REAL MADRID
Real Madrid have a plan for Güler: but will he play next season?
The Turkish midfielder is surpassed all expectations so far at his new club, and he has been put on a special training regime as a result.
The first thing that Arda Güler did at Real Madrid was cause everyone to realise just how amazing his technical quality is. The second thing he did was make everyone aware that he needed to bulk up.
The Turkish midfielder, at just 18-years-old and four months, is still within the ‘development stage’ of his body, meaning his physicality is more like that of an adolescent than that of an adult. The club were aware of this when they were collecting the information from his medical ahead of signing for the club, and as such, they have a plan in place for Güler.
Güler to be put on muscle mass increase plan
There is a strategy being put in place at the swanky Santiago Bernabéu offices that will see Güler gain muscle without losing his speed and creativity, as well as also increasing his resistance. Last season at Fenerbahçe, his breakout campaign, also served as a barometer for his still developing physical form. Of the 35 games he played during the season, 18 of which as a starter, he only managed to finish five. He played no games in the Europa League.
And it is no coincidence either that between the last week of April and the end of the season was when he managed a full game for the side: Güler was increasing his competitive output little by little across the year and working ever closer to the professional structure in place for the elite adult footballers.
Real Madrid:
Güler is not the first young player to be put on a physical plan
This is different to Vini Jr and Rodrygo, who both stepped into the Madrid training ground at 18 and immediately began with a physical output similar to what they are putting out nowadays. The medical and physical staff can trace a few similar data patterns between Güler and Rodrygo, who was a player that came to Madrid just after turning 18.
Now the club’s number 11, Rodrygo trained on a special program during the pandemic in order to increase muscle mass and and up his acceleration, his strong point at that moment in time. He gained 3kg in weight using this plan that was drawn up between his personal trainer and the club. As for Güler, who will make the trip to the USA with the first team, he will do something similar, given that his ‘armour’ is more similar to that of a developing player than an elite professional.
Ancelotti wants rock & roll football
The new style of football that Ancelotti wants, more vertical and dynamic: more rock & roll (with Camavinga, Valverde, Vini Jr, Rodrygo, Bellingham) than the system employed with Kroos and Modric in the engine room, forces the rest of the pack to be ready physically. Güler will have the advantage at his young age and do as he did in Fenerbahçe, taking small but progressive steps towards maturing without the demands and pressures of being in the starting XI. The adaption that Real Madrid have proposed is a product of Pintus, the physical trainer who is making people like Valverde suffer.
The young Turk has accepted the challenge and that is why he returned from holiday a week early to be one of the first players to arrive at the training ground for the new season. Güler is ready to go.
