Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Las Palmas at the Estadio Gran Canaria to make it just one win out of three games in La Liga. Las Palmas opened the scoring with a good finish from Alberto Moleiro, before Vinicius Jr equalised from the spot in the second half.
Here are three quick observations:
The ‘out-doing each other’ has got to stop now
Someone has to say it.
Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe were frustrating, and rather frustrated figures throughout the game, putting out mediocre performances. Vinicius Jr, despite scoring the only Real Madrid goal from the spot, had a pretty bad performance, and Mbappe was monotonous as well. This is about both of them.
It feels like we are watching two individual football players who just happen to be playing on the same field, wearing the same shirt, working towards the same motive, but acting like two separate entities. I know, ‘it’s early doors’, ‘Vinicius Jr and Mbappe are similar profiles’, and ‘it takes time to get used to everything’. That is understandable. What isn’t understandable is the way they are playing. They spend more time trying to outdo one another than actually trying to play collective football.
There have been many points throughout the season where one of them has the ball and the other is either trying to make a run or is just left unmarked near the edge of the box. Most of the time, the player with the ball tries too hard. The first game against Atalanta was actually promising. We saw multiple linkups between Mbappe and Vini, regardless of whether they were successful or not. Since the beginning of the league campaign, both players have not tried hard enough to link up together.
It is a constant battle of who tries the hardest to be the best and at the moment, neither of them is proving to be what they are trying to be. It needs to change, and it will. It’s just annoying how this is one of the problems Real Madrid are facing even though both of them have openly admitted to wanting to play with each other on the same team.
Aurelien Tchouameni has had an iffy start to the season, to say the least
You probably wouldn’t meet a bigger Tchouameni fan than me, but even I’m willing to admit that these three La Liga games have probably been three of the worst of his Real Madrid career so far. Tchouameni is an intelligent player, but he is just not letting his intelligence show in these games.
Part of that is actually on Ancelotti, but most of it is Tchouameni: the way he has carried himself, the lack of idea in his passes, being slow to press, slow to tackle, slow to track back. It is not the same Tchouameni from last season. The reason could be fitness — after all, he didn’t really have a pre-season, but neither did Fede Valverde, and we haven’t really said that about him. It could be growing pains from playing without Toni Kroos.
Saying all that, these are just concerns. Tchouameni will eventually come back to his best, it’s a matter of when that happens. The leash is not as long as it once was, and Tchouameni’s role in Real Madrid’s system is too important for him to be playing like this.
Statistically, he has not had a bad start to the season — he is averaging career highs in passes into the penalty area, progressive passes, passes per 90 and pass completion % per 90, but the quality of these passes has been underwhelming. It needs to change, and it is a shame that Real Madrid don’t have Eduardo Camavinga to fall back on until Tchouameni figures it out.
Guler needs to start at least until Bellingham returns
There weren’t many positives to choose from, this barely qualifies as one, but Arda Guler has impressed in each of his cameos so far. He provides a lot of danger whenever he is on the pitch, and just the fact that he is working hard defensively, is trying his best to be involved and be on the ball for as long as possible should be enough for him to start because most players have not been like that anyway.
But, with Guler, you also get some technical ability and the vision that this team desperately needs. Guler created two big chances in 30 minutes on the pitch, and it would lead to more opportunities if he is able to gain some continuity playing alongside Vinicius Jr and Mbappe. Guler had three key passes — which, by the way, was more than every single Real Madrid player bar Luka Modric and Valverde — despite having just 14 touches of the ball. That is creative efficiency that you simply don’t get with other players, but until Bellingham is able to return, Guler should start.
His best quality is he always wants to make things happen, which is something that Real Madrid’s midfield sorely lacks without Camavinga and Bellingham. Having Guler playing behind the forwards or even as a third forward could provide much-needed balance, as well as a linking pin between the midfield and attack.