"We are in a golden era – we have the best coach in the club's history Zinedine Zidane, who replaced Cristiano Ronaldo, a captain Sergio Ramos, and the best players in every position. They have once again created history at this club," said last week at the presentation of the book "The Legend Continues" by the Madrid "Real" club president Florentino Perez. However, the results of the past weeks have raised a question – will the "golden era" described by Florentino Perez only end before it even begins? Of course, it is not fair to raise such questions when the season has not even reached its midpoint, but positive signs have not been seen in the game of the "king's" club for more than a month. Ending the season after two losses is definitely not acceptable, but these two failures were very unexpected – "Real" lost on Sunday to the humble league newcomer "Girona" for the first time in their club's history fighting against the Spanish capital's giants, and yesterday suffered their first defeat since 2012 during the Champions League group stage. In football, we are used to seeing how a smaller team uses an "underdog" game tactic and takes the victory away from the favorites, who even pressure their opponents throughout the entire game. Nothing like this could be seen in the recent "Real" matches – the "whites" failed to create as much pressure against both "Girona" and "Tottenham", therefore even Zinedine Zidane acknowledged after both matches that the opponents deserved the victory. It would be enough to compare the "Real" game against two months ago in the Spanish Super Cup with "Barcelona" and the game now against "Tottenham" – the view would be as different as day and night. What happened to the team which unquestionably was the best in the world in recent seasons? "EuroFootball.com" tried to find reasons for such poor game from "Real. Summer transfer window – a mistake that Zidane should not have made. Perhaps, the biggest mistake of "Real" that is now making its consequences felt. In the summer, "Real" earned a round sum from the sales of players, which was really unexpected for such a club – the Spanish capital's team's account was supplemented by about 140 million euros. Many praised "Real" that summer and its coach Zinedine Zidane for finally changing its transfer policy and instead of expensive players valued at 150 million euros on the current market, purchased young and, most importantly, Spanish citizenship talents. Dani Ceballos, Jesus Vallejo, and still undecided on which national team he wants to play for – France or Spain – Theo Hernandez joined the team. Also, the club's alumni Marcos Llorente and Borja Mayoral returned to the team. The names are certainly not the most famous in football, but there should be no doubts about their talent, but is there at least one of them equivalent to James Rodriguez, Alvaro Morata, or Pepe who left the club in the summer? Doubtful, unless it is Dani Ceballos, who, despite almost every successful run, has not gained the trust of Zidane and is still on the bench. "Real" no longer has the luxury of the team composition they had last season. Perhaps all the mentioned players will bring the same benefit after a few seasons, but these are not players who can seriously compete for a place in the team. Just look at the players who now make up the main lineup of "Real." For example, after the injured Dani Carvajal, he was replaced on the field by the completely inexperienced Achraf Hakimi, who participated in the UEFA U-19 Champions League last season. He is undoubtedly a promising club's academy player, but the lack of practice in men's football became apparent in both Champions League matches against "Tottenham." "Real" also no longer has an equivalent forward to Karim Benzema, as last season even Alvaro Morata, who came from the bench, managed to score 20 goals – more than the Frenchman. It was a luxury when James Rodriguez, always adding creativity in attack, could enter the field from the bench. This season "Real" simply can't afford it anymore. But this is Zinedine Zidane's own mistake – the Frenchman did not make too many changes to the team, but rather wanted to make his job easier by finding minutes for all team players. Zinedine Zidane is currently not under pressure due to players playing fewer minutes – Dani Ceballos, Borja Mayoral, and the undecided Theo Hernandez are young players who need to work a lot, so the strategist may not worry that they are not in the starting lineup when both James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata left the team this summer just because of the unsecured place in the starting lineup. Zidane's biggest mistake this summer was not acquiring a second equivalent striker. "The whites" seriously considered Kylian Mbappe, but his price turned out to be too high for such a big club. The strategist did not evaluate the situation, and now he has to accept the fact that the two main team forwards, Benzema and Ronaldo, have scored only two goals each after 10 rounds in the Spanish championship. Cristiano Ronaldo's disqualification Last season's fantastic performances of Cristiano Ronaldo in the second half of the season earned him a lesson he is now suffering from – his sports form and personal statistics. The 31-year-old Portuguese started the season after summer vacation with an unfortunate goal against "Barca" fans after ten minutes turned into a red card and a five-match disqualification. Cristiano Ronaldo played his first match of the UEFA Super Cup after summer vacation, but the Portuguese spent very little time on the field at that time. The next matches of the Portuguese were also substitutes, but then an impressive goal was scored in the Spanish Super Cup against "Barcelona." It seemed that the Portuguese was fully prepared to continue his performance this season, but an inconsiderate assault on a defender cost him a very long disqualification in Spain – C. Ronaldo had to miss the return Super Cup match and the first four "La Liga" matches. Looking at the Champions League statistics, Cristiano Ronaldo is amazing – ten goals and the first place in the list of top scorers. However, the situation in the "La Liga" championship is very poor – just one goal in eleven matches. This is something unbelievable given the Portuguese's goal statistics. During Cristiano Ronaldo's disqualification, "Real" won three out of five matches and played two draws. It may seem that the loss was not so great when looking at the current situation, but it was precisely this disqualification that did not allow the Portuguese to properly get into the game, for whom eight goals in the current season are a significant achievement. It is interesting that at the beginning of the season, when two draws were played in Spain, it was not the lack of creativity in the game of "Real" that was lacking, but exactly the man who could successfully finish the many created opportunities, but the current situation shows nothing – neither creativity in the middle of the field, nor opportunities that could lead to goals. Never-ending injuries There is little to blame in the cases of injuries, but in the "Real" team, it is an ongoing issue. For example, the most expensive player in the club, Gareth Bale, has not played without any injuries for almost 300 days since 2013. However, "Real" fans have already resigned themselves to Gareth Bale's constant health problems. The biggest loss of this season could be considered Dani Carvajal, who has been absent from matches for more than a month due to an unexpected heart infection. The good news is that the Spaniard is approaching a return to the lineup, and the heart problems are already behind him. Before the injury, Dani Carvajal was probably the most prominent and important figure in the team, as he played absolutely all the matches of the season and was not substituted in any of them. The absence of the Spaniard gave a chance to the young A. Hakimi, but his lack of experience in such matches as against "Tottenham" was clearly visible. Just look at the line-up of yesterday's match and see that "Real" has really serious problems with their players' injuries. Before "Tottenham," four main starting lineup players Keylor Navas, Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal, and Gareth Bale could not play. Along with serious losses, we can add Mateo Kovacic, who always added strength after the substitution. Interestingly, this season, out of 24 team players, only eight players did not have health problems. All the rest had either minor or serious injuries, like in the cases of Bale, Carvajal, or Kovacic. This problem has been discussed in the "Real" community for quite some time, but they cannot solve it, not even with the help of Zinedine Zidane's physical fitness trainer Antonio Pintus. This season's injuries once again reveal the problems that Zinedine Zidane himself has caused. For example, after the injured D. Carvajal, Danilo would have replaced him now, R. Varane – experienced Pepe, G. Bale – James Rodriguez, and also K. Benzema, who was injured for some time. - Morata. The shift in safe formation Many would agree that "Real" has had one of the most powerful safe lines recently, since the legendary trio played in Barcelona. Last season, Zidane brought new winds to the safe line – instead of injured Gareth Bale in the starting lineup, Isco established himself, who is now probably the only bright spot in the entire "Real" team. Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Isco – probably the most cohesive safe line in all of Europe. However, recent games show that there are many problems here too, which have not plagued the European champions until now. All four players complement each other perfectly – Casemiro is the one who can break down opponents' fast attacks, Kroos has exceptional vision on the field, Luka Modric can easily fool several opponents and make his way to the opponent's goal, and Isco, once he has the ball, can easily bring it to the goal. Nowadays, in this safe line, problems have appeared, and one of the biggest ones is the endless passing of the ball to the forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema from the defenders. After several unsuccessful attempts, it seemed that the safe line would stop doing it, but their inaccurate passes continued, and neither of them wanted to control the ball in the middle of the field. The match against "Tottenham" showed that there are many problems in this safe line, and one of the biggest ones is the aimless passing of the ball forward to the cutting-edge forwards, the safe line and defenders. It seemed that after a few unsuccessful attempts, the safeties would stop doing it, but their inaccurate passes continued, and no one wanted to control the ball in the middle of the field from among them. It is certainly not to be said that this safe line should be replaced, as all four players are ideal for their positions. It is easy to notice the decline in the form of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos – precisely both players are crucial in creating attacks, but when they are not seen on the field - the game is missing too. Mateo Kovacic could help in this situation, a player who with his speed and exceptional technical skills can easily beat opponents' defenses and the safe line, but his season does not go well because of injuries. Is this not the right time to use the potential of Dani Ceballos, who in his debut "La Liga" match wearing the "white" jersey scored a brace and determined the victory? Certainly, yes. However, Zinedine Zidane is not yet confident in this young Spaniard who can bring energy that is currently not radiated by L. Modric and T. Kroos. Zinedine Zidane lacks qualifications? Another and probably the most serious question is whether Zinedine Zidane is really the best coach in the world? FIFA thinks so, but everyone understands very well that the legendary Frenchman still has a long way to go to become the best strategist. Zidane brought innovations to the game of "Real" – the same tactical formation with four safeties, keeping Karim Benzema with Cristiano Ronaldo up front, but that's all the strategist can offer this season. It is difficult to understand why Zidane did not make any changes to the starting lineup against "Tottenham," when with the same lineup the team lost to the "Girona" team. We were used to seeing a lot of time spent by full-backs Marcelo and Dani Carvajal on the opponent's field at the 4-3-1-2 formation. There is no need to be a big expert to understand that the main strength of "Real" recently was the incredibly successful full-backs, but Zidane did not outsmart this trick in London, and for that, he received a painful lesson. The strategist should seriously consider returning to the 4-3-3 formation. This is exactly the scheme that was used this season probably in the best performance of recent years, when "Real," with a 2-0 result, defeated "Barcelona" in the return Super Cup match. But not only the tactical formation determined the excellent performance against "Barca" – "Real" demonstrated a high-level pressure on the opponent's field. Remember the pressure from the guests in yesterday's match? Such an element of the game was not present that evening. In yesterday's match, we could see unimaginable spaces between "Real" defenders and the safe line. "Tottenham" could easily control the ball in the opponent's field. It is completely incomprehensible given such a safe line. It is difficult to understand why Zidane chose such a game plan when there are four safeties, "diamond" formation. When there are no true wing forwards in the field, most of the balls are still sent to the wings, hoping that Marcelo alone can beat several defenders and make a pass from the wing. The logic suggests that with the "diamond" formation in the field, the game will be based on ball control, trying to provoke opponents' safe and defenders to leave their positions. It is normal to expect that the safe line will meet the opponents at their goal, but this was not possible to see in London. Just imagine that the team is losing 0-3, there is no one on the field who would take the initiative, no dangerous attacks are created, and the first two substitutions are made only in the 74th minute? It is difficult to imagine, but this is exactly what Zidane did. Borja Mayoral and Marco Asensio, who appeared in the field, immediately brought aggression in the attack, but the strategist did not dare to make those two substitutions for a long part of the match. It was quite unexpected that after the substitution, Zidane's favorite Lucas Vazquez did not appear on the field. This is probably the only weapon Zidane uses. Need passes to the penalty area? Lucas steps on the field. Need help in defense? Lucas steps on the field. Need a victory? No other options.
Aivaras Katutis, eurofootball.lt
