Possibble Formation Of Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid

I ran out of ideas for more posts after completeing the Mesut Ozil post, so I asked people for ideas on the blog's Facebook page, I decided to go with the idea of one "Real Madridista" for this post, because most of them seemed to agree with his idea.

Considering the players Jose Mourinho has at his disposal at Real Madrid, it is obvious that he will make them play offensively, despite the no-brained opinion of a clown by the name of Gerard Pique.

Real Madrid will probably use a formation which is hard to explain through the conventional formations. It is much more dynamic, it keeps on changing, like the resonating structures of Benzene.

Lets not get into Resonance, Benzene or Organic Chemistry because I suck at it and I only know the basics, okay, lets talk football.

For the sake of the post, I have chosen a team of: Iker, Sergio, Carvalho, Albiol, Marcelo, Xabi, Khedira, Leon, Ozil, Cristiano and Higuain. I have kept out the players who are injured (barring Raul Albiol). This team should not be taken as the final team, it is just for the purpose of explaining and reasoning how Real Madrid will play, it might be that Arbeloa plays at left-back and Di Maria starts over Pedro Leon.

• 4-3-3

The reason I believe that Jose Mourinho will apply this formation is because this is the formation that he has applied in most of the pre-season friendlies and also the fact that he purchased two wingers.

You can see Cristiano Ronaldo on the right wing, but Cristiano won't be just on the right, his mobility is what makes the formation so versatile.

Cristiano will move from the right wing to the left, then behind the striker and will also pop up as a striker. Pedro Leon (or Di Maria) will keep on switching between the wings giving Sergio Ramos or Marcelo a chance to bomb on forward.

Ozil will take up the role of the playmaker operating behind Higuain and will also be swapping places with Crsitiano Ronaldo and Pedro Leon.

Some expected Sami Khedira to play a sweeping role in midfield tucking in just ahead of the back four running and winning balls, but that is not the case. In the pre-season friendlies, Khedira played ahead of Xabi Alonso, winning the ball forward in attack. We have all seen Sami's stamina in the World Cup and know that he'll be back helping in defense as well as attacking, the role that Pellegrini had for Lass last season (the job which Lass sucks at).

Xabi Alonso will sit deep, winning balls along with Khedira in the midfield. Xabi is probably the most important player in the team, he is the one who is supposed to distribute the ball to the attacking players, as we saw in the Bayern Munich game, when Xabi Alonso (Xabi didn't have a bad day, he was just tired) is struggling the whole attack suffers.

• 4-4-2 Diamond or 4-1-2-1-2

The diamond formation was used by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea too. Jose Mourinho might even start with this diamond formation.

Even if he doesn't, the shape of the formation will change during the game and it will be a diamond at some point in the match with Cristiano Ronaldo joining Higuain as the striker.

Ozil will take the top of the diamond and Xabi Alonso and Khedira will take turns to be the lowest point in the diamond, Pedro Leon will join on any one side of the diamond.

The width will be provided by the full backs—Marcelo and Sergio Ramos.

• 3-5-2

I was intrigued by Jose Mourinho's claim of using a 3-5-2 formation with Real Madrid when needed. At first I couldn't figure it out, I was thinking along the lines of a Higuain-Benzema partnership, and Cristiano Ronaldo on the wings, but it didn't even convince me. I thought Jose might be kidding because Cristiano doesn't like to track back, and for this formation to work, he has to!

But after a few pre-season games, it became clear that it will be a Higuain-Cristiano pairing if the 3-5-2 is applied. The photo I have used shows the formation changing into a 3-5-2 during the game, where Marcelo will take the role of the left-sided winger. If this formation is to be applied when Arbeloa is playing left-back, substitutions will be made.

I do not believe that Real Madrid will start a game with a 3-5-2 but the 3-5-2 will defenitely be a "Plan-B" against stubborn, defensive teams who just want to sit behind.


Hala Madrid!



I would like to thank my friend Mary, for helping me out in this post, I had lost confidence on this post, and she is the reason this post is published, thanks Mary. :)

Official: Sami Khedira Signs For Real Madrid

Xabi Alonso has a new partner in midfield. Terms of the transfer of Sami Khedira have been agreed with Vfb Stuttgart, but the terms of the transfer haven't been disclosed. The newspapers are speculating the transfer to be around €12-15 million.

Sami Khedira will undergo his medical at 12:00 CET on 31 July, then he will head off to Los Angeles to join the team on their USA Pre-Season tour.

Real Madrid's Pursuit For Sami Khedira Is a Step Forward In The Right Direction

Those of you who have been following Real Madrid's transfer updates would be familiar with a similar trend in the process of signing a player.

Firstly the media links Real Madrid with millions of players, the second step is the player's acceptance of his love for Real Madrid and how he's always wanted to play for the club. Next, the President of the "target's" club issues statements about how the player is not for sale, and simultaneously hangs a hefty price-tag on the player which is 20-25% above the actual price of the player.

Now there are different things that happen depending on whether the player is an actual target or not. If the player was not a real target, the rumors slowly die down and the occasional Madridista's tweets and/or comments on blogs, forums etc. about how he/she would like to see the said player wearing the royal whites pop up in a Google search.

And if a player is a real target, then the President (Sporting Director etc. etc.) of his club issues a statement about how they haven't received any bid from Real Madrid (75% of the time, this is a sign that there is interest in the player), the negotiations begin, the player gets restless and goes on dropping hints in interviews that his signing is a matter of time, Real Madrid get the player but pay more than the market price.

Every Madridista is happy that the new player has arrived but nearly everyone believes the price is a little too much on the higher side then it should be. The cycle continues.

This trend started to change last season, when Real Madrid said no to Valencia's demand of more money for David Villa, Real Madrid told Valencia to shove him up theirs and moved on, although the "Plan B" hasn't panned out exactly like they would have expected but it is not such a bad transfer looking at Benzema's previous records and his age. The good thing here is that they have learned to say no to teams's exorbitant demands for players.

The change in pattern seems to be continuing as Real Madrid have already denied to pay €50 million to Bayern Munich for Bastian Schweinsteiger, €30 million to Athletic Bilbao for Javi Martinez, and €30 million to Liverpool for Steven Gerrard. Now we can all agree that all of them are wonderful players, but are definitely not worth the money their teams are asking for. The smart thing to do is communicate with the teams and get the prices down, but neither Bayern Munich or Athletic Bilbao are in need to sell their players so they probably wouldn't lower their prices, like Valencia refused to budge last year.

Going after Sami Khedira is a brilliant decision as at €8-10 million, he isn't half as expensive as the aforementioned players and is a pretty decent player, one of the brightest talents of Germany—so my Bayern Munich supporting friend tells me!

For those who are skeptical about Sami Khedira joining Real Madrid, this isn't the first time that Sami Khedira has caught the attention of Real Madrid, 2 seasons ago when he was busy winning the U-21 World Cup with Germany he caught the eye of Real Madrid for the first time. Sami Khedira had a brilliant World Cup with Germany recently and add to that the fact that even Jose Mourinho himself pondered about signing him last season at Internazionale, the interest in Sami Khedira was bound to rekindle.

I am just happy that Real Madrid are looking at cheaper alternatives instead of throwing money on the players, I hope this trend continues and they learn to spend money more wisely and don't get conned by the selling clubs.

Now if you are still not convinced by Sami Khedira, you better start liking him, like I did with Angel Di Maria (I might smile and accept his signing but still I am not happy about this signing, he's too expensive for someone unproven and might cost us a few of the Canteranos),  because if you believe what AS & Marca have to say, Sami Khedira was in Madrid yesterday and also visited the Valdebebas, and that the completion of Sami's transfer is a matter of hours.

More on Sami Khedira after the completion of the transfer (75% of me believes the signing is done)! Hala Madrid!