Football: After listening to the advice, I became the strongest free man! - Chapter 391

c391 Mariano’s fulcrum

With Barcelona being eliminated by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, all four La Liga teams participating in the Champions League this season have been eliminated.

(Valencia was eliminated by Atalanta in the quarter-finals, Real Madrid was eliminated by Manchester City in the quarter-finals, Atletico Madrid was eliminated by RB Leipzig in the quarter-finals, and Barcelona was eliminated by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals).

The “La Liga heyday” created by Real Madrid and Barcelona came to an end ahead of schedule.

Many fans are very confused: Barcelona’s aging personnel is an indisputable fact, and their elimination by Bayern Munich was actually expected by many people (but the score was a bit unexpected).

On the other hand, Real Madrid has invested the most money in the world football in the past two transfer windows. Why has the White Army’s performance not only not shown a significant improvement, but has been eliminated in the top 16 of the Champions League for two consecutive seasons?

The reason is still the old topic: Real Madrid in the post-C Ronaldo era is still in confusion.

Let’s first take a look at the signings of the Galaxy giants after Ronaldo left: In the 2018-2019 season, Real Madrid invested a total of 156 million euros in the transfer market.

Among them, Vinicius spent 45 million euros, Courtois spent 35 million euros, Odriozola spent 30 million euros, and Mariano spent 21.5 million euros. Time came to the 2019-2020 season, and Real Madrid, which performed poorly, further increased its investment in the transfer market in order to improve its performance.

They invested a total of 318 million euros in two transfer windows, introducing Hazard (115 million euros), Jovic (60 million euros), Militao (50 million euros), Mendy (48 million euros) and Rodrigo (45 million euros).

Combining the heavy signings of the two seasons, Real Madrid spent a total of 474 million euros, but few of these players can really bring effective help to the team’s offense and defense.

On the defensive end, Belgian goalkeeper Courtois, who previously played for Chelsea, has secured the position of the main goalkeeper and continues to make wonderful saves on the goal line to save the team.

It can be said that the introduction of Courtois is a great value for Real Madrid.

But it is regrettable that among the signings of Real Madrid in the past two seasons, Courtois is probably the only one who can be called great value.

In addition to Courtois, Militao and Mendy’s main positions are not stable, and another full-back, Odriozola, was loaned to Bayern Munich in the winter window of the 2019-2020 season (he also did not get many opportunities to play in Bayern Munich).

Of course, in order to make up for the fact that the offensive ability has declined after Ronaldo left, Real Madrid’s main direction of signings is still on the front line.

Vinicius, Mariano and Rodrigo, who they introduced in the past two seasons, are all potential players. Among them, Mariano did not fulfill his talent in the French Ligue 1 after coming to the Bernabeu Stadium, and his overall performance has never met people’s expectations.

Both Vinicius and Rodrigo have very distinctive personal technical characteristics, but considering their young age, they are not able to fully take on the offensive responsibility of the White Army in a short period of time.

If Vinicius and Rodrigo’s performances still have many bright spots, then the help brought by the two signings with the highest transfer fees, Hazard and Jovic, is really not commendable.

During their time at Chelsea in the Premier League and Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, Hazard and Jovic became one of the most sought-after strikers in their respective leagues.

However, both of them were not able to adapt to the local environment after coming to Real Madrid. The former missed most of the team’s games last season due to injuries, while the latter’s development trajectory was completely different from the expectations of Real Madrid management.

The poor state and the endless negative news off the field made the White Army’s idea of ​​selling Jovic more and more intense.

Overall, the fact that the offensive signings were not effective has indeed greatly hindered Real Madrid’s performance in the European arena in the past two seasons.

However, from another perspective, even if the performance of these new players did not meet people’s expectations, their original lineup thickness would not end up as the “16th place in the Champions League”.

Combining more qualities and tactical play, there are actually many reasons for the decline of Real Madrid’s performance in the Champions League in the past two seasons.

How can Real Madrid fill the vacancy left by Ronaldo?

In addition, Solari also realized the various effects of Modric’s position on the hardness of Real Madrid’s midfield interception. He withdrew the Croatian international to a parallel position with Kroos, and Real Madrid’s classic midfield three-man position returned.

In terms of tactics, although Solari denied the slow passing and control during Lopetegui’s period, he only made some minor repairs on the basis of his predecessor and did not completely innovate the tactics of the White Army.

It is believed that they have made efforts in two aspects in recent years:

First, the team spent a lot of money to introduce a number of strong players in an attempt to enhance paper strength in a short period of time;

Second, through internal discovery and changing the playing style of some main players, the purpose of presenting a new tactical pattern is achieved.

In the 2018-2019 season (the first season after Ronaldo left), the Portuguese’s No. 7 jersey was inherited by Dominican star Mariano.

The latter played 45 times in various events for Lyon in the 2017-2018 season, scored 21 goals, and had 5 assists, making him a top player in the team.

After returning to Real Madrid, the high-spirited Mariano withstood the huge pressure of public opinion and won Ronaldo’s No. 7 jersey, which also proved his determination to replicate Ronaldo’s success.

People say that Ronaldo is strong and that he scores a lot of goals, so where is Ronaldo strong, and why can Ronaldo score so many goals?

His outstanding personal ability and extremely hard-working attitude on the field naturally occupy a very important link, but the tactical strategy and unique game style that are respected as the core also play an indispensable role in this.

In Ronaldo’s last three seasons in Real Madrid, Real Madrid scored a total of 310 goals, and Ronaldo scored a total of 86 times, accounting for 28% of the team’s goals.

Ronaldo’s high number of goals is not accidental, and his number of shots is also the highest in Real Madrid:

The average number of shots per game accounts for 39% of the team’s total shots.

From the tactical board, Ronaldo plays more as the left winger in the 433 formation under Zidane (this is also the position he is most familiar with).

When the team is in an offensive state, Ronaldo will not stay on the left for a long time. The Portuguese superstar often uses the flexibility of his position to move to the middle and form a frontal impact on the opponent’s goal.

In order to pull more space for Ronaldo to receive the ball, Real Madrid’s center forward Benzema will not stay in the middle for a long time, but will actively pull to the side or midfield area, using his organizational ability to deliver ammunition to Ronaldo.

In the 2017-2018 season, Real Madrid’s main formation has changed.

In order to get Ronaldo closer to the goal and make up for the physical decline of the Portuguese veteran due to his age, Zidane withdrew a right winger and transformed the team’s 433 formation into a 442 diamond midfield. Ronaldo and Benzema formed a double striker.

Judging from the final data, Ronaldo still contributed phenomenal performance in the 2017-2018 season. The Portuguese veteran scored a total of 42 goals in various events that season, with an average of 1 goal per game.

Based on this background environment, Mariano actually has a lot of similarities with Ronaldo in terms of position.

From the perspective of running habits, both Ronaldo and Mariano like to use their own speed to attack the gap behind the opponent’s defense.

But unlike Ronaldo’s period, Mariano does not have the ability to be a pseudo winger, and he has no way to coexist with Benzema.

Under such a background environment, it is difficult for Zidane to give the Dominican striker more playing opportunities, and his state has been affected.

In addition, in the few appearances Mariano has made in recent seasons, we have also found a weakness of his-lack of fulcrum.

Speed ​​is his innate advantage, but once he loses a fulcrum center as a cover, Mariano is often trapped in the opponent’s back line double-teaming, and his ability to get rid of a small range and instant acceleration is basically not reflected.

Since Mariano, who plays as a center forward, did not perform well, can Vinicius, who is also a left winger like Ronaldo, replicate the success of the Portuguese?

From the perspective of personal technical characteristics, Vinicius’s playing style is very similar to that of Ronaldo in his early years. The activity range of this Brazilian star is limited to the left side, and he is more adept at using his unpredictable dribbling skills to break through.

The picture above is Vinicius’s hot spot map this season. It can be found that the Brazilian winger did not leave the left side many times during the game.

This technical feature is very similar to Ronaldo in the early days of his debut, but it is completely different from the Portuguese in the Real Madrid period.

The picture above is Ronaldo’s hot spot map in the 2017-2018 season. The activity area of ​​the Portuguese superstar almost covers the entire half of the opponent. At the same time, he spent more time entering the opponent’s penalty area to outflank and respond than on the left side.

The different activity areas determine that Vinicius cannot fully play the role of Ronaldo during the game. The highest number of goals scored by this young Brazilian player in a single season in his career is only 6, far less than Ronaldo.

Of course, all-around winger like Ronaldo is too rare in world football, and we cannot expect the young Vinicius to reach the same height as the Portuguese in a short time.

Judging from the standard of a winger alone, Vinicius’s performance this season is still quite remarkable. In 38 La Liga games, he completed a total of 48 successful dribbles, ranking 29th in the La Liga dribbling list. You know, Vinicius did not get much playing time in La Liga this season, but he was still able to squeeze into the top 30 of the dribbling list, which proved his outstanding personal skills.

Overall, Vinicius’s talent is unquestionable, but he is not a goal scorer like Ronaldo, but a more pure wing threat creator.

Even if he grows into a first-class star in world football in the future, the technical habits he has adhered to for many years will hinder Vinicius from growing into a goal-scoring machine.

At the same time, considering that Vinicius is only 20 years old this year, it is unrealistic to rely on such a young player to restore the glory of multi-line championship.

Under such a background, the arrival of Hazard and Jovic is very necessary.

Like Vinicius, Hazard’s position on the field is also left winger.

However, judging from the hot map of the Belgian international in Chelsea, his technical characteristics and activity area are obviously closer to Ronaldo.

The picture above is the hot map of Hazard in the 2018-2019 season. This picture basically reflects the tactical position of the Belgian international in the Blues:

He is the instigator of the team’s frontcourt attack. Once the midfield teammates control the ball, they will transfer the ball to his feet as soon as possible, in order to give full play to Hazard’s small-scale passing and threatening ball passing ability.

After coming to Real Madrid, Hazard’s competitive state has plummeted.

Some people think that this is because the Belgian star has suffered frequent injuries, but the injuries will eventually recover and the state can be recovered. Whether he can integrate into the team’s tactical play is the key factor to test Hazard’s future path in Real Madrid.

In the few La Liga appearances this season, Hazard’s activity area is almost concentrated on his position on the tactical board – the left.

The ultra-high coverage area and organizational dispatching ability at the top of the penalty area that he showed in the past in the Blues are nowhere to be seen.

Why is Hazard’s tactical position in Real Madrid so greatly oppressed? His personal decline is naturally part of the reason, but it also has a lot to do with the configuration of the midfield and frontcourt of Real Madrid, which is full of superstars.

When he played for Chelsea, Hazard was a well-deserved thigh player in the Blues, and no one was qualified to compete with him for the ball.

After coming to Real Madrid, the situation has changed dramatically. In the midfield, the White Army has stars such as Modric, Kroos, and Casemiro. These people are first-class ball control players. In addition, their years of experience in Real Madrid have made them form their own ball-holding habits. It is completely impossible to reduce their ball possession time in a short period of time and quickly deliver the ball to Hazard’s feet.

In addition, Benzema’s more special running position also further compressed Hazard’s ball-holding space.

As we all know, Benzema played more of a supporting role during Ronaldo’s time. The former French international often took the initiative to switch to the left side where Ronaldo was during the positional attack, thus giving Ronaldo the space to grab points in the middle.

Unfortunately, Hazard is not a player who likes to enter the middle of the penalty area to make an outflanking like Ronaldo. He still has to use his footwork and passing skills to organize and deliver on the periphery.

In such a background environment, Benzema’s frequent sideline during the game will compress Hazard’s ball holding space, and the latter’s personal ability and threatening ball delivery ability are difficult to be fully demonstrated.

If we can list a lot of data when introducing Mariano, Vinicius and other players, then the materials we can use when introducing Jovic are very few.

The reason is simple: the Serbian international has played too little time for Real Madrid. So far, he has only played 8 times for the Galaxy Giant Ship. We can’t even make a comprehensive summary of his habitual running positions and advantages and disadvantages on the field.

Of course, Jovic has only been at Real Madrid for one season, so it is understandable that he is not used to the environment at such a world-class club at such a young age.

At the same time, Benzema’s extremely stable starting position means that he can only play very little, and the wingers who come on the bench with him are mostly young players, and they also hope to actively show their extraordinary abilities.

In this way, Jovic, who has a relatively average confrontation ability, is often isolated and helpless.

However, there is no need for fans to sentence Jovic to death in his Real Madrid career early. As we all know, the determination of Real Madrid’s top management to update the team’s frontcourt has long been known to passers-by. As long as Jovic corrects his attitude and works hard to train, he still has a chance to win back the hearts of the club’s top management.

On May 31, 2018, Zidane, who led Real Madrid to win three consecutive Champions League titles, officially resigned as head coach.

Less than half a month later, Real Madrid announced that Lopetegui took office (at that time, Lopetegui was still the head coach of the Spanish national team, but Lopetegui’s private signing of a work contract with Real Madrid angered the Spanish Football Association, which announced on July 13 that Lopetegui was dismissed from the national team).

After the Spanish head coach took office, he made some changes to the overall tactical play of the White Army. First, he abandoned the efficient football that Real Madrid has been advocating in recent years, and instead hoped to start advocating more ornamental passing and controlling football.

Fans who know Lopetegui should know that the former Spanish goalkeeper vigorously promoted the ground passing and controlling play when he coached the Spanish national team.

After coming to Real Madrid, he further determined the team’s main tactics as ground passing and controlling, requiring players to avoid using some long passes with little purpose, and instead use ground passing and controlling to advance from the backcourt.

As shown above, assuming that Real Madrid’s attack starts from the left, their midfield trio will pull the side at the first time to assist the left back or left winger in organizing and guiding.

In this way, most of the opponent’s midfield defensive force will inevitably follow the Real Madrid players to move to the side, exposing the empty space on the other side.

The tactics used by Lopetegui are similar to those of most traditional coaches. They do not expect the team to be able to force penetration in a local area, but hope that the team’s conduction in a local area can attract the opponent’s defense to move as a whole, thereby exposing the gap on the other side.

When the right back or right winger of the team gets enough space to get the ball, the teammate on the left will quickly pass the ball to the other side in a short time, helping the teammate on the right to get an effective 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 offensive situation.