What Role Can Sami Khedira Play In Real Madrid
Jose Mourinho joined Real Madrid, this summer, amidst great expectations; He has been entrusted with the job of restoring Real Madrid’s pride in Spanish club football. Mourinho is famous for his particular style of defensive football, due to which some changes were expected in Real Madrid’s ranks. However, the initial signing, Angel Di Maria, proved to be unexpected. This showed intent by the manager to make an attacking stance before the start of new season.
Although, Madrid’s defence needed reinforcements, Jose Mourinho surprised everyone with signing another attacking player from Stuttgart, Sami Khedira. He is reinforcement in the midfield area, where Madrid already has players, including Kaka and Xabi Alonso.
The signing of Sami Kheidra also shows another aspect of Mourinho. The Portuguese manager likes his team’s midfield stronger than the rest of the positions. Therefore, he always had big players in the central midfield. So, the addition of Khedira will also help Real Madrid to get stronger in the field, especially against Barcelona, who have dominated their opponents in the midfield area.
Sami Khedira has the credentials to be a part of a historic Madrid’s squad. He rose to glory in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was included in the team after an injury to Michael Ballack, the captain of the side. However, he had a good run with the German squad, until their progress was stopped by Spanish. He also scored a goal for the German side, which shows his ability to score goals.
Khedira rose, as a player, in the ranks of his local club, Stuttgart. He earned a name for himself in the team, and soon he was awarded a first team place in the squad. He also won a Bundesliga title with Stuttgart. He was also a part of the team that won the U21 championships for Germany. Although, he has been successful with the club but he gained his reputation after a good performance in the World Cup. It was his performance with the German side that earned him the position in Jose Mourinho’s squad.
Sami Khedira is a good midfielder, with good technique and passing skills. Also, he displays a great work rate, and a big stamina. This helps him to play for the full length of the match. This will provide Real Madrid bigger options for tactical substitutions. However, despite his qualities he might not get a starting position in the team.
Right now, Mourinho has many options in the midfield, which puts Khedira’s position in doubts. For the role of defensive midfielder, Real Madrid has Lassana Diarra in their squad, who is strong and skilful. In the central role, Mourinho has the option of Xabi Alonso, Fernando Gago and a new signing, Pedro Leon, in his squad. For wider positions, Mourinho has the opportunity of playing some big names, like Rafael Van der Vaart, Kaka and Angel Di Maria. With so many options, it is highly unlikely that Khedira will start most of the matches from bench.
However, Khedira will have to work for his place in the team, by proving himself worthy to the manager. This might be a little troublesome for Khedira, who is known for his lacklustre during the matches. This will make it hard for him to impress the manager, as he finds it hard to get a shining moment in a match.
Still, if Mourinho sticks to his old tactics, there is a better chance that Khedira will get a better role in his new team. Mourinho likes to place two central midfielders, in his diamond formation, with two wings and one player upfront. In this formation, however, a lone striker is played, who is assisted by the man upfront. If these tactics are used by Mourinho, then Khedira will get more playing time.
Mourinho has certainly widened his options by signing Khedira. The presence of the young German in Real Madrid would definitely strengthen the squad. It is assured that when given the chance, the German international will always be up for the challenge.
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