There is no team that can support a couple of players who are not committed to recovering the ball. Even if the forwards are super stars, if they ignore any sacrificial mission, the collective game collapses. The workload that the forwards do not do is impossible for the midfielders to compensate for. Above all, if the rival knows how to move the ball and walk the rivals from one side of the field to the other. As fatigue cows and tames, with the second consecutive effort, spaces begin to appear and the defense ends up paying for it, which is riddled with balls. Also to ruthless criticism. This is how Madrid suffered in the Super Cup final until Szczesny’s expulsion.
Sometimes the commitment of a single player impacts the entire team in an exaggerated way. Raphinha is a good example. This season, he even goes beyond himself to claim the ball and runs like a poor man when he loses it, causing a virtuous effect not only because of what he does, but because of what he spreads.
Raphinha is not the same as last season because his mentality changed, not his physical condition. Vinicius has no less muscular quality or resistance to long efforts than Raphinha. What it has is a greater concentration of energy for attacking actions and a lower defensive commitment. On a good day he wins the game just because he has plenty of talent; On a bad day he leaves you with ten and that, this football, no longer allows it. Let’s not talk about if, in addition to Vinicius, anyone else defects, as was the case.
This same Madrid has already demonstrated many times that, when it goes into a trance because the game calls for a comeback, it has a sacred fire that defies all logic. He is a tiger whose mustache should not be touched because it activates the glory-producing machine. But to be a reliable team it has to avoid fires and not go to the emergency button again and again when the alarms go off. Sometimes the panic button doesn’t work.
The final of the Super Cup was a lesson that has Madrid standing well in the League standings and, despite the difficulties, with a favorable forecast in the Champions League. He also progresses in the Cup, although with scares. Ancelotti will have learned that, for high-level matches, three forwards do not provide the much-touted balance. Also that high blood pressure is not what their staff advises. Carlo, who is intelligent, quickly learns and corrects what can be corrected. The lack of a strategist is a club problem that can only be resolved by the market and hardly in the middle of the season. Without that reference, getting organized is much more difficult.
The following reflection must be made by each player who, like Raphinha, must understand that he who does not give everything, gives nothing. The coaches have clearly increased their role at the price of taking responsibility for all the frustrations. But they neither win the games alone nor lose them alone. Each player has a share of responsibility. It is time to assume it because the lesson comes when there is still time for everything.
If Madrid lacks a strategist, Barça has plenty. Both Pedri and Casadó have criteria to guide the game, to slow down and raise the pace, to associate with everyone, to filter balls… Also to defend, because when there is criteria it even seems that they ask your permission to take the ball away collectively. When the machine works, everyone “goes crazy” (they want the ball) and, since they know what to do with it, they strike you down. All this without talking about Lamine.
