Tchouameni, Camavinga... and Ceballos
Despite Real Madrid returning from Almeria with three points, the joy was tinged with minor concern relating to a number of sub-standard performances. Rüdiger was at fault for the Almeria goal, although later he made amends and played decently. Both Tchouameni, like Camavinga, had indifferent games and eventually both players were substituted with Modric and then Casemiro entering the fray. As the balance of the match tilted towards the visiting side, it did so came with the Modric-Casemiro-Kroos axis at the heart of the midfield. As things stand, the often talked about central overhaul does not seem to be just around the corner.
Rocky starts
Tchouameni and Camavinga are good players, as is Antonio Rüdiger, but player transplants don’t always work out well. There is always room for doubt and the midfield is a particularly tricky area of the pitch to start experiments. There are players who marshall the central zone such as Casemiro, or there are those who look to create and offer the distribution to the forwards such as Modric or Kroos. The central players have less time to adapt to a game and need to hit the ground running. Going into an established midfield is a far from easy task and even less so in such a big club. Tchouameni and Camavinga will have to earn their spurs and move into the hierarchy at the club through hard work, solid training and attitude.
The Ceballos option
Personally, I see Dani Ceballos (who missed a large portion of last season due to that injury at the Olympic Games), as a better alternative. Here is a player who is not afraid to take risks and is daring. If he doesn’t get the ball, then he goes and looks for it and is then decisive and resolutive. Ancelotti said last season that he was being unfair to the player from Seville, so I guess we may get to see more and more of him this season. Along with monitoring Tchouameni and Camavinga’s development, there is also Asensio to keep an eye on. A player not in a dissimilar position to Ceballos (contract expiration a year away and also toying with the option of finding another team with a guaranteed playing time with the Qatar World Cup looming) but his reaction to being sidelined has seen the player reacted in a very different manner, with a lack of drive and initiative.