Real Madrid News
Mourinho identifies four Real Madrid players as key to beating AS Roma – report
Real Madrid will be looking to secure all three points as they take on AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow night.
It will be a litmus test for coach Jose Mourinho against one of his former teams, and securing a win could be crucial, given Real Madrid’s recent run of inconsistent performances.
Aware of the pressure, Mourinho now wants most of his players to play to their full potential heading into midweek’s game against Roma.
Four players under pressure
As reported by Defensa Central, Mourinho has identified Roma’s high press as the biggest threat his side will face at the Stadio Olimpico, and has concluded that four men in particular must rise to the occasion to beat it.
Having coached Roma himself not long ago, the Portuguese knows exactly how dangerous their pressing can be, and he is acutely aware that playing out from the back is where Real Madrid have looked most vulnerable this season.
The first name on his list is Thibaut Courtois. Mourinho wants the Belgian to act as Madrid’s first playmaker, using his footwork and distribution to pick the right option whenever the team recycles possession back to him.
Alongside him, Dean Huijsen is expected to be pivotal. The centre-back’s ability to break lines with vertical passes, allied to his composure on the ball, could prove invaluable in bypassing Roma’s initial wave of pressure.
Beating the press from deep
The other two men entrusted with the task operate slightly higher up the pitch.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s range of passing, his knack for switching play and finding teammates between the lines, makes him a natural outlet down the right.
Even if Mourinho opts for Denzel Dumfries from the start, the Englishman’s quality later in the game could still prove decisive.
Completing the quartet is Aurelien Tchouameni, whose job will be to link defence and midfield. His physicality allows him to shield the ball under pressure, while a single incisive pass through the first line could release Bellingham or Arda Guler into promising areas.
The message from Mourinho is clear. The forwards will carry the individual quality, but the foundation for a result in Rome must be laid in Madrid’s own penalty area.
Real Madrid’s adventure so far under new coach Jose Mourinho has been far from perfect and this fact shouldn’t be lost even after the team’s brilliant comeback win over AS Roma in midweek.
However, there are areas where Los Blancos have shown a clear improvement under Mourinho, when compared to previous bosses such as Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa.
One of those areas has been set plays, with Real Madrid appearing far more potent from set pieces this season.
A clear improvement from last season
As reported by Diario AS, the three goals in Rome, all from Arda Guler corners inside a seven-minute blitz, were the perfect advert for the work being done at Valdebebas.
Those strikes took Real Madrid’s set-piece tally to seven goals in just ten matches this season. Four of them have come in La Liga, one from a corner and three from free kicks, with the trio in Rome completing the haul.
It is a striking figure when set against last season’s return. Under Alonso and Arbeloa, Madrid managed 12 set-piece goals across the entire campaign, all in La Liga, split evenly between six from corners and six from free kicks.
On current trends, this side looks well placed to surpass that number comfortably.
The reason behind Real Madrid’s improvement
Attacking set pieces are led at Valdebebas by Pedro Machado, with the whole coaching staff involved and Mourinho himself giving the final green light on every routine.
Defending them, meanwhile, falls to Sami Khedira, though it is treated as a collective effort. Mourinho’s appreciation of that teamwork was clear when Bellingham headed in a Guler free kick against Espanyol, prompting the manager to leap up and embrace his assistants.
Machado, one of Mourinho’s most trusted lieutenants, has followed him from Fenerbahce to Benfica and now Madrid, part of a backroom team blending experience with young, ambitious talent.
On the pitch, Guler is the undisputed master when available, his left foot the key weapon, with Bernardo Silva, Trent Alexander-Arnold and even Diomande also trusted to initiate attacks.
Such meticulous strategy has helped Real Madrid turn into a potent side from set-pieces this season.
