Rafa Benitez needs to work on Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo dynamic, says Guillem Balague
Tuesday 25 August 2015 16:54, UK
In his first column of the season, Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague discusses Real Madrid's problems in front of goal, Barcelona's solid start, La Liga's lack of goals and Karim Benzema's future...
The shock of the weekend was certainly Real Madrid's failure to score against newly-promoted Sporting Gijon and the Spanish media are already looking for reasons as to why they have not found the back of the net in five of the games played under new boss Rafael Benitez.
If you watched the second half against Sporting Gijon, especially the last 30 minutes, they could have scored four or five. It's one of those freak results because they certainly had enough chances to break the deadlock.
Forget the result. Real should have sealed all three points at Sporting. However, the performance did suggest they have a clear idea of what they have to do. But up front, the freedom given to the front three is not an organised freedom as it should be.
In the first half, there was only one pass from Bale to Ronaldo and not a single pass returned the other way. That's not normal. If you are going to have three forwards combining and moving around each other you should see much more passing between them. In the end, it was about three passes each to each other.
If the three that started against Sporting Gijon are going to play together, it still needs much more work. Even if you throw Karim Benzema into the mix you need an organised attack because freedom doesn't exist in football.
Players need to know what their roles and their responsibilities are. Benitez has to work on that on the training field and he knows it.
‘Barca solid if not spectacular’
It was a solid performance from Barcelona at Athletic Bilbao.
Luis Enrique's side bounced back well from having been beaten 4-0 in the same stadium in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup just over a week earlier.
It was a different team to the one that suffered defeat but they decided to return to the solid Barcelona that we saw in certain parts of last season.
They were not spectacular but that is why Luis Suarez was brought to Barcelona. He was signed last summer to win these type of games when the team are not at the top of their game.
It's also worth mentioning the defence. Enrique was without the suspended Gerard Pique but they were very solid at the back.
Vermaelen was excellent and Sergi Roberto was a great replacement for the injured Dani Alves, but the criticism that the squad is not deep enough could be coming true with new injuries.
Alves could be out for a month at least and Busquets could be missing for a week. But in any case, this Barcelona should be stronger and it isn't. Let's see how they get on before the return of Arda Turan and Alex Vidal.
'La Liga goals will flow'
In the first nine games of the La Liga season only eight goals have been scored. That's a very poor start.
Generally, the standard of football was not great and that explains the lack of goals.
It's not normal by the way. In the last five years, the league that has scored the most goals in that period is the Spanish league.
It looks as if the teams are still very rusty, plus there are a lot of new players at the clubs. This is now a league that can buy players and can keep players. There have been a lot of changes at the clubs, especially in the new teams coming up from the division below.
The league has spent around €500m which takes us back to 2007. This was the last time that amount of money was spent by clubs in La Liga and it suggests two things. Firstly, it suggests we have come out of the crisis already and secondly, teams are spending money.
However, they are doing it while they reduce the debt. It's very calculated money spending.
The league can only become stronger and considering since 2000 Spanish teams have won 23 European titles compared to the 12 combined titles from Germany, England and Italy, it suggests Spanish sides will have more success.
'Benzema staying with Real'
Here's the latest on Karim Benzema's future!
The France international has been spotted in London with Elvis Presley!
You have to laugh! Despite the fact that Arsene Wenger is saying he's not going to sign Benzema and despite the fact Real Madrid have said that there is nothing in the story, people just want to believe he is moving to the Emirates Stadium.
He's not moving to north London. When the transfer window closes people will be very disappointed because Benzema has not joined Arsenal but I think they should start listening a bit more.
Guillem answers your questions…
Can Bilbao really push for the top three? (Brandon J)
GUILLEM SAYS: First of all you should never write Bilbao. It is either Athletic or Athletic Bilbao if you want to sound like you know about Spanish football. They are not built to challenge for the top three anymore but they have come through a period where there were far too many ups and downs. It now looks like they are solid. The squad is strong and even Aritz Adruiz has got a replacement in Inaki Williams. Javier Eraso is another excellent addition from Leganes and Sabin Merino is making an instant impact from the B side. All in all it seems a strong squad and they will be fighting for fourth place with Villarreal, Sevilla and Valencia.
How will Real Sociedad do this season? Will Carlos Vela link up well with new signing Jonathas? (Phil)
GUILLEM SAYS: David Moyes would have liked to have completed a couple more signings by now. It's not happening at the moment. We'll see what happens at the end but Jonathas is a great addition to the squad. Also, the news that Geronimo Rulli is staying is a boost. I still think they are too weak in the middle of the park for the kind of midfield that Moyes wants. They also need a bit more pace up front, let's see if they can sort it out before the transfer deadline.
What's the latest on Neymar's future? Can you see him moving to the Premier League? (Alex)
GUILLEM SAYS: Firstly, Neymar is close to renewing his contract with Barcelona. Secondly, his entourage are using the fact that he hasn't renewed his contract yet to push the idea that he wants to go to Manchester United. I do not believe it at all. I think he will renew his contract and stay at Barcelona.
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