I’m Getting Tired of this

Real Madrid suffer their first defeat away from home ahead of their champions league opening game, which is Inter Milan. Now so much can be said about this match. I could bring on the Negreira accusations and apply it to this game but not yet. The Negreira case is projected to end in the year 2027 with only a few testimonies remaining.

Perhaps it was the spirit of GOAT, Antony that caused Real Madrid to lose but I prefer to shift the blame on the 18 shots that were taken and none completed.

The base formation against Real Betis

I am not exactly sure how Mourinho’s build-up play was ahead of this match or what formations he has the team transition to but the base formation being 4-4-2 is starting to exhaust me. Now I understand that some of my ball knowledge limited to football highlights and FIFA but having two wingers as strikers and a Central Midfielder as versatile as Jude Bellingham on left midfield is a bit counterintuitive. Mbappe and Vini aren’t strikers and Jude Bellingham isn’t a winger. Josè Mourinho claimed he would have a formation of 4-2-3-1 with Jude Bellingham in his attacking central midfield role to creatively roam around with Vini back on the left and Mbappe as his main striker but that tends to happened in the last stages of the game when they need a lifeline.

In the image above you can see what pretty much sums up the rest of the game. Mbappe on the wings drifts into the box with two potential open players to pass it to, Jude Bellingham, with pretty much an open net right in front of him, and Cucurella, with absolutely no one marking him. Of course two of the shortest players in the squad, Vini Jr and Arda Gueler, in the center so they can magically head it into the net? Mbappe decides to showcase his continuous dribbling only to end up with three defenders in front of him and a ball that bounces out for a corner.

It seems like useless corners is what this team strives for since Real Madrid beat Real Betis 10 to 6 when it came to corners. But still no opportunities.

I thought the Mbappe that couldn’t finish penalties was long behind in the past when he couldn’t convert against Liverpool under Carlo Ancelotti but it looks like he made a comeback in this match. Now I will agree that the Real Betis players did come into the box before the penalty had been finished, but, hey, who cares!

Then comes the moment that made me upset. This off-side call did initially made me upset but the play itself is a double-edge sword because it showed just how desperately Real Madrid need a number 9. Espi, a new signing whose former club was Levante, came this summer as a replacement for Gonzalo Garcia, a player I adore and respect. Espi has been incredible in the past couple matches. The offside play was called long before Vini Jr had the ball when Espi was fighting for space in between the defenders, passing the ball back forward but the call came very late after Espi had already scored.

Now I’d like to think this was a case of corruption in LaLiga or selective referring but I also believe this Real Madrid is still the Real Madrid from before. One that lacks communication between the players or having players not playing in there ideal positions.

If this is an example of what is to come then I am worried but the last time Josè Mourinho went up against a LaLiga dominated by Barcelona in 2011/12, the Special one won the league with 100 points.