When mentioning the Spanish royal football team, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? C1 Cup? Top matches? Winning the Champions League 3 times in a row? Powerful President Florentino Perez? Indeed, Real Madrid truly possesses a magic power that captivates true soccer fans. Not only are the fans fascinated, considering the noble white shirt as a way of life, but the players themselves, the biggest stars in the world, also once wanted to play for the Santiago team. Bernabeu.
David Beckham in the documentary series “Beckham” on Netflix said when he was sold by Manchester United in 2003: “If you’re going to sell me, I want to go to the team I love. That’s Real Madrid.” Becks was loyal and really didn’t want to leave United, but the attraction of Galacticos 1.0 with Zizou, Figo, fat Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos… at that time really shook him somewhat. We can continue to use the relationship between United and Real to prove the attraction of Madrid’s white shirt team. 6 years after Beckham left, MU once again lost its star to Real. After another C1 Cup, the attraction of Galacticos 2.0 is gradually forming and another number 7 left them to follow the call of the pinnacle of football…
Perhaps the most outstanding and important element of Real Madrid is its people. The title of the article is inspired by the Chinese proverb: “Scheming depends on people, success depends on heaven.” This saying implies that no matter how many efforts and efforts of so many people, in the end only God decides on big matters. But in this article, the factor that needs to be highlighted is the people, the personnel, and the players currently playing for the Spanish royal team.
Let’s start with their coach, “Mr. Raised Eyebrows” – Carlo Ancelotti. His second period leading Real Madrid is bringing success to the team. Champions League, La Liga, King’s Cup, European Super Cup… are the clearest proofs of the Italian strategist’s talent. And Real won all of the above titles with a style of football that revolves around players, not a complex tactical system. This season, this different style of “personnel” football has had new changes. The focus lies on the appearance of Jude Bellingham and the return of the 4-4-2 diamond formation.
Benzema left and Real lacked a quality striker who could do everything. From finishing, passing, coordinating play to applying pressure, there’s nothing “Lazy Cat” doesn’t do well. But now, they have their beloved “Uncle Be”, a comprehensive midfielder who can’t do anything. Score goals, create assists, play deep, pull the ball, defend – a super midfielder! And, Carletto once again did what he does best, what few modern coaches can do, which is to find strategies to maximize the superior personnel he has.
So the 4-2-2-2 diamond block was brought back, making the name of the strategist who played for AS Roma. In the mid-2000s, Ancelotti led AC Milan to the peak with Shevchenko, Maldini, Nesta, Inzaghi, Cafu… but the most impressive was still the staff in the midfield. Italian couple “one soul, one steel” Andrea Pirlo – Gennaro Gattuso. Enduring engine Clarence Seedorf and Brazilian angel Ricardo Kaka. That quartet was the most prominent personnel of the diamond scheme, the center of the gameplay at that time.
At the present time, Real Madrid also has a set of midfielders with a variety of colors in their playing style. Six frequently used players include: Jude Bellingham, Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. Coach Ancelotti combined the use of four young midfielders with two veterans for each different position.
In the ball stage, the Spanish royal team deployed with a basic 4-2 block. 4 defenders, 1 holding midfielder (usually Kroos or Tchouameni) plus 1 of the 2 returning number 8s.
They proactively play short football, using short passes to gradually move into the middle third of the field. At this time, their build-up block changed to a 2-2 block, with only 2 midfielders and 2 midfielders left.
Garcia (Mendy and occasionally Camavinga) on the left wing with his physical strength and ability to attack and defend tenaciously provides Real’s midfield with options to open up the flanks. With Toni Kroos, a steady metronome in midfield who has a passing accuracy of over 90% in his 10th season, getting the ball going has always been easy. Real’s coordination groups on both sides of the ball are also extremely flexible, with the two strikers Vini Jr and Rodrygo, who are speedy wing strikers and tend to stick to the sideline, often switching positions with the strikers. No. 8 defender and full-backs to cause chaos in the opposing team.
In the opponent’s field, the most special part of “personnel” football begins. Real has enough of the best people to open the most comfortable space for Bellingham, their current brightest star, to shine. The tactical plan of the team in possession of 14 elephant ear cups is simple: help Bellingham have space in the middle of the field to play football. He can pass the ball, dribble and especially penetrate the penalty area. 20 goals, 8 assists in 30 matches in all competitions are terrible numbers for a rookie in his first season in La Liga.
Bellingham’s individual skills also help him raise the level of his teammates around him as well as contribute to the overall gameplay. Real often overwhelms the opponent with its superior personnel. The image below shows box midfields, a tactical aspect that is quite popular in teams like Manchester City or Arsenal.
The attack block at the back of the field with the 2-2-4-2 diagram also helps maximize the personnel that Real has. Mobility and flexible position rotation help Madrid’s white shirt team become unpredictable. There were 9 regular Real starting players whose names were on the goal list in all competitions. In La Liga, we can point to Bellingham with 16 goals, Vinicius Jr. with 9 goals and Rodrygo tearing the opponent’s net 8 times. In addition, the contributions from the bench of Joselu (8 goals), Diaz (4 goals) or the unexpected brilliance of Carvajal this season with 3 goals have shown that the Real team is on the right track.
The defensive front, with the loss of two of the four starting center backs from the beginning of the season, David Alaba and Eder Militao, due to injury, has made Real Madrid struggle to manage the situation. Antonio Rudiger tried to avoid injuries and penalties to become a mainstay in the backline. With his speed and ability to read situations, the German player has saved Los Blancos many times.
Andriy Lunin, who was only a substitute for Thibaut Courtois, defeated Kepa brought in from Chelsea to keep his starting spot. 7 clean sheets and 33 saves in La Liga alone have helped Real Madrid maintain its football quality. The Spanish royal team also showed diversity in defensive pieces when flexibly using the pressing system or mid (low) block when losing the ball.
Real Madrid really shows fans a strong inspiration when spending time watching the team. Their people are good, excellent and placed in the right position to shine. There are really expectations that the midfield quartet of Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde and Tchouameni can help Real Madrid build an empire in Europe in the next 10 years. And if they continue with this special “personnel” football philosophy, perhaps Los Blancos will go against the proverb “Making plans depends on people, everything depends on nature”.
