Tuesday 8th April, 2025, Emirates, London.
Alright it's well known now, a humiliating defeat Real Madrid suffered in the hands of Arsenal, the Gunners. It's the joint heaviest deafeat in a Champions League knockout game for Real Madrid. A 3-nil defeat.
So below is the pain of a Real Madrid fan about the current situation of things:
I haven't lost faith in my team, I just don't believe in Ancelotti's methodology of trying to make this team a consistent success.
Ancelotti is a great coach. I appreciate him for all he has done, but his pattern needs specific players and their personal beliefs/determination for them to function properly. When the players are out of sync, Ancelotti is clueless. There's a fact that he has never retained a trophy in his over 30 years coaching career, and that should tell you something. He allows the team too much freedom that they tend to get complacent after winning for one season.
I coach a group of street footballers, and it pains me so much that I happen to know the problems of this team more than Ancelotti, who is a professional. Could it be that Real Madrid intentionally wants to be bad this season? Where do I even start pointing out the numerous issues with this team this season? Let's start with the smaller problems and then to the biggest.
MBAPPE INCLUSION: Vini and Mbappe both play the same wing and almost the same pattern of football. Vini was the main man last season, with Rodrygo doing most of the defending for him and Bellingham making up for the striker position. Ancelotti's 4-4-2 formation was the best for the squad. When we couldn't score with Vini-Rodrygo(Bellingham), a proper 9(Joselu) was introduced. Mbappe's inclusion disrupted the team's attacking dynamics, plus he didn't get good preseason time with the squad. I understand they will all need time to readjust and get used to each other. Solution? Since Vini is maintaining his wing and Mbappe converted to striker, turn the Brazilian into 2022 mode (Vinzema) and let him forget about being the main man for the sake of the team, plus Mbappe is a good scorer than he is.
VINI & MBAPPE PROBLEM: Vini, a typical Brazilian, was taken from Zero to Hero for one season, and he thinks the world is now at his feet. He wants to be Cristiano so badly with the mentality of Martial. His coach, who is supposed to be what he should be to him, 'a coach,' preferred to be a weak Dad. Also, Vini & Mbappe both can not tackle a ball properly and barely run back to defend. This leaves the team 2-man down when defending. On top of that, Bellingham, who is known to make up for the striker role like last year, is also leaving the team 3-man down sometimes. You see him killing himself every game to attack and defend. Solution? Let Vini know he still has a loooong way to go before he reaches Cristiano's level, and he should be benched if he fails to show seriousness. Also, see the first solution.
MIDFIELD PROBLEM: We currently do not have fit midfielders that can control the tempo of the game and allow the other players some room to breathe in large stretches of the game. They can also be called "press-resistant" midfielders. Kroos was doing this before he left, and Ceballos was the closest to him this season. Little wonder we played our best games this season with Ceballos in the lineup. Solution? Brahim keeps the ball at his feet well. He should start more as the extra midfielder. This is going to be difficult as Jude or Rodrygo needs to be benched, but there must be a formation that will make us possess the ball more and resist press in games.
Then there's the problem of Real Madrid players not been able to play a forward pass. Always playing the ball backwards, not taking risks, and can't play out from the back easily. Lack of confidence in themselves. This is terrible!