Will the real Madrid please stand up?

Real Madrid is a story in itself. An unparalleled history of sorts peppered with moments of such glory that most clubs can only dream of, but when they slide… well, they slide! The last few years haven’t seen them reach the heights that they are used to or rather capable of reaching, and with squad’s laden with probably some of the best players in the world, the only emotion I feel while watching them play is that of surprise. Being overshadowed by their not-so-friendly neighbours, Barcelona, in domestic and European competitions has not helped their cause. There are times when the emergence of a rival might spur a team to find their true selves, but where Real Madrid are concerned, they seem to have accepted that Barcelona as the superior side. Taking this season’s start as an example, the Galacticos have stuttered like inexperienced boys. Of course Real, won’t go down to the second division, or even anything close. But while Barcelona haven’t had the best start to the season, one would have expected Madrid to grab the opportunity and surge to the top. Instead, they are now at seventh in the table with just 7 points after 4 games. Barcelona, despite being held to two draws are on 8 points. [caption id=“attachment_91488” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A midfield boasting of Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Kaka ( seen in this photo here), Ozil, Xabi Alonso and Mesut Ozil should not have any problems at all. Getty Images.”]  [/caption] The most interesting part about this whole mystery about the Los Meringues not being able to win everything in their way is that it does not have a solution. I am not sure if any analyst who has been watching European football will be able to dissect the Madrid team and find out the exact reason why they cannot perform. For me, I suppose it is just the lack of desire and togetherness to win as a team. Everyone is a superstar and the coach Mr Mourinho, the leader of the pack, is no different. He’s perhaps the biggest star of all. Madrid have failed to score in their last two games and when Mourinho was asked if there was a crisis brewing at the Bernabeu, he typically brushed it off. “Some people are talking about a crisis, a dramatic situation in which we couldn’t even fight to stay up,’’ he said. ‘‘There are people interested in talking about this crisis and people that just stick to the facts: that there is no crisis, rather that we have not played well the past week,” said Mourinho. “Three bad games, but that is one week, not three weeks of crisis. This is not a crisis, just a negative situation. It is always easy to motivate players coming off poor results. “If you are complacent you can get stuck in a complacent mindset, but if you are ambitious like us it is a starting point to find new motivation,” the Madrid coach added. The other explanation could be paying more attention to what Barcelona are doing as a team compared to what they should be doing to reach the same level. It is a similar case sometimes with Liverpool deciding their overall performance of the season just by weighing up the results against formidable rivals Manchester United. Real Madrid obsess over trying to win the El Clasicos rather than trying to do the simple things first; beat the others and put pressure on a team which seems to have an irrepressible rate of producing top quality players. Hypothetically, if Real take points from all the other teams in the league and wait for Barcelona to falter (which they already have and are less likely to now), then they would have a better chance of winning the league. The pitiable fact is that the team residing at the Santiago Bernabeau do not have any problems at all. They say they have recovered all they spent on players through merchandising and shirt sales. While that seems hard to believe, they are never under any financial microscope through government secured loans and the collective effort of their marketing team which means they can concentrate on their football more than other teams in the La Liga. Now for the team itself — there is not one position on the pitch where they do not have two players of world class quality. A midfield boasting of Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria, Kaka, Ozil, Xabi Alonso and Mesut Ozil should not have any problems at all. In spite of their inability to convert chances, they have quality strikers and a formidable defence…not to forget probably the world’s best goalkeeper in the form of Iker Casillas. With Jose Mourinho usually working his magic in his second seasons at all the clubs he has plied his charismatic trade with, it is a bit worrying to see them drop points against teams like Levante (with due respect) and before things go out of reach and depend solely on winning the El Clasicos, the Portuguese manager should get his trick book out. He does not need to conjure something amazing out of thin air, all he needs to do is, is to make the real Madrid please stand up.