Pellegrini Selection Headache To Come aka Bobby's Chalk Session

Selection Headache? What Selection Headache? We're scrounging for players. We had 4 Castilla players in the squad list for Deportivo and the world's most expensive player is still out another game with suspension. The only player that even returned to training today was Gago and we planned that he'd be at Manchester City by this point. Exactly! (Huh?) At this point your probably a bit confused (wtf Bobby...) but let me explain. The match against Deportivo showed some crucial team depth and not only did we win at Riazor, we put on a performance. To go even further, not only did we put on a performance, we did so with a stretched line-up. Anyone notice that we played more covincingly against Depor, who were then in 5th place, than we did against Malaga who are low in the table. The catch is that against Malaga, which was a home game, we fielded what is arguably our best XI. Or is that our best 11? It poses a lot of questions. Goal.com put an article out this week about if Real Madrid plays better without Ronaldo. Should Granero be a starter? What happens to two-goal Benzema when Pipita recovers? Is the Lass/Xabi Alonso a good center midfield partnership? Are we playing the best formation suitable for this team. When everyone is available, who gets bumped to the pine? Can we alternate players with the Champions League on the horizon? Let's take a look.

Where do we start? How many questions did I just ask? Let's begin with what is arguably our standard formation, and starting XI with everyone healthy (excluding Pepe, get well soon).

I'm not stating that this is our best line-up. I'm just trying to get into Pellegrini's head. If all these players were available and everyone was well rested, I get the feeling that this is the starting XI we would see. So bring on the questions. Does Real Madrid play better without Ronaldo? Well all of us would hope not. We spent a fortune on him this summer and for our starting line-up to be more affective without him would be a nightmare. My answer to this question is no. If that relieves anyone, good. Here's why. Ronaldo is a unique player. He has everything a footballer would dream of. He has pace, moves, a rocket packed behind 90% of his shots, set play abilities only few can match, and more. Many think he is selfish, too self centered but that is not that case. Ronaldo has become more of a team player at Madrid than he was at Manchester United "With great power, comes great responsibility." -Uncle Ben (Spiderman). Ronaldo wouldn't be as useful if he didn't take responsibility into his own hands at times. It would be wrong for him to not use the God-given talent that he possesses. He can change the game an in instant! You're probably asking yourself where I'm going with this because everything I've said so far really isn't team orientated. Well here you are. To have Ronaldo in the side is a blessing. With brilliant players around him, he can feed off of their talent in forms of their great passing and through balls to latch on to, movement off the ball, ability to draw free kicks and penalties, quality corners to score from, good service from the flanks. He is just an Ace in the hole that can benefit from what Madrid has to offer. Therefore he boosts team performances. So when he goes missing and we still play well... what's that about? Let me reiterate Ronaldo can benefit from the Team's Talent. When Ronaldo is not there, the team is still capable of playing great football. The game plan might change a little, but whenever you lose one of the greatest players on the planet for a match, your team will need to make some adjustments. That is common sense. The matches like Deportivo just show Madrid is good enough to cope without Ronaldo as well as with Ronaldo. It's more of a testament to our depth than it is a problem with CR9. Now I do understand things may not run as smoothly at times when Ronaldo is on the pitch. But this team has to be able to adapt to Ronaldo. In a sense the word "gel" appears once more. I know people are getting tired of hearing it, after all we're past the midway point of the season, but the injection of Ronaldo can be a lot to get used to. And even though we are this far along into the campaign, our buddy CR9 has only played in 16 games, only starting 14, including the Champions League. Whereas a team (excluding a Copa del Rey we'd all like to forget) we've played 26. So once again I call for patience, something that is hard for us to embrace as Madrid fans, especially after all the recent Barca success. Have faith my friends. There is still a lot more to come from Real Madrid.

Pirata! Easily one of my favorite signings. The kid continues to impress. Everytime he comes on, he makes a difference. He has found the net on 3 occasions this season as a midfielder and only finds himself in the starting line up around half the time. In La Liga, he has 3 goals and 2 assists. Kaka has 3 goals and 3 assists. Not much of a statistical difference with a gap in the amount of minutes played. Granero often times doesn't get the playing time he deserves with our big name midfielders, but everytime he plays, his name grows larger. He was exceptional against Depor and is expected by many to be in starting line up when Espanyol visits this weekend. There are places open for the 22-year old with Van der Vaart still spending training in the gym and Ronaldo serving his second suspension of his two match ban. I just get the hunch he'll have a good day against Espanyol. It may not seem right if he doesn't get the start when the more prominent names start to return to the squad list. For me, if he is not starting, he's the first one off the bench every time. He is a very well rounded player that offers more than a solid midfield player. He also delivers good corners, allowing our taller players to be in the box to win headers. He is a great Madrid Academy product. Gracias for the goal on Saturday.

So what do we do about the Lass/Xabi Alonso center midfield partnership. The midfield seemed very effective this weekend with just one holding midfielder. This was only recently brought to my attention. Do they work well together? Do we need two holding center midfielders or can one be sacrificed for the addition of another forward? That would make us a little top heavy so maybe those playing on the outsides would have to tuck in and drop a little more defensively and with two forwards, the attacking center midfield, most likely Kaka, would have to drop slightly as well. So we've gone from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-3-2 like we did against Deportivo. So it may look like this roughly when going from an attack to losing the ball and having to defend:


The advantages of this would be:

1. Allowing us to play both Higuain and Benzema in the same formation. Or as a second striker, Ronaldo and put in VDV or Granero on the right hand side.

2. It would give us more power offensively and more combination options in the attacking third.

3. It would provide two forwards to hit when building out of the back opposed to one main target forward which could become easy to mark.

4. Kaka has now two forwards to sit behind like he does with Brazil.

Disadvantages:

1. It would send either Xabi Alonso or Lass to the bench because one holding midfielder would have to be sacrificed for a forward. That wouldn't fit squad demographics considering we have 4 defensive midfielders in the team. Xabi Alonso, Diarra, Lass, and Gago.

2. It might make the team too top heavy and offensive players may not get back (cough Guti) , leaving us open and more vulnerable to counters.

3. With so many players in the offensive half, we might have to limit our wing play from outside backs. Sergio Ramos and Arbeloa would have to stay at home more often.

Striker questions? The fallowing analysis of the striker situation has been conducted as if Pellegrini decides to stick with a 4-2-3-1. So now that Benzema is finally up and running, Higuain is near recovery and could return for the match this weekend against Espanyol. If Pipita is just returning, I vote that he doesn't get 90 minutes against the Catalan side. I want to see him return as much as the next Madridista but Benzema now has some confidence and it's smart not to push Higuain to his limit on his return. I know the squad has quality enough (as showed at the Riazor) to win without Pipita in the starting XI, especially against Espanyol. Here is my plan. Benzema starts against Espanyol, Higuain comes in for him around 65 minutes in the second half. Then, the next weekend Higuain starts and Benzema replaces him. This would be important to rest Benzema at this game so he be fully fit to face Lyon on the 16th. No one knows the French club like him. Maybe Diarra, but he hasn't been there in years, when Benzema has just played for them last season. So afterwards, because Benzema played in the European midweek, Higuain then starts against Villarreal at home. This all goes accordingly provided both strikers remain healthy and on form. So with the extra Champions League games, perhaps rotation could be an option for the time being.

That's all I have for you today. I left plenty to discuss and left plenty out that is worth discussing. Would be interested to hear the thoughts of a lot of you. I enjoy hearing what you have to say.

Bobby