Real Madrid and its squad last season (Part 3)
With these players included in the Real Madrid team, Jose Mourinho had a lot of option in all the positions.
While Iker Casillas stood guard between the two poles, Mourinho had a few options available at the back. The first team back four consisted of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Ramos-c33096 played as a right back while
Marcelo played as the first choice left back.
Antonio Adan was usually benched as he was the only replacement for the first choice goalkeeper http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Iker-Casillas-c16815. There were players available to replace all the defenders.
In case http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcelo-c23554’s left back position could also be taken by Alvaro Arbeloa who is able to operate on both the
flanks.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-c30652 Albiol was also an option available for the centre back position.
The Spanish midfielder, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sami-Khedira-c32325 quickly became a first choice holding midfielder.
Rather than playing a 4-3-3, Mourinho started to arrange his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The two players, who played right in front of the defence, included Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso. While Alonso played in more of a deep lying centre midfield role,
Sami Khedira stood back and played as a holding midfielder.
With Ricardo Kaka out injured, Mesut Ozil did not take much time to become a first choice centre attacking midfielder. Angel Di Maria became the first choice right winger while Cristiano Ronaldo played on the left wing. Gonzalo Higuain or Karim Benzema were
chosen to play as the first choice striker. However, Higuain was scoring more goals and he always had the edge over Karim Benzema.
Xabi http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pepe-c29670 was also utilized in the holding
midfield position when Madrid faced Barcelona.
Ozil also didn’t have a suitable replacement for half the season until Kaka returned from his injury. Karim Benzema filled the “hole” right behind the striker or Mourinho would simply change the formation to a 4-3-3 for a 4-4-2 in order to rest Ozil who
often found himself being tired after the hour mark.
In case http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Karim-Benzema-c20350 and Gonzalo Higuain formed a 4-4-1-1 formation with Benzema playing right behind Higuain in the attack.
With all these players available to Mourinho, Madrid had the perfect team to start the campaign.
The Spanish Giants rarely lost any games but later it was seen that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 were simply too good to beat. The Spanish Champions faced Madrid at the Nou Camp and managed to win the game 5-0. It was definitely a confidence shattering loss for Madrid. However,
they did manage to pick themselves up in the UEFA Champions League where they qualified for the semi finals after seven long years.
Despite the squad depth, Madrid were still beaten by Barcelona in the semi finals and the Catalans won La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. On the other hand, Madrid only managed to take home the Copa Del Rey title.
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