Rating Real Madrid’s 2022/23 season a failure would be extremely harsh taking into consideration that the team reached the semifinals of the Champions League, won the Copa del Rey title with comebacks against Villarreal and Atlético de Madrid, and demolished Barcelona at the Camp Nou by a 0-4 scoreline. However, the season can’t also be considered a success not because they didn’t win the Champions League or La Liga, but because of the manner they lost both competitions.
In the Champions League semifinal, they were thrashed 4-0 (5-1 on aggregate) by Manchester City where they were completely outplayed and could have lost by much more if not for Courtois coming up with big saves. Meanwhile, not only did they lose La Liga to Barcelona, but it almost seemed as if they gave up on it midseason after the Blaugranas extended their lead at the top by 8 points. Worst of all, they had multiple chances to get back into the title fight and make it challenging for Barcelona, yet they wasted every opportunity they got and Barcelona would win the league by a big margin.
Overall, Real Madrid had a decent campaign, but the club has high standards. Merely “decent” isn’t good enough. Florentino Perez and his board of directors now have some big decisions to make, such as deciding Ancelotti’s future and which players should stay, leave and come in. Already, there are two important players leaving for whom the club will need to find quality replacements.
Marco Asensio: He might’ve been a role player, but his performances and goals coming off the bench were crucial in the team’s success. Click here for a list of possible replacements.
Karim Benzema: Not many saw this coming and it does put the club in a bit of an odd predicament. There are reports that the hierarchy is interested in signing Erling Haaland when his buy-out clause comes into effect, but then what do they do? Not to mention it won’t be easy to replace a player who is a Ballon d’Or winner and one of the best players in the club’s history.
Regardless, there are many lessons that the club’s hierarchy needs to learn from the 2022/23 campaign as they prepare the team for next season.
Two players per position; particularly at striker
While the focus usually gets put on the lack of a reliable backup striker, that’s not the only position that the team is lacking depth in. To begin, Real Madrid also need to bring in a proper right and left back to compete with Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy, and have those positions covered in case of injury. Something which caused the team to suffer during the course of the season for opposite reasons.
Carvajal had yet another poor season with no proper right back to replace him or even threaten his position. Originally, it was thought that Álvaro Odriozola would be that necessary replacement after returning from loan at Fiorentina where he was the team’s starting right back throughout the season. However, Ancelotti thought differently and still played Lucas Vázquez ahead of Odriozola, despite Lucas Vázquez being a reconverted right back.
On the other side, Mendy missed a good portion of the season due to injury and it got to the point that Ancelotti had to take Camavinga out of his normal position and turn him into a left back. While Camavinga did well, a reconverted left back can only do so much, particularly on the big occasions where every little detail matters. It was only a matter of time before some team would exploit his limitations and that was something that Manchester City took full advantage of. The club seems to have taken care of the left back position as Fran García (an academy product who was sold to Rayo Vallecano with a buy-back clause) will be returning, but Real Madrid can’t go another season with only one natural right back and need to desperately bring somebody else in.
The club also needs to consider bringing in another holding midfielder to compete with Aurélien Tchouaméni and have additional cover in that position. While nobody expected Tchouaméni to have such a bad season, there was no other natural holding midfielder to replace him (Casemiro was sold to Manchester United last season) and Ancelotti had to turn to playing Camavinga and even Kroos in the holding midfield position. While they did the best they could, the solution can’t always be taking a player (who is already one of the best in his position) and putting him somewhere that’s not his natural position.
But most importantly, Real Madrid need to sign two RELIABLE strikers; not only as a result of Benzema leaving, but because the team can’t go another season with only one reliable striker. This season, not only was Benzema injury prone (which saw him miss the World Cup with France), but his form significantly dropped and the squad suffered from not having a quality backup.
Reports close to the club have informed that Joselu could be joining from RCD Espanyol on what would be a one-season loan, but that would only solve one part of the equation. Who do they bring in to replace Benzema and are there any elite strikers available that the club can go after? Whatever they decide to do, they can’t begin another season with one reliable forward can’t happen again.
Who are some options that Real Madrid can consider signing in each one of these positions:
- Striker:
- Harry Kane: He’s entering the last year of his contract at Tottenham and his way of playing is very similar to Benzema if the manager decides to play with two up front.
- Dušan Vlahović: He’s a quality player and Juventus’ biggest asset. However, their absence from the Champions League will force the club to get rid of some of their highest earners, but they also won’t be able to get the most for Vlahović after his injury prone season. In that case, it could be in their best interest to loan him for a season and have him return when Juventus is in the Champions League again. Something which could intrigue Real Madrid in bringing him in, particularly if the club is interested signing Erling Haaland when his buy-out clause comes into affect.
- Edin Dzeko: Despite his age, he’s played an important role in helping Inter Milan reach the Champions League final and would sign on a free since he’s out of contract after this season.
- Harry Kane: He’s entering the last year of his contract at Tottenham and his way of playing is very similar to Benzema if the manager decides to play with two up front.
- Right Backs:
- João Cancelo: He might’ve had his issues at Manchester City, but he’s still without question one of the best right backs in the world and can even play as a left back.
- Benjamin Pavard: He’s entering the last year of his contract at Bayern Munich and would provide that necessary quality and depth that the team is desperately seeking.
- João Cancelo: He might’ve had his issues at Manchester City, but he’s still without question one of the best right backs in the world and can even play as a left back.
- Holding Midfielder:
- Joshua Kimmich: He’s one of the best holding midfielders in the world and reports are circulating that he wants to leave Bayern Munich after this season.
- Pierre-Emile Højbjerg: He still has years left on his contract and would be difficult to get him out of Tottenham knowing how their ownership group operates. However, he’s one of the most underrated players in the Premier League and would be the ideal addition to the squad.
- Joshua Kimmich: He’s one of the best holding midfielders in the world and reports are circulating that he wants to leave Bayern Munich after this season.
Goals from the Midfield
If there is only one thing that Real Madrid can take away from their elimination in the Champions League to Manchester City, it’s that the team needs more midfielders that can be a goal-scoring threat.
Manchester City, for example, has arguably the best striker in the world in Erling Haaland, who has been breaking all sorts of records in only his first Premier League season. However, in the Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid, not only did he not score, but he also missed several clear chances; yet Manchester City won 5-1 on aggregate.
Why? Because they have midfield players, such as Kevin De Bruyne, İlkay Gündoğan, and Bernardo Silva, who can score goals and pick up the pieces when Haaland is not in form. Something that’s been pivotal in their league success as they recently claimed their third straight Premier League title.
At Real Madrid this season, Vinícius and Rodrygo increased their amount of goals and Asensio has been able to come up with his share from the bench, which have somewhat covered for Benzema’s bad form. However, when the attack is shut off, the team doesn’t have midfielders who can come up with goals in important moments. In fact, Real Madrid’s only midfielder whose goal tally reached double figures is Valverde, but most of them came before the World Cup when he was arguably the team’s best player.
Is this something that Jude Bellingham, Kai Havertz, or Gabri Veiga can help with? Should they bring back Brahim Díaz (on loan at AC Milan)? What if they go after Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva, who will be entering the last year of his contract?
These are questions that Real Madrid will need to answer as they prepare the team for next season.
Carlo Ancelotti
While Ancelotti will always be considered a Real Madrid legend, the club needs to seriously think about whether the Italian is ideal manager the team needs next season. As previously mentioned, the squad might not have won the Champions League or La Liga, but it’s not the fact they lost both competitions that’s the problem. Real Madrid is always expected to win a title, but if they don’t, then they must at least compete for it. Something they didn’t do in La Liga nor in the Champions League as they were thrashed by Manchester City 5-1 on aggregate.
Going forward, the manager needs to be somebody who can make tough decisions; something Ancelotti isn’t precisely known for doing. The Italian has always been known for relying heavily on veteran players, which has worked wonders for him in the past. However, this season, it severely hurt the team and it almost felt as if it was the veterans (Kroos Benzema, Modric, etc) who had more control over the manager than Ancelotti had on them. In fact, his lineups and even substitutions throughout the season almost seemed as if they were more based on a pecking order rather than current form.
Regardless of injury concerns, Benzema and Modric would play whenever they said they were fit. Ancelotti always took out Nacho instead of Carvajal, even though Carvajal’s form was poor for a good portion of the season. Nacho had even been doing well as a left back, but then Ancelotti took him out to play Camavinga instead. Rudiger had done exceptionally well in marking Erling Haaland in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals but was then replaced by Éder Militão in the second leg after returning from suspension.
Not to mention that the team went into the latter stages of the Champions League without a natural holding midfielder because of Aurélien Tchouaméni’s bad form. Tchouaméni, who had started well, was never the same after the World Cup where he missed a crucial penalty in France’s defeat to Argentina in the final of the tournament. While Tchouaméni does deserve blame on his part for his bad performances, the argument could also be made that Ancelotti didn’t do enough to give the Frenchman the necessary confidence to be mentally ready and in peak conditions for the most important part of the season.
A lot will also depend on what the hierarchy wants to get out of this team. If the club really wants Ancelotti to stay, but also want the youngsters on the team to have a more significant role, then it would probably be best to let some of those veterans leave when their contracts expire after this season. That would make things easier for Ancelotti and allow him to make decisions without worrying about pleasing the veteran players. However, if Real Madrid chose to keep the remaining veteran players on the team, but still want the manager to rely more on youth and bring through more academy players, then Ancelotti is probably not the ideal manager Real Madrid need for next season.
Javier Martinez is a seasoned veteran of football coverage and an expert on Spanish football. He has been covering world football for more than seven years with bylines at outlets such as The 18 and The Real Champs.