Do Real make players worse? Former professional tears into Madrid after derby defeat against Atletico
At Real Madrid, the mood has hit rock bottom after the derby defeat against Atletico. A former Los Blancos professional delivers a ruthless verdict on the performance of Jose Mourinho's team.
Speaking to Movistar, Miguel Torres, who wore the Blancos shirt between 2005 and 2009, said Real lack any structure in their play. As a result, some players who had produced strong performances at other clubs have barely been able to fulfil their potential.
"Madrid lack structure. (Marc) Cucurella looks like a different player, he even looks like a bad player, but only because there is no structure. There are no patterns of play whatsoever," Torres fumed.
Cucurella only became world champion with the Spanish national team in the USA, Canada and Mexico in the summer and even made the team of the tournament. He then moved from Chelsea to Real for €55 million, but he is still struggling to get going in Madrid. The 28-year-old has yet to register a goal involvement in eight competitive matches and has also looked extremely shaky defensively.
Last weekend, for example, during the turbulent 2-1 defeat to city rivals Atletico, Cucurella did not cover himself in glory for Jonathan David's second goal, failing to make a decisive intervention when Giuliano Simeone delivered the cross.
How has the season started for Real Madrid?
Given the massive investment in the summer, with Real spending more than €300 million on new players in total, Torres had expected more. He had clearly seen Los Blancos as favourites ahead of Barcelona, but the reality now looks very different.
"People watched with a smirk what Barca were doing: €80 million for Gordon - who even is that? Adeyemi, just another striker. They are paying Rodri a lot of money even though he was not in peak physical condition. If Rodri were playing for Madrid, numerous weaknesses would also become visible in his case," said Torres.
By contrast, Hansi Flick's Barcelona have a clear playing identity. "The weeks go by, and no matter who Barca sign or whether they do not sign a striker at all - everything is running smoothly for them because they have a good structure," Torres explained. "I stress once again: there is no structure at Real Madrid, and that makes it very difficult for a project to succeed, even if you have good footballers."
In the LaLiga table, Real Madrid have slipped to fourth after suffering two defeats in seven matches. Leaders Barca are already six points clear, while Atletico are also one point ahead of Los Blancos.
