Julen Lopetegui: a brilliant mind that faces plenty of dilemmas
Nobody saw it coming when Cristiano Ronaldo departed the Santiago Bernabeu after nine years to join Italian giants Juventus. Even though Ronaldo gave some hints that he was about to leave his throne in Madrid, the surprise stood in front of supporters and lovers of football when La Vecchia Signora announced Ronaldo’s transfer for a fee of £105m.
After 450 goals scored across nine seasons, Ronaldo left to continue his glorious and self-challenging career in the biggest club in Italy, a club with high expectations not only to win the Serie A, but also the Champions League, after losing it twice in the last five years.
Real Madrid had a decision regarding Ronaldo’s sale. Although the player power can force clubs to sell, the team also hold a strong position, considering Ronaldo was under a contract. However, the decision to let him go highlight an important need for such a successful club in recent history: rebuilding and renovation come for everyone.
A month before Ronaldo left for Italy, Real Madrid lost another key man in Zinedine Zidane, who left his post as manager five days after lifting the Champions League trophy, Zidane’s third consecutive.
In Zidane’s place arrived Julen Lopetegui, who was, at the time of announcement, the manager of the Spain national team. Lopetegui’s announcement as Real Madrid’s manager came less than 48 before Spain’s World Cup debut against Portugal.
The Spanish football association was left angry following the conclusion of Lopetegui’s deal to manage Madrid, stating that the manager didn’t give any details about his plan to leave the national team. As we know, Lopetegui was sacked.
One day after leaving Spain, Lopetegui was presented as Real Madrid’s manager, quoting that his sacking from Spain was the saddest day of his life since the death of his mother, but the day of his presentation as Real Madrid manager was the happiest.
Before taking over the job, Lopetegui knew how difficult this Real Madrid challenge would be. The amount of pressure involving Real Madrid — considering the stature and the recent glories the club has achieved — is immense. Florentino Perez shows that, sometimes, he could be very impatient with managers.
Lopetegui lost his first competitive match against Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup 4–2. However the biggest challenge is yet to come. With Real Madrid making their league debut against Getafe on Sunday, plenty is expected from Lopetegui in his first season. There’s no doubt that he is talented and has all it takes to become successful, but it’ll still be very challenging.
Filling big shoes
Lopetegui has big shoes to fill, and that also mean that he will need to handle the expectations and deliver under immense pressure. During his career, Lopetegui showed that he is ambitious and has the qualities to win things. As the manager of the youth teams of Spain, Lopetegui won the U19 and U21 European Championship.
However, it’s much more than this in Madrid. Firstly, Zinedine Zidane left the club with a win percentage of 69% in all competitions, with a record of 104 wins, 19 draws and 16 defeats in 149 matches, while also winning the Champions League three times and the La Liga in 2016/17.
This will be Lopetegui’s biggest challenge. He will need to adapt quickly and continue the winning legacy that exists at Real Madrid. This is Lopetegui’s biggest job in club management and, to arrive in one of the most prestigious clubs in football, is something of high risk/reward.
While replacing Zidane is a big mission, the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo left a big void in the squad.
It is undeniable the quality Real Madrid has on their ranks. This transfer window so far, the club signed Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea and Alvaro Odriozola from Real Sociedad to add to the world class talent they already have in Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Luca Modric, Sérgio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Marcelo.
But not buying anyone for Ronaldo’s position is a risky option. You can’t blame Lopetegui for this, replacing a player like Ronaldo, with his qualities and level, is maybe one of the biggest challenges in the world. But the modern football world is cruel and this can turn out to be Lopetegui’s ruin. The talks about signing Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Hazard came to nothing and the most likely option is to see Lopetegui working with the players he has.
Lopetegui has options in the squad, with the development of Marco Asensio looking as the most viable right now. Asensio is extremely talented and has the potential to become one of the best in the world, but his style of play differs a lot from Ronaldo.
Another options Lopetegui has are Isco, Lucas Vazquez and newcomer Vinicius Jr, but it’s worth remembering that Ronaldo scored 33% of Real Madrid’s 1378 goals since 2009/10 and is one of the best footballers the world has seen. Not being able to replace him is something Lopetegui can’t be blamed, but ease Ronaldo’s absence is a big, big challenge.
Immediate success
Real Madrid won 15 titles in the last five years, including four Champions League titles and one La Liga. This is a club that has a winning culture engraved in their tradition and in their identity, not just in recent years, but in their history.
Expectations are always high for Real Madrid and despite all their changes, this won’t change anytime soon.
Julen Lopetegui has a difficult task to continue to win trophies while developing the team and club as a whole. However, a lot of the teams around Real Madrid in all competitions they take part are improving.
In La Liga, Barcelona strengthened their position with the acquisitions of Arthur, Arturo Vidal, Clement Lenglet and also Malcom, while Atlético Madrid bolstered their attack considerably with Thomas Lemar and Gelson Martins. Valencia continued their smart recruitment signing Geoffrey Kondogbia permanently and also getting Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea, not forgetting Sevilla, which is a team that can be a difficult opponent to any team.
Last season, with Ronaldo and Zidane, Real Madrid struggled in the league, leaving it easy for Barcelona, nearly winning an unbeaten league title. The task of winning the domestic league was already difficult, but it’s even more challenging now.
In Europe, teams from all around the continent have been improving. Liverpool —last season’s finalist — filled major holes in their squad and look stronger than last year, together with English counterpart Manchester City, a team that continue to improve under Guardiola. PSG have two of the best forward players in the world in Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, and now have Thomas Tuchel to develop and use the talent available. Juventus bolstered their chances in the Champions League with Ronaldo, while Bayern Munich can flourish under Nico Kovac.
The scenario looks a lot more competitive and immediate success is expected from Real Madrid in any circumstance. One thing to keep in mind is that Lopetegui will need time to develop his style of play and coaching methods (we’ll take about this later), patience is needed in this type of situation, even more considering that Real Madrid’s best player just left the club.
Lopetegui can see difficulties while trying to achieve at Real Madrid. With more competitive teams around them, together with a new style of play and manager, patience is this progress is key and maybe, looking back in Madrid’s past, the hunger for immediate success can define Lopetegui’s reign.
Lopetegui’s coaching methods and philosophy
Lastly, Julen Lopetegui is a manager that has a particular philosophy. Before Porto, Lopetegui’s only first team job came with Rayo Vallecano in 2003. After that, the Spaniard managed Real Madrid B, Spain U19, Spain U20 and Spain U21.
A clear philosophy of Lopetegui looking at the teams he managed during his career is that he is an expert on developing talent and integrating them into the first team.
Let’s take a look at some stats. Below is a list of U23 players that made more than 30 appearances in all competitions for Lopetegui’s Porto in the 2014/15 season:
The number between the parenthesis is the age of the player at the start of the season. We took in consideration matches the player started or came on as a substitute.
- Casemiro (22): 41 matches
- Óliver Torres (19): 40 matches
- Bruno Martins Indi (22): 37 matches
- Rúben Neves (17): 37 matches
- Cristian Tello (23): 37 matches
- Juan Quintero (21): 30 matches
As we can see, Lopetegui integrates younger players and use them as an important of the squad. At Porto, as it’s a less expressive league, the use of younger players is more regular, but still, it’s a considerable amount of matches and minutes that Lopetegui utilized young players.
At Real Madrid, younger likes of Alvaro Odriozola, Jesus Vallejo, Vinicius Jr, Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos can really take advantage of Lopetegui’s approach. Lopetegui’s approach in training is to convince the players that the idea and concepts are right rather than trying to impose it. He tends to show and explain why the concept he’s working is beneficial and this is something younger players can learn and help them play a bigger part on the team.
Looking further back, seven of the Spain national team players in the World Cup played under Lopetegui in the European triumphs in 2012 and 2013, while six different U23 players had a contribution in Lopetegui’s time as Spain national team manager.
Another thing to notice is that Lopetegui has a strong relationship with the Real Madrid players. Sergio Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Marco Asensio, Nacho, Isco and Odriozola played under Lopetegui in the national team. This can be something helpful in Lopetegui’s adaptation into La Liga and also when passing his ideas unto the team.
Lopetegui pledges for domination in every area of the game, both attacking and defending. Transition play and pressing without the ball are key attributes of his game. And having youth legs in his teams are vital to make this style of play work.
Developing talent and get them to their highest level, while improving the more experienced players, takes time. This is the biggest reason why Real Madrid should be patient with Lopetegui and don’t look at his performance based entirely on titles, but in the development of talent and the style of football.
Lopetegui has the tools to succeed and flourish at Real Madrid if given the right amount of time and support. While possible, it’s unlikely to see Real Madrid dominating the European scenario as they did recently, considering the process they are currently in. However, Lopetegui is the right man to take the club forward and being a man with the right qualities is key for Real Madrid.
