The white hankies were out and the jeers rang around Santiago Bernabeu. Not the usual manner in which progression to the quarter-finals of Europe’s most prestigious club competition is met, but this is a difficult spell for Real Madrid. Coach Carlo Ancelotti is under pressure from all angles, but can his problems be solved merely by changing his formation?
Despite securing Los Blancos’long-awaited Decima, Ancelotti seems to have quickly lost the faith of Madrid’s supporters. A poll conducted by Spanish newspaper AS saw over 92% of fans wanting a switch to 4-4-2, yet this is a setup that Ancelotti has turned to before with success.
In last year’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo was unavailable due to injury, which meant Karim Benzema was partnered by Gareth Bale up top. The Welshman secured the trophy with a fantastic winner, yet has been the victim of jeers and undue pressure this season. He wasn't involved in the first Clasico of this season due to injury, a game in which Madrid followed an excellent 3-0 victory at Anfield against Liverpool by deploying the same 4-4-2 against Barca, with the result this time a 3-1 success.
The problem now for Ancelotti is that all three of his forwards are fit, meaning it is more difficult to revert to a flat four across midfield. Ronaldo plays more centrally than ever, and his evolution as a player has made him much less likely to stick to the defensive responsibilities expected of a traditional winger.
Sir Alex Ferguson embraced and developed an entirely new way of how Manchester United played when he realised discovered Ronaldo would best operate without surrendering his side’s solidity, and the 4-3-3 that Madrid have mostly used since he arrived has suited the Portuguese perfectly, as his record shows.
Playing as a centre forward would limit the World Player of the Year’s damage from out wide, and make it easier to pick up his runs into the middle that are so effective time and again. Bale’s game has developed in a similar way to Ronaldo’s, yet he would surely be the man to drop deeper in the side, should he not be benched altogether, as decreed by over 46% in the second part of that AS poll.
Bale could still function as a left or right winger, but this would not be playing to his strengths, as he showed when given more freedom to roam at Tottenham, and during his time in Spain. It would also mean either James Rodriguez or Isco being pushed further out wide, again not playing to the strengths of these talented footballers, and sacrificing defensive solidity.
It’s a difficult scenario for Ancelotti, despite his credentials, having to stand up against the vocal Real Madrid support and dissenters, and he's under pressure from multiple directions. The papers are on his case, Guillem Ballague claimed at the weekend that the players wanted the Coach to deploy an extra midfielder, the club’s board will have their own say on the issues pervading the team, the terraces, and the table.
The return of Luka Modric against Schalke was a major boost, yet the manner of the defeat that was threatened from the start with a nervy atmosphere at the Bernabeu is a concern. The free-flowing play and defensive assuredness of earlier in the season has disappeared, and the defending champions were clinging on at the end to reach the last eight of the Champions League, albeit for a fifth consecutive season.
Ancelotti is accomplished enough to recognise the optimum formation in which the players he trains each day can operate. There may the occasion when switching the setup of the team is advantageous, but the problems at the moment are more to do with incisiveness going forward, and a lack of confidence that has slowed down the pace of play that was so impressive earlier in the campaign.
Madrid’s issues need to be resolved as quickly as possible, with Barcelona looking ominously strong ahead of their home Clasico the weekend after next. Having been demoted to second in La Liga, Ancelotti must get his tactics and selections spot on if he is to reinvigorate his team’s title charge, and indeed his position at the Bernabeu.
