Looking Ahead to Next Year

By: Corey | June 20th, 2008

This will be a discussion about where our players fit into our formation that was used last year and how tactically Schuster could use the massive squad he has at his disposal. So lets begin with a breakdown from the back.

GK:

Casillas
Dudek
Codina
Adan

Casillas will be the starter again, not that its a problem. Dudek has not left yet….but we all hope he does this summer. Codina should get the chance to start a cup match and I really hope Dudek leaves, oh I already mentioned that. Antonio Adan may very well be promoted if Dudek does leave, or he could go on loan somewhere, which would be a good move for his career. Nothing ever changes in this department.

CB:

Canna
Pepe
Metzelder
Heinze
Sergio Ramos
Garay (on loan at Santander)
Gary (Castilla)

It use to be our achilles heel, now its an area of strength. Pepe was immense for us this past season when he was healthy, while Fabio had his ’senior moments’ but he to was solid for the most part. Heinze looked a little better at left back but was a useful substitute there, likewise Sergio Ramos, while Metzelder is not a name I am familiar with??? Does he play for us? You say he spends his days in the trainers room recieving treatment for his foot? Its news to me but I will definately have to investigate this….

So with 3 true center backs and two full backs capable of covering the center, this should be enough staff on hand to get through a season. Nope, we need to sign another central defender! The signing of Garay was great, and he will only further bring quality to this position. But he will not be with us next season, as he remains on loan with Santander. So considering this will be Canna’s last season with us, and the this guy named Metzelder has injury problems, bringing in another central defender as cover and that has the potential to step in to a starting role in a year or two.

So our depth chart could use one more addition, a 21-24 year old with some CL experience and a few years of regular first team football behind him. Canidates? Well, Vincent Kompany I like, but he is injury prone to the point that Arsene Wenger does not want to pursue him. He also has not really played well since moving to Hamburg, and he may have peaked to early. Ricardo Carvalho certainly wouldnt be considered a sub and is not in the young category, but his availability is known and his abilities are much appreciated.

Marc Torrejon I have liked for some time, and with Espanyol out of European contention may come cheaply. Cesar Arzo did fairly well with Murcia just this past season, but is still pretty unexperienced. Cristian Zapata looks like he will move to a big Italian team any minute, but is still available. Per Mertesacker is a younger, less injury prone Metzelder who has played in the World Cup, Euros and CL for some time now. And with Valencia a giant mess, the under rated Raul Albiol would certainly be a coup. He would probably be the best value of the bunch, but all of these signings are just suggestions.

Regardless of signings, I expect to see Pepe and Canna starting every game, but the key question does not lie with this position primarily, its a whos-who of injuries for the defence every game, because we have had a terrible time with injuries. Its a good thing we have as many wing backs that can cover the middle otherwise we would have been shit out of luck. Gary has performed well for Castilla this past season and may be in line for a call-up in pre-season. But who knows, Schuster isnt the biggest fan of the Castilla team for some reason.

LB, RB:

Sergio Ramos
Miguel Torres
Michel Salgado
Heinze
Marcelo

As Christopher Walken famously told Will Ferrell, “I have a fever, and the only prescription is more Miguel Torres!” I know, kind of homo…and yes he did originally say ‘cowbell’. But I want to see more of Miguel Torres this season. I think he is a defensive rock, and his versatility should prove useful. Sergio Ramos has been pretty off-form during the European Championships, and although while I hope he recovers for Spain’s sake, if he does not, his place will surely be in doubt with Real.

No news as of yet on what Michel Salgado will be doing this offseason. Most likely he will continue with Real until he retires, making the occasional appearance for us and scaring us to death with his inability to defend properly. With Ramos a little out of form and always a possible slot-in at center back, we will look to Torres to improve this season. No new right back needed in the transfer window, seeing as how the last two we bought were absolute balls (looking at you Cicinho and Diogo).

At left back, Heinze is the recognized starter and rightly so. For now. He played well at the end of the season and was met with little resistance from a slow-to-improve Marcelo. Marcelo really needs to step up his game if he is to begin to challenge for a starting berth, because although his attacking capabilities are great, with our leftside of midfield incredibly offensive minded already, some defensive solidity is required.

Considering Heinze is pulled into the center alot, Marcelo will get his chance to shine, but between Heinze either playing center back or being injured (he often is), we have little cover at left back. Torres is used there occasionaly but he is not the best left back in the world. The possibility of bringing a player in seems silly, so the option is to call up a Castilla player as cover. My guess is Chema Anton, who has performed well this year and is a mirror image of Torres. He may make the pre-season trip to Innsbruck, or he may have to wait til mid-season for the call-up but I think it will happen.

DM, CM, AM:

Diarra
Gago
Guti
Sneijder
Baptista
De la Red
Javi Garcia
Granero

Its a two way struggle that ended up being a shared service, but between Diarra and Gago I thought we were well covered here. Both had ups and downs last season, but when paired together they seemed to click. It took a bit away from our attacking game, with just Sneijder and/or Guti to play creatively in the midfield. But both of these guys really stepped up their game towards the end of the season, and we will all hope for more of the same next year.

Added to the corey group was Javi Garcia. And Ruben De la Red. And Esteban Granero. Now its tough to say where each will play, because who knows what Schuster will do with them. But I subsrcibe to a simple midfield breakdown model. DM, CM, AM. And they go in that order, Garcia a bonafide DM, De la Red a hybrid CM and Granero a prototypical AM. And to think, Dani Parejo is still in the Castilla team! Ooohhh LaaLaaa, what midfield options we have this year.

Central midfield should be contested between Sneijder, De la Red and Baptista but throw Gago in their too because Schuster likes him to play with Diarra. Thats alot of competition for one spot, and that may mean a pretty solid bench. It must be noted that all of these players can play multiple roles, with Baptista and Sneijder capable of AM or CM; De la Red and Gago capable of CM or DM. Sadly, we should keep Diarra to DM, HA! The opponent will often dictate who plays well, but I forsee De la Red getting alot of playing time and Javi Garcia not so much, which is too bad but the central midfield is crowded right now, maybe selling someone wont be a bad idea. But Schuster doesnt want to loose Diarra or Baptista, so we will see how it goes.

Guti is the default AM, with Granero his backup/understudy. Sneijder can move into this role to, but he is not as much a creator as a facilitator. Considering Guti is fairly inconsistent, Granero should be given a chance to shine, and the preference that Schuster has to allowing Sergio Ramos to own the right flank means a 4 man midfield will employ 3 central players. So we have 8 players for 3 spots.

Theres always the possibility of 1. Sergio Ramos being out, which means a wide right player may be neccesary, with which case Sneijder gets the nod or 2. We play with one striker, allowing Guti to return to the striking role he came up to the first team in and which would give us more flexibility with midfield options or 3. Robinho or Robben is injured/off form, which means Sneijder would probably play on the left, with Guti centrally and two players for support. My hope is that the Gago-Diarra pairing is not used all the time, as to allow for more dynamic formations but also to not make the pairing stale and predictable so the opposition can work around it.

No potential signings recommended, although the availability of both Javi Martinez and Joao Moutinho always excites me.

LW, RW:

Robben
Robinho
Drenthe
Balboa
Jaunmi Callejon (Castilla)
Perdo Mosquera (Castilla)

4 players for 2 spots, now that seems more reasonable doesnt it? Well, no, because last year we only really played with a LW, unless we played with 1 striker, inwhich case we used a RW. The lack of playing time for both Balboa and Drenthe is worrying, and I feel that Balboa will probably be sold (sigh…) and Drenthe will be loaned somewhere. I think it is to the benefit of both if they get off the team, because Schuster does not necessarily favor wide players, he is more than comfortable with a packed midfield to settle things.

Drenthe probably has options all over the place. When he did play he shows plenty of grit and industry, but his abilities for a winger as compared to say Robben or Robinho dont match up at all. His passing isnt even that great to say he could pull a Beckham (a fairly unskilled dribbler for a winger). He has alot of pace, but he needs to pick a position in my opinion. He could play pretty much anywhere right now, I favor him as a left back, but he will need to work dilligently as a left back. I say loan him out, somewhere he will definately play all the time, and then let that coach work out his positioning errors and position.

Robinho seems like he is just all uncontent now. He has been absolute shit for Brazil this summer, and despite a less the stellar run in he wants a new contract. For more money. Of course he isnt paid like Raul or Casillas, but then again he doesnt perform like them either. With Ronaldo looking ever closer to being signed, which I could care less about, Robinho may be on the chopping block. He is not at a loss for suitors, and should command atleast 30 million euros, but I am hoping that he goes for 40. He could be thrown into the Ronaldo deal or he could go to Chelsea (yes!! Uncle Money Bags) or Milan.

While I feel like keeping Robinho for another year would be prudent, adding Ronaldo means getting rid of Robinho is acceptable. He has at times dazzled us, but has also frustrated us as well. I guess every player has their ups and downs, but these days you cant expect all players to stick with a team for their whole career, so if he does get sold it will be not without a heavy heart. But at the same time we will have Ronaldo, so its a balanced move, unless you look at the financial side of it, yikes! As I have said before, Ronaldo is not worth 90 million euros and all the hastle of dealing with Manchester United. But he would be a welcomed addition none-the-less.

ST, CF:

Raul
Ruud
Soldado
Saviola
Higuain
Bueno (Castilla)

Ruud and Raul are undeniable starters until one stops scoring. And that didnt happen last season. Even with the formidable Soldado and Saviola coming in last summer and Higuain still hanging in there, those two were the undeniable starters. And it meant pretty forgetable season for Soldado and Saviola. Soldado will surely be moving on this summer, even though he has declared he wants to stay and win a place. It just seems dumb to sit on the bench when he could be earning a spot on the national team (lets face it, Sergio Garcia is balls and Guiza only has a season or two left in him).

Saviola mean while is just crap. Yeah he scored a few times, but he was absolute rubbish when he played, sometimes goals dont mean your a good player. I cant wait for him to be sold, along with Dudek and probably Metz, just proving that while last season’s Bosman signings were a bust, they will still make us a profit. Higuain will stay on, and although he seems to turn up his game at the end of the season, he was pretty anonymous for most of the year. He needs to figure out his position as well, which looks like being a support striker like Raul. Problem is he will never push Raul out of a starting berth, so for now he will bide his time on the bench yet again. Improved finishing needs to be on his to-do-list, he should ask Ruud how he is such a predator in the box.

As for a possible addition, people talk alot about Karim Benzema. Although I am an avid Lyon fan and think he is already a great player, he will not be moving to Real this summer. He will stay with Lyon and continue to improve, I do not forsee a move for him for atleast 2 years. There is also rumblings of Klaas Huntelaar being very close to signing for us. I would welcome his signing, as he is a quality finisher and could fill in for Ruud once he retires. But thats two years away still, and with many other clubs very interested, including Juventus. With the Ronaldo signing possibly dragging on all summer, we may miss out on him and have to settle for someone else.

I also have heard rumblings of Negredo being re-purchased from Almeria and then sold on to another La Liga club. Seems silly but its how you make money, and he may even be kept if Soldado leaves and we cant find anyone else to replace him. I still have not heard anything about the Dani Aquino situation, so I dont have anything to comment on that. Of course Castilla’s leading scorer Jose Callejon was sold to Espanyol, and even though he has a buy back clause, I dont expect to see him back.

And thats it for now, as theres no coaching changes except for Julen Lopetegui taking over Castilla. It looks to be an exciting year for Real, with three trophies firmly in-sight (and the Super Copa against Valencia!). Hala Madrid!