Real Madrid News
Jose Mourinho pushing players physically in training with two sessions a day
Real Madrid’s physical fitness has been a matter of serious concern in recent times and has not shown any signs of improvement despite changing managers.
At the time when Los Blancos got knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Arsenal two seasons ago, there was a shocking metric that came to light which highlighted that Real Madrid ran a staggering 12.7km less than the Premier League side.
That aspect of their game did not improve last season either as they were constantly outrun by opponents and even conceded several goals in the dying minutes of games owing to physical fatigue.
Needless to say, Jose Mourinho has always been a disciplinarian on the fitness front and has taken it personally to improve the team’s output.
Intensity in training
As reported by Diario AS in a recent report, the new Real Madrid manager is pushing players very hard in training and showing no signs of mercy.
The physical aspect of the team’s preparation is being focused on endlessly, and it is clear that the manager prioritises his players being fit to put in ruthless shifts.
Real Madrid’s first team squad is currently undergoing two training sessions per day as opposed to one that they used to train in recent seasons. Even the most heard phrase during training is ‘lots of intensity.’
A short pre-season for the internationals
While Mourinho is indeed doing everything in his capacity to improve the squad’s fitness ahead of the new season, the fact of the matter remains that he has had hardly any time to work with the internationals who participated in the World Cup.
With some key stars returning just days ago, the manager will have less than a week with them before the first game of the new season, and it is close to impossible to see any physical improvement in such a short span.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. are the ones who received the most slack last season for not helping the team defensively. It remains to be seen if the manager pushed them to track back as well or delegates the responsibility to other players.
In any case, improving on the physical front is a marathon and not a sprint, and it will take a couple of months to see any tangible improvement on that front.
Kylian Mbappe’s blistering start to the season has already hit its first bump, with the Real Madrid forward’s missed penalty against Real Betis exposing an area of his game that has historically been less reliable.
Mbappe had given Madrid fans plenty of reasons for optimism in the opening weeks.
He scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad before finding the net again against Malaga, making it four goals across his first three matches of the season.
The performance against Betis, though, was a different story.
Mbappe struggled to make the same impact and then missed an injury-time penalty, with Alvaro Valles making the save as Madrid eventually suffered a 0-1 defeat.
Mbappe’s penalty numbers make uncomfortable reading
Mbappe’s latest miss adds to a record that is far from elite when compared with some of Real Madrid’s previous specialists.
Including the Betis penalty, Mbappe has now missed 16 of the 81 penalties he has taken during his career, excluding shoot-outs. That represents a failure rate of 19.7%.
His numbers with Real Madrid are even less convincing, having converted 19 of 24 penalties for the club, meaning his miss rate stands at 20.8%, effectively one missed penalty in every five attempts.
Mbappe’s record compared with Madrid legends
The comparison with Real Madrid’s previous penalty takers provides better context.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed only 13 of his 92 penalties, giving him a miss rate of 14.1%. Sergio Ramos was considerably more dependable, missing just one of his 23 attempts, which is a rate of 4.3%.
All three sets of figures exclude penalty shoot-outs, making the comparison more relevant to normal match situations.
Mbappe therefore has work to do if he is to reach the level of reliability expected from a team’s primary penalty taker.
Sure, his overall goalscoring numbers remain outstanding, but penalties are an important part of that production.
Mourinho should keep faith with Mbappe
Meanwhile, there is little reason for Jose Mourinho or the Real Madrid dressing room to lose confidence in Mbappe because of one miss on matchday four.
His opening performances, particularly the hat-trick against Real Sociedad, provide ample evidence of his quality, and the greater concern may be psychological rather than tactical.
Mbappe’s confidence from the spot will be worth watching, especially because of what he is chasing this season.
The Ballon d’Or, Pichichi and Golden Boot are all among his ambitions, and penalties offer a valuable route towards the goals required for those prizes.
