La Liga for the first time since 2012 and becoming the first team to retain the UEFA Champions League title in its current format.
Zinedine Zidane's side have shown mixed performances during pre-season and, while that in itself isn't an issue before competitive action starts, an extremely short three-game warm-up for the new campaign—with one more to come after the Super Cup—means problems and issues in the team have to be ironed out fast and players must find their form quickly.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
There is still plenty to sort out for Zidane ahead of the opening games, and a start to La Liga against Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo means he'll face some early tests domestically. Tactically and physically, Real's players aren't quite at the level they need to be just yet, but one area that is rarely a concern for the team is the front line.
Surprisingly, that's precisely the biggest area of concern in the short term, though, and fast solutions need to be found to bring in silverware and get the team off to a good start in league play.
BBC absences
The BBC strikeforce has reigned supreme for several seasons now at Real Madrid, with Karim Benzema flanked by Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
While their form in front of goal and consistency can be matched only by a few in world football, the problems with the approach are obvious: Squad players rarely get an opportunity to start, cannot maintain their form or fitness as a result and the depth isn't always there to keep the team at the same high level if more than one of the BBC are missing.
Ronaldo has played no part in pre-season through injury, though he would likely not have done so anyway after Portugal went all the way to the final of Euro 2016. His return to fitness will drag on into the season, though, meaning his position, as well as his goals, need to be filled one way or another. Gareth Bale is similarly absent after an extended post-Euros break, and his presence—in the XI or on the bench—in the Super Cup will be needed even if he can't be counted on to hit top gear immediately.
Benzema is the real worry.
The French forward still hasn't completed a training session with the first team this summer, as confirmed by Zidane to assembled media, per Marca's Patricia Terroba. Real's hierarchy want Benzema to undergo an evaluation to assess where his lingering fitness concerns are stemming from.
The striker missed 42 per cent of the available minutes in La Liga last term as a result of various injuries, and despite his excellent strike rate, it doesn't do the team enough good if he is only fit half the time.
Threat from wide
Alvaro Morata is the sole summer signing for Real Madrid, bringing back their former youth graduate after a two-year stay at Juventus. Other than him, there are no new faces at the club on the playing staff—which means no direct and immediate upgrade in any position.
Improvement can only come about as a result, therefore, of greater coaching time and understanding the tactics required, or else individual surges in form.
Morata is a fine player, and there is plenty of growth left in his game, but at the same time the facts have to be acknowledged: In two years in Italy, his stock soared enormously and his transfer value has trebled, but it's not as a result of him being a clinical goalscorer.
The Spain international tallied 15 goals in 63 league appearances—one every 185 minutes in Serie A—and he has yet to find the net back in Real colours, despite starting all three friendlies. The goals will come for him, but he's not the absolute source of finishing that many would claim, nor is he close to reaching the level of Benzema's clinical strike rate at this point.
With a striker who won't hit the target as frequently, goals and penetration from the wide areas are ever more important when Zidane goes with his 4-3-3, as now seems probable for the Super Cup given Benzema's non-involvement. But, with Ronaldo and Bale also missing, it falls to less forward-thinking, more scheming and creative wide midfielders to do the job.
Isco and Marco Asensio might battle for one flank, James Rodriguez or Lucas Vazquez could start on the other. The Colombian is the best bet for a goal threat from the quartet, but he has also played little in pre-season and still doesn't have an assured role in the team. Whoever gets the nod to support Morata in the attack, they simply have to up their game immediately and find the end product required if Real are not to miss Ronaldo and Bale's unstoppable impact.
Zidane's shifting systems
Wisely, Zidane has used part of pre-season to try out a different shape or two, playing 4-4-2 more than once and fielding a flat five midfield out of possession, too, in order to make his side more difficult to break down against the bigger clubs.
Naturally, switching systems multiple times in-game—along with many substitutions, the fitness work being done and the different level of fitness from the opposition—can hinder fluidity and prevent the squad players getting fully to grips with any one role, which has been particularly notable this summer for not yielding any standout senior attacking midfielder.
Of course, Luka Modric is present and ready for action, but for the rest it will be a case of needing to take whatever early chance is handed to them, perform well and hope it keeps them in mind for more minutes over the course of the season. That goes for Isco and James, but also Mateo Kovacic, Lucas and now Asensio, who will remain at the club after impressing.
They all have tremendous characteristics of their own, but the bottom line is that Real Madrid's expectation is about scoring goals, playing offensive football and winning matches—and thus trophies.
The upcoming match offers the chance to do the latter, but only if they manage the former, and too many in that group do not contribute directly to the end product which comes inside the opposition penalty box. Find the goals now when the problems are present, however, and it will be remembered later on in the season.
It's very much a short-term issue, of course. Ronaldo and Bale will be back before long and guarantee at least 60 goals between them, but as Real discovered last term, it only takes a short stretch of poor form at the beginning of the campaign and they can be playing an impossible catch-up game all season long as a result.
A fast start is imperative for long-term success in La Liga, and for that to happen, Zidane has to quickly find the answers to the current issues in his depleted front line.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
