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Following some disastrous results posted in recent weeks, Real Madrid's season has officially descended into chaos.
They are all but guaranteed to end the season trophyless, while the future of Santiago Solari as their manager remains shrouded in mystery, with reports emanating that the club is set to announce Jose Mourinho as their next manager.
For a club of the stature of Real Madrid whose fans are used to winning it all, this is not an ideal situation to be in and as expected, they have have become disillusioned with goings-on at the club.
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Real Madrid are one of the most successful clubs in the history of football, so they would be desperate to do all they can to regain their spot at the top. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at five things which Real Madrid should do to become the best once again.
#5 Get a proven goalscorer
Goals win matches and every club desirous of making an impact in football must have a proven goalscorer who can find the back of the net on a regular basis.
For nine seasons, Real Madrid had that and some more in the person of Cristiano Ronaldo who not only scored goals, but did so at a rate matched only by a handful in the history of professional football.
His departure robbed Real Madrid of a player who was guaranteed to score at least 40-50 goals every season and while those numbers cannot be replicated by anyone else (unless you're named Messi), Real Madrid should have at least put in some effort to get a proven goalscorer.
The club was linked to a host of players including Kylian Mbappe, Mauro Icardi and Neymar, but rather frustratingly, nothing came out of the speculations, with the Madrid board bringing in only Mariano and choosing to rely on the forwards already at the club.
This decision proved to be very counterproductive, as the defending European champions have struggled to get goals this season, going on a shocking run of over four hours without finding the back of the net earlier in the season.
So far this term, the six senior forwards at Real Madrid have scored a paltry 23 goals between them in 26 LaLiga matches, with Karim Benzema leading the way with 11 goals. By contrast, Cristiano Ronaldo alone has banged in 19 goals from the same amount of fixtures in Serie A.
This has been a rather problematic area for Real Madrid, as a club previously used to winning matches and banging in goals for fun now find themselves struggling in front of the goal.
As a matter of priority, Real Madrid must seek out a proven goalscorer to lead the line, as those presently at the club have proved themselves unable to carry the mantra of their attack.
One such player that the club could sign is Mauro Icardi, who currently finds himself at loggerheads with Inter Milan, refusing to show up for training and not watching matches from the stands, while he was also stripped off the Inter captaincy.
The Argentine international has been a consistent goalscorer for Inter ever since arriving at the San Siro, jointly winning the Serie A Golden Boot at the end of last season and would undoubtedly be an upgrade on the deteriorating Karim Benzema.
For Real Madrid to get back to the top, they must get back to scoring goals on a regular basis and with some proven goalscorers potentially available in the upcoming transfer market, the club must do all they can to lay their hands on them.
#4 Hire a world class coach
Real Madrid have a history of rapid hiring and firing of managers, as the humongous demands at the club means that any coach who cannot keep up to pace finds himself out of the ever revolving door for Real Madrid managers.
So far this season, Los Blancos have had two managers, with Julen Lopetegui being unceremoniously dismissed just 14 matches into his tenure following some uninspiring results posted under his watch.
His replacement was announced and while Santiago Solari started out impressively enough, results have once more descended to incredible lows.
The 42-year-old is all but certain to be replaced soon and although Jose Mourinho appears to be the favorite, there are also a number of other high profile coaches available to Real Madrid.
Coaches like Mauricio Pochettino, Massimiliano Allegri, Zinedine Zidane, Jurgen Klopp are among the names being linked to the Real Madrid job and while it might be too early to state with any conviction who would be the next Real manager, it is imperative that the club finds a new top class manager.
Managers play a key role in the successes of a football team, as he/she is in charge of tactical approaches and player selections, so it is important for a club to get it right in terms of the proper managerial fit.
Since Zidane's departure, Real Madrid have got it wrong in terms of managerial appointments which has invariably led to their downfall this season. Hence, to get back to the top, it is of utmost importance for them to get it right this time.
#3 Get rid of underperforming players
Not many clubs can boast of having four FIFPro XI players throughout their history, much less in the same edition, but that is the exact scenario Real Madrid found themselves in last year.
A further seven players were nominated and while this might suggest that Real players are the very best in their respective positions, a cursory look suggests a much different story.
It has long been established that the FIFPro XI is barely a vote based on popularity rather than true performance and while majority Real's players are undoubtedly world class in their own rights, most of them have been on a decline over the last few years (which is only natural considering how long they have been on top).
Players like Marcelo, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale among others have shown to be beneath their usual levels for the last few seasons and this has seen a concordant drop in results for the club.
A lot of these players would have to be allowed to go in order to usher in a new generation of players who would lead the club into the future (much like how this current crop was ushered in after the first 'galactico' experiment) for the club to get back into gear.
#2 Reduce Florentino Perez's power
Florentino Perez is a Spanish billionaire who made his money from his construction conglomerate.
He became Real Madrid president for the first time in 2000 and embarked on a luxurious campaign to bring the best players to the club nicknamed 'the Galacticos' in which multiple superstars plied their trade at Real Madrid.
Despite initial success with the galactico project, results soon went downhill, with the club failing to match performances on the field with the high amounts being expended on their players.
The club's struggles led to Florentino Perez stepping down as Real Madrid president in 2006 but returned to the post once again in 2009
He once more attempted to start a galactico 2.0, signing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Ricardo Kaka just days after the commencement of his second presidency tenure, while Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez among others arrived later.
The announcement of Zinedine Zidane (himself one of the original galacticos) as the first team manager halted that trend and ushered in one of the most successful periods of their history.
Real Madrid are run by a group of fan members called the socios, but the administrative aspect of the club is governed by a board and chaired by a president who makes most of the decision that affects the club.
Perez has made some shocking decisions over the last few years which have been detrimental to the fortunes of the club, including glaring failures in the transfer market.
The 72-year-old came into power for his third term of his second tenure in 2017 on the back of promising to resolving the Cristiano Ronaldo impasse, but in rather bizarre circumstances, he failed to not only offer the Portuguese icon a new contract and watched on as he was sold on to Juventus, with reports later emerging that he was not on talking terms with Ronaldo for the last few years.
Another worrying decision set to be taken by Perez is the impending appointment of Jose Mourinho who he continues to maintain a cordial relationship with even though the Portuguese manager's appointment might not be in the best interest of the club.
Perez wields an enormous amount of power at Real Madrid and for as long as he continues to make counterproductive decisions, it would be in the best interest of the club to cut down on his powers.
#1 Have some patience
As the saying goes, 'all good things must come to an end' and this is no different in football, as players, clubs and national teams no matter how great must invariably begin to experience some decline.
It is a scene we have witnessed time and again, of great seemingly unbeatable teams struggling to attain the heights of yesteryears and it is one that would continue to happen for as long as football exists.
Real Madrid themselves have been in this situation before, going from winning five consecutive European Cups to having a 32-year-drought, while the early trophy-laden years of the first galactico period were followed by three trophyless seasons and six years of consecutive round-of-16 eliminations in the UCL.
Each period of decline by great teams is followed by periods of rebuilding and this is characterized by years of getting it wrong before they finally get it right.
Real Madrid's immediate short-term future is going to be characterized by rebuilding for the future and as with most teams in transition, teams might not be all rosy and as such, the Real Madrid fans must exercise some patience to back their club through the tumultuous times which might lie ahead.
