The Real Madrid season has been disastrous and, in the middle of so many mistakes and so much criticism, it is important to understand what is missing, what is needed and what the real solutions are. The first thing: talent is not missing. That has never been the problem.
In the next summer transfer window, after the World Cup, Real Madrid have to go into the market for defenders. That is basic. Beyond that, heads have to roll. Players have to leave, because Madrid cannot afford to go into a third season without trophies. The situation is already ugly, the hole is already deep and it can always get worse. Always. If heads are going to roll, then big names will have to leave.
There is that debate between Vini Jr and Mbappé, and I even agree with it: one of them should leave, because neither wants to take a step back, neither wants to be Robin. But being realistic, Florentino Pérez does not have the ball to make that decision. Simple.
It feels like the club has gone soft. In the past, at Real Madrid, nobody had a guaranteed place. Players were criticised regardless of their past and that was part of the club’s DNA. Now everything is lighter, more protected, more “poor thing”. And that is also Florentino’s fault, because he is already more past than present, but he will still stay.
In a squad full of talent, there is no leader. And why is there no leader? Because the club kept removing, one by one, the older players because of that obsession with avoiding age. And with that, leadership disappeared. Figures like Modrić, Sergio Ramos… players who commanded respect.
And the most ironic thing is that Modrić still was, and still is, at a high level and could help these younger players even more as a leader, but Real Madrid preferred to let that go.
At this moment, the leader has to be Thibaut Courtois. What happened in El Clásico was embarrassing and the only player who comes out of it with credit is Courtois. It does not matter the match, the opponent or the situation: he always shows up. He always saves them. He is constantly the best player in a defensively weak Madrid side.
Enough with this idea that “the captain is the one who has been at the club the longest”. A captain has to be someone who knows how to be a captain. You can see it. It is not about years at the club.
Conclusion
In the middle of all this, there are possible solutions. Courtois has to become the leader of Real Madrid. A captain the players respect, someone who brings intensity and delivers on the pitch, often being the standout player in a defensively fragile team.
I am not saying half the squad should be sold, but big names are going to have to leave. And that will be difficult, because very few players want to leave Real Madrid: they know that leaving the club is, almost always, a step backwards.
But it has to happen. And if nobody more experienced arrives, someone with leadership, then the captain has to be Courtois.