Jose Mourinho looms large for Santiago Solari as Real Madrid lurch from crisis to crisis

Aditya Devavrat 10:27 11/01/2019
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  • Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari.

    If Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari knows his history, one period from his playing career might be playing on his mind right now.

    The Argentine’s final season at Santiago Bernabeu was the 2004/05 campaign. That season was the last time Madrid had three full-time managers in a single season – Jose Antonio Camacho resigned a month into the season, replacement, Mariano Garcia Remon, lasted only three months before being sacked and Vanderlei Luxemburgo took over for the rest of the season.

    It’s unlikely that Solari remembers the season fondly, and if he does dwell upon it at all, he might be worrying over whether history is about to repeat itself, at his expense.

    His own reign started well enough, as Solari became the first Real Madrid manager to win his first four games in charge in nine years after replacing the doomed Julen Lopetegui in October. He’s even won a trophy, as Los Blancos coasted to their third- straight FIFA Club World Cup triumph. And his overall record isn’t poor – 12 wins, three losses, one draw.

    Yet it’s unlikely that anyone higher up at the club has been overly impressed. Solari has given them little reason to be. Most of those 12 wins have been unconvincing, as they’ve struggled to put away teams they should be beating with little fuss. And the losses have been galling: 3-0 to Eibar, 3-0 at home to CSKA Moscow – their worst-ever home defeat in the Champions League – and most recently, 2-0 at home to Real Sociedad this past weekend.

    Between Solari and Lopetegui, Madrid have already lost as many league games this season as they did during all of last season. And last season was one of the club’s poorest seasons in recent memory.

    Madrid have managed just 26 league goals, middle of the road compared to the majority of the league and just better than half of Barcelona‘s total. Their goal difference of plus three is pedestrian – the top three of Barca, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla are at 30, 13, and 13, respectively.

    Players are underperforming, across the board. No offence to Vinicius Jr., but if an 18-year-old in his first season at the club is the team’s best player, there’s an issue.

    Karim Benzema has hardly been the lead striker everyone was hoping he would be in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s departure, Marco Asensio’s development has stalled, as has Isco’s, Luka Modric looks far from Ballon d’Or form, and Gareth Bale remains in and out of the side due to injuries.

    Sergio Ramos continues to talk a good game off the pitch, but his form has dipped ever so slightly on it. Marcelo’s defensive liabilities at left-back are no longer being made up for by attacking brilliance often enough. Casemiro often looks like he’s fighting a lone battle defensively, and when he’s having an off day, Madrid fall to pieces.

    Isco is the most alarming case, because Solari doesn’t seem to trust the playmaker at all, and being denied an extended run in the side has lessened the Spaniard’s impact. When he takes to the pitch he still shows flashes of his talent, dribbling past players or pinging passes to anyone he can find, but all of it seems to now happen without him having any real influence in a game overall.

    And while all this is happening, a slow-burning crisis that never seems to end, the spectre of Jose Mourinho has now been thrown into the mix. His sacking at Manchester United may have hit his reputation somewhat, but Madrid president Florentino Perez remains a fan and though he may have burned some bridges during his last spell in charge at the Bernabeu, his pedigree means he’ll still be a more trusted figure than Solari.

    As things stand, extending the historic run of three straight Champions League titles looks unlikely. Ajax have enough in them to exploit Madrid’s vulnerabilities – they went unbeaten in a group that included Bayern Munich, holding the Bundesliga giants to two draws. And the 10-point gap to La Liga leaders Barcelona is more or less insurmountable, even in a surprisingly competitive league.

    At the very least, bringing in Mourinho would be a shock to the system that could serve to jolt Madrid’s players back into form, after a season in which they’ve been drifting along from one crisis point to the next. He would instantly demand more.

    It could combust, as it did at United, and at Madrid six years ago. But what’s the point in ambling along for the rest of the season?

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