It has been a busy week for the European champions. After the end of the World Cup, all fans can enjoy are movements in the transfer market and subpar friendlies. A week after Germany reached the top of the world, Real Madrid has made three important changes to their 2014/2015 squad. Toni Kroos was the first one, as he signed for the Spanish side for six years on Thursday. The German midfielder who was recently crowned World champion will bring some great new blood to the midfield. However, that midfield line was a bit overcrowded with his arrival, which meant that Los Blancos needed to offload some players in order to maintain a good balance.
The immediate consequence of the overcrowding was Casemiro’s loan to FC Porto. The Brazilian player barely had any minutes last season, but the club still trusts him and hopes that he succeeds in order to bring him back very soon. Offloading one midfielder is a good move by Madrid, but there’s still quite a bit of people in that zone. On top of that, Florentino Pérez is apparently looking to bring James Rodríguez. This would create a very big problem for coach Carlo Ancelotti, since if James arrives, he would have eight men for three spots.
If the Italian manager insists in the 4-3-3 formation, he would have too many players and in order to take advantage of all that talent, consistent playing time wouldn’t be possible for midfielders. Real are looking to sell Ángel Di María after his spectacular last season and his high wage demands. On top of that, Ancelotti is reluctant to let El Fideo go, as he sees him as a fundamental part of his project. It seems that the European champions keep focusing on hot property instead of trusting the successful group they have now. Winning the double was a major thing and yes, the squad needed some tweaks, but they are focusing on unnecessary tweaks.
Madrid have bigger problems now, since youngster Álvaro Morata has been sold to Juventus. The Spanish striker was a permanent sub last season and even had a good goals-per-game ratio. This wasn’t enough for a player that has the potential to be a star and he decided to shine elsewhere. With that in mind, the Spanish giants only have one striker now. Instead of working hard to secure a replacement for the youngster, they keep thinking of midfielders. Carlo Ancelotti will head to the U.S. tour next week without any strikers, since Karim Benzema is still enjoying his vacation. If Madrid hope to win every title possible, they’re going to need a striker to give Benzema some rest. In August, Los Blancos will play for two Supercups in ten days, so they should complete the squad before then.
Preseason’s aren’t given enough importance nowadays. During this time, new players can settle and learn to get along with teammates on and off the pitch. Coaches also get the chance to test out all available players, start shaping the squad’s starting lineup and experiment with formations for the beginning of the season. The week proved to be productive for Madrid, but there’s still a lot that needs to be done quickly for Carlo Ancelotti’s sake.
