Are Karim Benzema’s boo boys going to force him out of the Bernabeu?

Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema

There is a certain amount of pressure that comes part and parcel with donning a Real Madrid shirt. Some of the biggest names ever to play the game have been involved with the now-cliche, shirt-holding presentation to the press at the Santiago Bernabeu, something which fans in the Spanish capital may have come to take for granted.

The Bernabeu has been littered with superstars for as long as I have been alive, and although some of them have left more of a skidmark than a sparkle on the club, it seems as though there is one attribute that the los Blancos fans hold in higher regards than any other – work-rate.

The boo boys have always been a staple to the club, they even once jeered Alfredo Di Stefano – arguably the greatest player in the history of the the club and two-time Ballon d’Or winner – according to Florentino Perez, the Madrid president.

Now seems that France international Karim Benzema is the focal point of their abuse, despite the 25-year-old scoring 91 goals in 193 games for the club.

The former Lyon forward is a frustrating player to spectate, granted, but the relentless taunting is only detrimental to the fans themselves. They only want to see him perform well for their club, but booing him many not be a great way of achieving the desired effect.

Last season Benzema shared the goalscoring burden with Gonzalo Higuain under Jose Mourinho, but the Argentine’s departure, as well as the introduction of Carlo Ancelotti as the new boss, has seen the Frenchman climb the pecking order. In his 30 appearances for Real Madrid last year, of which he only completed five, Benzema racked up a goal tally of 11 – bettered only by Cristiano Ronaldo (34) and the aforementioned Higuain (16).

Benzema’s performance in La Liga last season

Ancelotti obviously rates the two-time French Player of the Year as he has appeared in every game this season – albeit completing the 90 minutes in just three out of the eight. Benzema started the season impressively, scoring in each of his first two outings, but is now on a run of six league games without a goal.

Benzema has never been one to work himself into the ground. He is far from your archetypal workhors, who chases lost causes, runs into the flanks and pust pressure on defenders, the Madrid forward picks his moments to spring into action. Benzema doesn’t possess the ability that Ronaldo does, nor the enthusiasm that Alvaro Morata holds, and so is the ready-made scapegoat when the club start to wobble.

It’s a vicious circle. Does criticism lead to a loss of form, or is the loss of form the the result of the criticism in the first place?

A simple comparison of his basic statistics from this season to last illustrates a worrying decline. His 68% shot accuracy has dropped to 43% and so has his pass completion rate along with his success rate in duels.

Benzema’s shot accuracy this season

On the surface, two goals, and another two in the Champions League, doesn’t seem enough to warrant the tedious tirade that Benzema has been subject to this term, especially as he’s made an additional 15 chances on top of that. You can feel the frustration flooding the club right now, as their search for European success goes on and they sit third in the table below rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and fans are creating an unwanted circle of events for Benzema – the more they boo, the worse he gets and the worse he gets, the more they boo.