Real Madrid's most worrying stat that fans hoped would change under Jose Mourinho
Real Madrid are already six points behind Barcelona in La Liga this season, and in the few games they have had under Jose Mourinho, the team simply has not looked good enough consistently.
There have been some games where the performance was good for one half and bad in another, and some where Real Madrid lacked absolutely everything on both ends of the pitch, in both halves.
Because of that, fans have been worried about the team and how they are playing, and whether they can actually challenge for trophies once again. The answer is difficult, because it has a lot to do with whether Mourinho makes the sort of changes he was brought in to make in the first place.
Real Madrid fans were hoping that, because Mourinho is such a big personality, and he is coming back to the club at a desperation point, things will change.
Real Madrid do not run enough - even under Jose Mourinho
It has only been a couple of months, and expecting these results in a short span of time is not right. However, it is worth noting that minor improvements are still expected in a short time at a club like Real Madrid.
In the most concerning statistic that you can possibly have about your favourite team, it was revealed that Real Madrid are still the club which runs the least and presses the least in the entire top division of Spain, according to La Liga TV.
In fact, in terms of running in Europe’s top five leagues, Real Madrid are at the very bottom of distance covered in a game, according to the Madrid Zone.
That is abhorrent. That is something you just do not expect from a team that has not done it for two years, and has also failed for two years.
Real Madrid have never been the leaders of such statistics in the past – they have always been a low-tier team in terms of running and pressing. Even in Zinedine Zidane’s three-peat team, Real Madrid used to rank pretty low in these statistics.
But at the time, they had world-beaters like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, and so many more who would turn it up a notch every single time they saw their team struggle.
Can the same be said about this Real Madrid? If they cannot decide games individually, they also cannot control games even if their lives depended on it, and they cannot outscore their opponents at will – all of which was happening in that era – why would they stay the same when it comes to the negatives of that team?
Also, keep in mind that despite Real Madrid not being a traditionally hard-working running team, they were always able to do so when they needed it. In so many games under Zidane, when the team knew they had to forego possession and get dirty, they did. That is something this Real Madrid team cannot do, and the hopes are that Mourinho is able to change that – but will he be able to?
