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According to a new report in Marca.com, the online edition of the Spanish Sports (read: Real Madrid) daily, Mourinho has not been thrilled by the way that Karim Benzema has played recently, and is considering other options up top.
Karim Benzema is the only pure striker that Mourinho counts on, but the Portuguese manager has now demonstrated that he does have alternatives. In Madrid's recent match against Getafe, Cristiano Ronaldo ended up playing striker. Against Levante it was Kaká who came on for the Frenchman to play a role he normally does not. [...]
Mourinho has already warned us that if the Frenchman isn't playing well he could change systems. Up until now he has preferred to put players who don't normally play striker in Benzema's place. CR7 is a little more accustomed to it, but Kaká is not. With the Brazilian on the mend, there are many speculations about where he will play and who will be the one "sacrificed": Özil, Di María, a defensive mid... After what we saw in the Ciudad de Valencia, it wouldn't be surprising if Benzema were the one sentenced to the bench.
We here at ManagingMadrid are very comfortable with taking credit where none is due, so I (Gabe) would like to refer you to my most recent article, detailing Mourinho's options without Higuaín. In it, I argue that dropping Benzema from the lineup in favor of Kaká--and thus using a 4-6-0--would be an interesting, and realistic, alternative for Mourinho.

So, am I saying that Marca's Miguel Angel García saw my article and used it as inspiration? Yes. That's what I'm saying.

In all seriousness, this shows just how precarious Karim's situation is at the moment: he needs to preform better, or Mou will have no choice but to change systems.

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2 comments:

Bekah said...

Based on a lineup I just saw for the Villarreal match it looks like he's playing a 4-4-2 today, with Cris and Benz up front and Lass instead of Khedira in the midfield... we'll see how it goes!

Gabe L and Josh Z said...

Hala Madrid! Should be interesting at the very least.