Real Madrid have a hell of a battle on their hands if they are to wrest La Liga from the grasp of the almighty and all-conquering Barcelona. Their most bitter of rivals across in Catalunya find themselves in the form of their lives, with possibly the most complete team they have ever had the pleasure of witnessing at the Camp Nou. The final three stars left in the race for the Balon D’Or all hail from the Pep dream team and with a mean defence to match their embarrasment of riches in attack, Real Madrid will have to produce something extra special to overtake them. Jose Mourinho finds himself in possibly the most complicated situation he has been in for some time. The last thing he needs at the Bernabeu is a winter of discontent. Yet he might just get it.
Winter Of Discontent At Real Madrid?
As Madrid headed into the winter break, they managed to reel off five wins on the bounce, with only Gabi finding a way past Iker Casillas from the spot at La Romareda. These five wins included two incredibly hard-fought wins over Valencia and Sevilla, vital in their pursuit of the untouchables. But doubts remain. Psychologically they must still be hurting from the absolute hiding handed out by Barca at the Camp Nou in November. They entered the match on such a wave of optimism, that the scoreline and the manner of defeat must have been that extra bit painful.
There is still a feeling, even amongst the most ardent Madrid fans, that Mourinho has instilled a philosophy that favour results over style. There is no doubt Mourinho is held in incredibly high regard in the capital, among players, fans and executives alike. But even so, this is simply not the Madrid way, especially not when Barca are destroying everything put infront of them in such exhilarating fashion. Jorge Valdano is the perfect advocate for style over substance and perhaps his pre-winter break spat with Mourinho was a small indication of his feelings towards the route which his team are taking.
Rumours abated after this small disagreement that Mourinho was considering a path back into Italian football with a sensational return to Inter Milan, just as the Neoazurri were dispatching the unfortunate Rafa Benitez. Jose Mourinho answers to no-one, it’s his way or the highway, but leaving his new project so early was never likely. It would appear working under a director of football is not quite Joses style. One could well have to give way and on first appearances you would have to say Valdano would bite the bullet. Mourinho is that important to the most recent Real Madrid project under Florentino Perez.
Then we come to the team. Firstly it is clear that there is an overwhelming dependence on Cristiano Ronaldo. If the Portuguese star has on off-day, there is little behind him to push Madrid on. Mesut Özil and Angel Di Maria have shown glimpses of their undoubted brilliance, but they are both still very much works in progress. Karim Benzema is far too inconsistent. The returns of Gonzalo Higuain and more intriguingly, Kaká, will boost the options available to Mou. Yet, Real Madrid are still crying out for a big man. A goalscoring targetman to take the pressure off CR7. Fernando Llorente would appear to be the man for the job, and if Florentino fails to land the giant forward, we may begin to see unrest in the stands at the Bernabeu.
January also means clearout at Real Madrid. Ezequiel Garay, Lass Diarra and Mahamadou Diarri all appear to be heading towards the Bernabeu exit and it will take all Mourinhos charm to negotiate these departures amicably. The most unlikely to leave is Lass, who began to work his way into Mous plans just before the break. But then came a press conference in which he stated he would like to leave to gain extra playing time. The midfielder has plenty of admirers in the Premier League, Alex Ferguson reportedly among them, so a juicy offer could tempt Madrid to part with the Frenchman, leaving Mourinho short of quality cover in midfield.
Another couple of curveballs that Florentino, Valdano and Mourinho will have to deal with are the immediate futures of Sergio Canales and Pepe. The youngster from Santander has failed to live up to the rave reviews he earned at the Sardinero, although he hasnt been helped by ongoing injury problems. It’s also difficult to see where he would fit inside Madrids starting XI, so a loan move is surely the best option open to all parties. When and where remains to be seen, although Sampdoria are the current frontrunners to land the promising attacking midfielder.
In Pepes case, the defender is looking to tie up a new contract this January, but the fact that pen is still to be put to paper signals all isnt quite as simple as it would seem. His behaviour is a constant embarrasment to the upper echalons of the club, and with the defender perhaps holding out for a significant pay-rise, it will be interesting to see if it all pans out smoothly or enters into a public war of words. Madrid will want his future sorted ou quick sharp.
So Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid have much to ponder over as we enter into 2011. Sort out all these internal issues and then they only have the small matter of overtaking Barcelona. Fall any further behind the Catalans and we really could begin to see cracks appear in Madrids armoury. But for the time being things are certainly not as bad as many paint them to be.
They headed off for their break on the back of an 8-0 cup thumping of Levante, two hat-tricks apiece for CR7 and Benzema. For all the talk of the chasmic difference between the two clubs, Madrid only find themselves two points adrift of Barcelona. Ride through January and Februrary and keep Barca within touching distance and the race will be on and all this talk of a winter of discontent will be forgotten.
