These observations — where I look at Real Madrid’s history, its players on loan, Castilla, tactical tidbits, and other relevant thoughts — are now a regular thing. All previous editions can be found
here.One of the things I firmly believe in with respect to this Real Madrid roster is that they are too deep to not be taking advantage of the value everyone can bring. You could argue about how good these players actually are if you want, but how good they truly are is maybe a different point. Maybe
the talent pool is not as good as Barcelona’s, PSG’s, or Bayern Munich’s. Or, maybe it is, in which case, it’s embarrassing how low the level of football has been compared to those teams.
Or, maybe its not, in which case, isn’t that all the more reason to utilize the full squad more? How many darts have been thrown at the wall? Answer: Not enough.
I am not here to claim that this is 2016 – 2017 Real Madrid, but, inarguably there are very good players who either: A) Play for Real Madrid now and don’t play enough, who looked better elsewhere (either with their national teams or former clubs); or B) Played for Real Madrid before, weren’t utilized, and look better in other teams now.
My ultimate point is this: I think we haven’t shuffled the deck enough to find solutions, and the ‘solutions’ over the past two+ years have mostly been boring:
- Play Vinicius and Mbappe at all costs, regardless of their form and tactical concerns
- Figure out the rest of the pieces around them, with eye-opening failure, over and over again
The second bullet point has come in various shapes and forms: Replace coaches, sign players, and loan out or sell hungry younger players.
After the 2024 – 2025 season, in addition to replacing Carlo Ancelotti with Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid signed Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alvaro Carreras, Dean Huijsen, and Franco Mastantuono. They also failed to replace Luka Modric, who already — even on his last legs — was the last hope the club had in controlling the midfield. Mastantuono was very expensive, and is objectively worse than Nico Paz, who, even though is not a right winger, would operate that right wing better than Mastantuono (who is also not a pure right winger).
The rest of the names were important additions to the squad to varying degrees.
In the summer of 2026, Real Madrid added Denzel Dumfries, Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konaté, Carlos Espi, and Yan Diomande. Silva was finally a step to replace Modric and Kroos, but he’s barely featured so far, despite being a desperately-needed profile. Espi was a great Gonzalo replacement, but we’re already asking the question: Will Espi suffer the same problem as Gonzalo? Will he play enough before leaving? Endrick’s problem is similar, and possibly even more severe.
I think it’s possible to be overly critical of Real Madrid. I think it’s also possible to be overly defensive of their decisions. It is completely reasonable to state that Florentino Perez helped build the most successful club of the last 15 years, and, naturally, after winning the Champions League, there isn’t too much to add or dramatically improved. The higher quality the steak, the less seasoning and marinade it needs.
What happened in the summer of 2024 after lifting the Champions League trophy has been discussed to death, so I don’t wish to revisit it here, but I will say that the squad, on paper at least, has improved through these transfers from the past one-to-two years.
But are we trusting these players enough? The primary purpose of depth is to keep everyone fresh all season. If Dumfries is struggling, does it add up when Trent has played just 213 minutes — almost on par with Aurelien Tchouameni who was injured for most of the season? If Vinicius Jr is having the worst season of his career, does it add up when Brahim Diaz has played just 99 (!) minutes? If Real Madrid desperately need help with scoring efficiency and box presence, does it add up that Carlos Espi has played just 25 minutes while averaging a goal every 13 minutes?
One of the main issues of this team is that the stars are treated like stars, despite not being the same stars they were two years ago. I think getting past that barrier and introducing hungry young blood, even in place of the biggest stars on the team sheet, would be worth a try. This is not something I would bring up if Real Madrid were successful in the past two years — and this is a conclusion not just based on results, but the performances as well. (which have somehow been even worse than the non-existent results).
I witnessed my favourite player, Raul, overtake the legendary Emilio Buatragueño in the starting line-up as a 17-year in 1994. I then watched, painfully, Raul — to this day my favourite player ever — decline in his mid-20s, and his guaranteed place in the starting XI compromised the team greatly for years.
Change is painful, but it is necessary.
But maybe I’m biased, because I care about Real Madrid more than any one individual player — so please take my words with a grain of salt.
