Mou's Dilemma

With midweek internationals upon us, this gives managers around the world some much needed breathing space, time to look back and see what needs to change, and how to improve. Jose Mourinho has just one problem to address, the form of Real Madrid away from home.

Mourinho's Madrid have been in impeccable form at the Santiago Bernabeu, not losing a single game at home. In fact, they won every single League at home this season. The same could not be said for their away form however, as they lost 2 and drawn 3 out of 11 games, which allowed Barcelona to gain a 7 point lead as early as February. With important away fixtures coming up in the League along with the Champions League, should Mourinhho change Real Madrid's approach to away games, or stick to his normal tactics.

The Portuguese tactician always opts for a 4-2-3-1 formation, the only formation that allows him to play Ozil in the hole behind the striker. This formation is undoubtedly successful when Madrid play at home, but it has been their weakness against Osasuna and Barcelona in particular, as the two wingers, Di Maria and Ronaldo, rarely track back to help the full-backs, who are exhausted from running up and down the pitch. With Manchester United's formation, Nani and Giggs always help out Evra and Rafael in defense, and the same goes for Tottenham, with Bale and Lennon helping their fullbacks. Mourinho must convince Ronaldo and Di Maria to help the defenders out or their flanks will get humiliatingly exposed, just as Villa and Dani Alves enjoyed doing in their grand victory.

Mourinho can change the tactic altogether and play a 4-5-1, with counter attacking football. This tactic can work as Madrid have speedy players in the form of Ronaldo, Di Maria, and Pedro Leon, with Adebayor playing as the lone striker being fed with the long balls. The problem with this strategy is that if the tactics keep continuing from game to game, the players might get confused at a very dangerous time in the season. This tactic might be used against Barcelona though, just like it was used by Inter during the UCL Semi-Final last year.

Whichever strategy Mourinho uses, he must understand that the fans, along with the board's patience is running very thin, and the only way for him to regain his image is to chase Barcelona down right until the very end.

Jassim