Talk about a change of pace for Santiago Solari.
From heading up Real Madrid Castilla, the B side that is currently situated in fifth place in Spain’s third tier, the former midfielder has now landed the biggest job in club football.
He takes over – on a caretaker basis at least – a bruised and battered side that were given a 5-1 hiding by Barcelona in El Clasico on Sunday, a result that sealed Julen Lopetegui’s fate.
Los Blancos have dominated Europe for the past three years, but they will take a single league victory at present. having failed to win in their last five La Liga games.
Long-term goals can take a back seat for now as Solari looks to get the Bernabeu in order. Here’s what he needs to do:
Sharpen the spear up front
Mariano.
Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema have been drawing blanks this season, having scored just seven goals between them in the league. It’s unfathomable how Madrid decided against replacing Cristiano Ronaldo, with Mariano Diaz the only real competition.
However, the forward has come back to the Bernabeu after a good season at Lyon where he netted in 18 goals, and surely deserves some minutes. Benzema must not take his spot in the starting line-up for granted and Mariano might be the answer here. Fixing the toothless attack must be Solari’s first priority.
Fix the goalkeeping dilemma
Thibaut Courtois.
It’s always great to have two world-class custodians in your team, until being forced to mix and match in order to keep both players happy. So far, Real Madrid have played Keylor Navas in goal in their European games whereas Thibaut Courtois has taken charge in the league.
The defence has let down both keepers and it would be erroneous to pin the blame entirely on either Navas or Courtois for letting in so many goals already this season (14 in La Liga, two in Europe).
However, Navas has more experience in Spanish football, a higher degree of composure and doesn’t bear the added pressure that follows a new signing.
Belgium stopper Courtois hasn’t had the best of starts at Madrid, and is clearly in need of a morale-booster if he has to turn in the performances that saw him crowned the best keeper of the World Cup.
Solari should consider a role reversal of sorts, which sees an experienced Navas soak in the pressure in the league while the Belgian is subject to some kinder European exposure. Real Madrid are better-placed in Europe than the league, needing a win against Plzen to all but seal their passage to the round of 16.
Injury woes
Real’s next run of fixtures include an upbeat Real Valladolid who haven’t lost a single game in their last six outings in the league, a European fixture and a showdown at Balaidos against Celta Vigo – never an easy prospect.
Raphael Varane
The dismantled defence is devoid of the services of Raphael Varane and Los Blancos’ best player this season, Marcelo, for a month. Dani Carvajal and Jesus Vallejo will have to wait two more weeks to be fit to represent the club again.
This leaves the European champions with just four fit first-team defenders for these crunch fixtures. Solari will have to milk every drop of sweat and determination out of these players to prevent a further debacle.
Bring back the winning mentality
Real Madrid need to regain their winning mentality.
Madrid have an elite mentality in clutch European fixtures but have failed to display that in the league this season. The lack of this winning spirit can be attributed to complacency after winning a hat-trick of Champions League titles, and the inability of Lopetegui to deal with failure or even disharmony in the squad.
Solari will have to instill some self-confidence in his players and at the same time deal with massive egos in the dressing room. While Zinedine Zidane also came from Castilla before guiding the first-team to an unprecedented hat-trick of Champions League gongs, it remains to be seen whether Solari will be afforded the same respect as the French World Cup winner.
