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Spanish Inquisition: Why Cant Jose Mourinho Get His Rotation System To Work At Real Madrid?
Goal.coms KS Leong asks why the Special One cant get the best out of the fringe players...
By KS Leong
Jan 24, 2011 2:16:00 PM
Los Blancos have not had the most convincing of starts to 2011. From the jittery 3-2 win at Getafe, the comeback against Villarreal, to the two most recent games where they only managed to score once each, the cracks are slowly starting to appear in Jose Mourinhos amour.
Mourinho admitted that the squad rotation that was deployed against Mallorca did not work. The fact is that it has not worked throughout the season.
Madrids fringe players have underperformed every time they have been called into action and Mou has been understandably reluctant to put his trust in his benchwarmers. In the first half of the campaign, the coach constantly lined up his favourite starting XI game after game, even in matches when it seemed that a few of the back-up players could be thrown into the fray and get the job done. And it is now starting to take its toll, with successive midweek games in the Copa del Rey forcing Mourinho to rotate his squad.
But why has it been such a struggle for the self-proclaimed Special One? The Portuguese is a renowned motivator, the best when it comes to man management, and a coach who can bring the best out of any player.
He has succeeded in getting Ricardo Carvalho, Angel Di Maria and Mesut Oezil right up to speed with Spanish football, but those who have been spending the majority of the season warming the bench are simply not up to par when they are given the chance.
Pedro Leon, other than scoring a precious equaliser in the Champions League against Milan, has done little in the small handful of games he has appeared in. Sergio Canales has had bad luck with spells of injuries, but even when he is handed the opportunity, such as against Levante, he has failed to impress. It may have been an utterly meaningless game, but thats the whole point of sending in the back-up troops; to give them a chance to show their hunger and talent in a game that the key players would otherwise take for granted.
Mou giving Pedro Leon a few pointers
Its even more chaotic in defence. Pepes lay-off through injury has been a big blow and its not a coincidence that ever since his absence, the backline has looked very suspect and Madrid have been conceding far too many goals for Mourinhos liking.
Sergio Ramos, who has been shifted to the middle, doesnt seem to have as good an understanding with Ricardo Carvalho as Pepe does. And the shoddy offside trap that they frequently try to spring on opponents has become the main contribution to the teams sudden leakage of goals.
Xabi Alonso is another irreplaceable component in the Madrid side. Without him, they lose a player who can feed the ball into attack out of defence quickly and fire a 40-yard pass forward with pin-point precision.
Xabi has only missed one league start prior to Sundays game, and it was against Sevilla just before Chrismtas. Madrid ground out a slender 1-0 win but his presence in midfield was sorely missed.
Mourinho has plenty of options and combinations to work with, from Lass and Mahamadou Diarra to Fernando Gago, to a less defensive approach in Esteban Granero or Canales. All of them can partner Sami Khedira in midfield, but none can do what Xabi does best.
And in the instance where Khedira is out injured, as was the case against Mallorca, perhaps its not such a wise move to leave out Alonso as well.
Kaka still looks some way off his best. He does well playing intricate one-twos with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo, but he doesnt quite have the explosiveness that Mesut Oezil possesses, the ability to stride forward with power, poise and pace.
Young Esteban Granero, almost the forgotten man in midfield after the arrivals of Oezil and Sergio Canales, has now been Madrids saviour along with Karim Benzema in the last two league games. El Pirata scored the equaliser against Almeria last week and he repaid the favour on Sunday when he set up Benz for the winner against Mallorca.
And that brings us nicely to Karim. Two games, two heroics, effectively preventing Barcelona from being crowned the 2010/11 La Liga champions in mid-January. Yet theres still escalating pressure and mounting criticism thrown at him. And you can understand why.
Has Benz been unfairly criticised?
The Frenchman had ample chances to bag a hat-trick, including a number of one-on-one confrontations with Dudu Aouate that he should be putting away if he wants to convince the club that he can be relied upon to be the No. 9. Its glaring misses like those that shove Benzema under the microscope, regardless of how well he plays.
To be fair to Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain was no different when he first moved to the Santiago Bernabeu. The Argentine would produce match-winners and heroics which guided Madrid to the league titles in 2007 and 2008, but in every other game, he would struggle to get into the match or he would spurn a flurry of chances.
Mourinho is doing his best to move the players around to keep them fresh and happy, and at the same time try out different playing systems should Jorge Valdano fail to bring in another striker in the final week of the January transfer window. But his gambles are not paying off.
Starting Kaka and benching Benzema from the start against Almeria didnt work; resting Oezil and Xabi turned out to be a disaster; sending out a second-string side against Levante in the cup was a fruitless exercise as no one managed to stand out.
If Madrid are to continue pushing Barcelona in all three competitions, its now up to Mourinho's first-choice XI.
goal.com
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[][][]===(( Hala Madrid *||* บ้านราชันชุดขาว )) Before Copa del Rey Match =*|25-01-11|*===[][][]
