Real Bound??
After a summer of some good business regarding football transfers, Madrid is preparing itself for one final Galactico signing.. As it stands right now, Real Madrid's transfer expenditure this summer is balanced out by player sales( of course, including Higuain's 37 million).
Madrid bought Isco for 27 million( including add ons), Illarramendi for 32 million, Casemiro for 6 million and bought back Carvajal for 6.5 million.. So this amounts to a total of 71.5 million..
Now, Higuain is on the verge of signing for Napoli for 40 million(including add ons), Albiol was sold for 12 million, Callejon for 10 million, and we will get around 4.4 million for Negredo sale. So it amounts to around 66.4 million.
We all know Perez loves to spend big and every media source is indicating towards a Galactico signing this summer.. Team still have some other issues to address too.. Coentrao will probably leave.. Pepe too is attracting attention from Manchester City.. But its not difficult to find their alternatives.. Madrid is already looking at an alternative to Coentrao in Granada LB, Siqueira. He will be a good back up to Marcelo. Pepe is also not a starter anymore.. He is 3rd choice CB for the team.
Regarding, signing of Bale, there are 3 factors that should be considered... First is Money involved.. i.e how much will he cost??
Second factor is : Is he really necessary and how will Madrid accommodate him in the playing eleven?? Is his signing in line with Ancelotti's promise of playing beautiful and possesion based system and how will he help the team...
Third factor is how his signing will affect the development of young madrid players like Morata, Jese and Isco??
As much as everyone at Madrid wants him at the club, its not going to be easy( and certainly not cheap) for the club to sign him. Tottenham doesn't want to let go of him and their president Levy is one tough negotiator. Levy prices him over(hold your breath, guyz) 100 million. This is even more than world record signing of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo by Madrid for 94 million. And remind you that Ronaldo has already won Ballon d'or at that moment and was considered the best player on the planet. He had won Champions League and EPL with Manchester United and he was the best player for them.
Bale has achieved nothing of that sort yet.. He plays for a club that is not even playing Champions League. Though i acknowledge that player's price has inflated because of emergence of many big spending clubs( PSG, Monaco, Chelsea, Manchester City come to mind), but its stiill stupid money for a player that has only one great season to date.
Even him Madrid decides to splash such crazy money for him, it would be very tough to negotiate with Levy and it will take whole August to land him at the club. So he will be without any pre season with the club and that will certainly affect his performance in first few months with the team.. Last year, same thing happened with Modric and he only showed what he is capable of, in last two months of the season..
Secondly, If he comes how will Madrid accommodate him in the team. He basically plays as LW at Spurs but Madrid has Ronaldo at that position. So he may have to play out of position..
Overall:
Premier League*332146-578.51.7117.89
UEFA Europa League*8343-3.4781.117.65
Total41 (0)24894.778.41.6127.84
Offensive:
Premier League*3321452.31.81.40.31.61.77.89
UEFA Europa League*8343.42.11.51.10.511.67.65
Total41 (0)2484.72.31.71.30.31.51.77.84
Passing :
Premier League*3342.334.378.51.91.10.17.89
UEFA Europa League*842.135.9782.62.50.17.65
Total41 (0)82.334.678.421.40.17.84
Defensive :
Premier League*3311.30.70.11.80.50.117.89
UEFA Europa League*80.60.60.60.11.80.30.1-7.65
Total41 (0)0.91.20.70.11.80.50.117.84
Formations Real Madrid can use with Bale :
1> Last year's 4-2-3-1 with Bale at Di Maria's position :
Madrid played a 4-2-3-1 last year with Ronaldo at LW, Ozil in the center and Di Maria at RW behind either Benzema or Higuain.
That formation looked something like this.
Real Madrid played with inverted wingers with both Ronaldo and Di Maria cutting in.. This formation was predominately a Counter Attacking formation and Madrid looked great while counter attacking.. But the problem arised against teams that sit back and defend.. Madrid has no plan B for such teams and team sometimes looked confused while in possession. Mid field was weak as their double pivot of Alonso and Khedira was overrun time and again against teams with good midfield. All opponent teams had to do is to mark Alonso out of the game, which was very easy given Alonso's lack of pace and mobility.. Khedira couldn't help him because of lack of his technical skills and passing.. He is not Pacy either. Front 4 never helped the team and team look disjointed at times..Ancelotti has promised to play more possession based games this season, so most probably this will not be the formation of his choice.. But if he chooses to play with formation then where will Bale fit.. He will most probably take Di Maria's position at RW.. As talented and hardworking Di Maria is, he is pretty inconsistent and have poor decision making...In that case, Ronaldo and Bale will be terrorise opponents at wings with their pace and skill and will interchange positions regularly. It will be a great counter attacking formation but the problem with midfield will remain the same..In fact midfield problem will only aggregate because of presence of 2 attack minded fullbacks in Carvajal and Mracelo. This midfield will not be able to cover for them, if they move forward regularly. It will again be overrun and team will again struggle against "Park The Bus type of teams.." Also, Bale has not played at right wing before.. so we dont know how well will he play and what to expect.. This formation with Bale will look something like this..
4-2-3-1 With Bale..
2> 4-3-3 with bale as a part of front 3 :
In this formation, Bale will play at either wing depending on the position of Ronaldo.. In this case either one of Benzema or Ozil will be dropped..If Ozil is dropped then Bale will as RW or RAM and Ronaldo will play at his usual LW position.. Benzema will lead the line.. I am not in favour of any formation with Ozil not a part of it. He is such an integral part of the team but sometimes he is very inconsistent and his low stamina and lack of work rate doesn't help either. He is also not comfortable at RW and he admitted it openely.. He is also not good defensively and defensive skills are a must at wings having FB as attacking as Carvajal.
4-3-3 with Bale
Or Ronaldo can lead the line in a free role and Bale can take Ronaldo's position at LW. Then Ozil will have to play as RW or RAM... Ronaldo doesn't like to lead the line and it is easy to mark him out of the game when he plays as striker. Bale will play at his usual LW position..
3> 4-2-1-3 :
In this formation Bale can play at any of front 3 position. Ozil/Isco will play behind front 3 and will connect deep midfield with front 3. Front 3 will interchange their positions regularly. This will need both deep lying/ holding midfielders to be good defensively.
4> 4-2-2-2 :
Real Mdrid can also try a 4-2-2-2 with both ozil and isco at the pitch at the same time. In this formation, both Ronaldo and Bale will act as the front 2. Both will be in a free role.. Ozil and Isco will provide the creativity and will act as playmakers. Isco will play a drop deeper into midfield and will drive the ball forward. Botjh fullbacks, Marcelo and Carvajal will provide the width.
Thirdly, signing of Bale will result in less playing time for Jese and Morata. Both are upcoming superstars and need playing time to develop their full potential. Its already very tough for them to break into first team and get enough playing time. The signing of Bale will effectively end their chances of getting enough playing time. Jese has just extended his contract for 4 more years.. If Bale does come, both Morata and Jese would be 3rd in the packing order and they will have to be loaned out to get enough playing time that is necessary for their development as a player...
100 million question : Can they co-exist in a team??
In the end, Bale's signing will definitely improve the team but 100 million improvement.. I am not so sure.. Accommodating Ronaldo and Bale in a single team will prove very difficult for the management.. He is a very big potential.. no doubt.. but he need to first prove himself to deserve the transfer fees that is being talked about him (upto 120 million).. . His signing will affect our players too... Players that can form the future of Madrid.He is a luxury signing for Madrid. But he seems like an obsession of Perez after Barcelona signed Neymar, so he will leave no stone unturned to sign him.
We just have to wait and watch...
