Real Madrid's Identity Crisis: A Deeper Concern
Real Madrid’s early-season wobble has not just raised eyebrows in Spain; it has triggered something closer to an identity crisis at the Bernabéu.
Seven games into the league campaign, Real Madrid sit fourth in La Liga with 15 points. Respectable on paper. Far less convincing on the pitch. The 2-1 derby defeat to Atletico has ripped the lid off doubts that, according to one former player, have been festering for years rather than weeks.
The same problems for two and a half years
Alvaro Benito, once a Real Madrid player and now a blunt, respected voice in Spanish football, did not bother with diplomacy when he spoke to Cadena SER, as quoted by Sport.
“Here the thinking needs to be much deeper,” he warned. “If you have been seeing the same problems on the pitch for two and a half years, then the nature of these problems is exactly the same.”
Different coaches, same issues. That, for Benito, is the heart of the crisis.
“We do not see any change with the coaches, despite the different nature of each of them. So the problem is much deeper. Isn't it? That is what I am saying.”
The message is clear: this is no short-term blip or tactical misstep. This is structural.
Wins that convince no one
Real Madrid still pick up results. They still win games like the recent one against Elche. But Benito insists the scoreboard is hiding the reality.
“The problems have persisted for two and a half years, and nothing has been solved. You can win. For example, you won the last match against Elche, but the impression the team leaves at a collective level is that the same problems keep recurring.”
The concern is not a single bad night at the Metropolitano. It is the predictability of it.
“We could all have expected that, barring something exceptional, when you come to the Metropolitano stadium you would see what we in fact saw. You could have won or lost, but I am not talking about losing or winning, because the road that leads to the result can take different paths.”
The result, for Benito, is almost secondary. What matters is what Real Madrid are trying to be. And right now, he does not like the answer.
He even pointed to a key refereeing moment that might have flipped the narrative on the night without changing the underlying story.
“If Cuti Romero had been sent off in the first half, then you might even have been able to win the match. I am talking about the collective impression, about the idea of play, what you offer, and which players you will put in the starting line-up in most matches.”
The implication: even with a numerical advantage, even with a possible win, the same doubts would linger.
Mourinho’s missing identity
At the centre of Benito’s criticism stands Jose Mourinho. Not the legend of his past, but the current version on the Real Madrid bench, who, in Benito’s eyes, has drifted away from the very principles that made him elite.
Benito laid out exactly what he believes is missing.
“Mourinho historically relies on a very strong medium defensive block, a team with compact lines, ferocious pressing, winning the ball back and then attacking directly and quickly. Excellent. This style would be ideal for Real Madrid, given the characteristics of the players they have, but the problem is that we do not see it.”
That is the crux of the unease. Real Madrid appear caught between ideas, with a squad seemingly built for a ruthless, direct, counter-attacking machine, yet playing without that clear, sharp edge.
For a club driven by a grand project under Florentino Perez, the question now is not just how many points they have after seven rounds. It is how long they can live with a team that, in the eyes of one of their own, has been wrestling with the same ghosts for two and a half years.
