Team Focus: Are Real Madrid Still Too Dependent on Ronaldo?

A surprise defeat to Getafe at the weekend has left Real Madrid already five points off the summit of La Liga after just two games.

The slow start of two defeats and a draw (if you also include the 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the first-leg of the Spanish Super Cup) is the worst of Jose Mourinho’s managerial career and is even more remarkable given Real only dropped 14 points in total on their way to a record 100 points tally last season.

Moreover, in all three games Real have failed to win despite having taken the lead, again something which only occurred six times in 56 outings in all competitions last term.

The problem, at least in the two league games, has been two-fold. Firstly, a weakness in defending set-pieces – something that actually was also apparent in the latter half of last season – and a failure to convert their own chances at the other end.

The key goal in both the 1-1 draw at home to Valencia in week one of the new La Liga campaign and against Getafe has been Real’s opponents’ equaliser. Principally because, as Real showed last season by scoring twice as many goals from fastbreak situations as any other side, they are such a formidable counter-attacking side, by conceding cheap goals from set-pieces they then surrender the advantage of the opponents having to come out and attack and, in the case of Getafe’s winning goal, also open themselves up to be counter-attacked against.

Mourinho claimed after the Getafe game that there was nothing inherently wrong in how his side are drilled to defend set-plays and that even when the defensive scheme is perfect, it still only takes one individual error to cost you a goal. However, it is surprising that such a basic facet of the game remains such a problem for a Mourinho side.

From January onwards last season Real conceded 11 goals from corners and free-kicks, including goals to Bayern Munich and Barcelona which knocked them out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey respectively, and equalisers against Malaga and Villarreal which briefly put their surge towards the title in doubt.

This time round the goals they have conceded have been very different, if not entirely unrelated. Jonas’ goal for Valencia came thanks to a clear misunderstanding between Iker Casillas and Pepe as the Spanish captain concussed his Portuguese colleague in trying to punch the ball clear, allowing Jonas the simplest of headers into the empty net.

Consequently, Pepe was then unable to take part against Getafe and even if he couldn’t have helped prevent Juan Valera’s bullet header from Abdel Barrada’s free kick eight minutes into the second-half, he would have certainly had the pace to cope with Adrian Colunga’s burst which led to Barrada’s winner, whereas his replacement Raul Albiol clearly did not.

What is most striking, however, is the disparity on Real’s efficiency in front of goal compared to their opponents.

In the two league games so far Casillas has made only one save - and even that came after Getafe had taken the lead and Real were caught upfield in their attempts to get back in the game. At the other end meanwhile, Los Blancos have had 39 shots, 14 of which were on target, and produced only two goals.

That average of 19.5 shots per game is almost identical to the 19.3 with which they ended last season when they found the net at an average of 3.2 times per game.

Conspicuous by his absence from the scoresheet so far has of course been Cristiano Ronaldo. As is habitually the case, the Portuguese hasn’t been shy of trying his luck with 11 shots in the two games but there is a worrying indication for Mourinho that despite the array of attacking talent available to him, they remain Ronaldo dependent.

Of the 10 league games in which the former World Player of the Year didn’t score last season, Real failed to win five, whilst they dropped points only once when he did find the net (against Villarreal in March).

Of course, this remains a very short sample size and Real also dropped five points in the first four games last season before going on an incredible run. However, in a league where the champions have amassed 99, 96 and 100 points in the last three seasons, Mourinho’s men can’t afford to misfire for too much longer.