Random Real Madrid musings:
Benzema to go? And why Madrid might not need to buy a true #9 like Falcao/Cavani
Higuain has been phenomenal in the technical forward position for the past few games. He's been making runs down both sides of the field in order to make plays or provide assists after Ronaldo and the other forwards drag defenders to themselves. This is the sort of role that Benzema was great for last season and early this season, but his decline in form in 2013 has clobbered him from providing these abilities for the team.
What do we do? Unless he really starts getting comfortable again, there's a strong chance he'll be sold in the summer. Also, there's been a lot of pressure from the fans for the pursuit of a better #9. And because it's election year, Florentino will be pushed to spend big in the upcoming transfer market. But if we don't win La Decima and Mourinho ends up staying next year, purchasing another striker is useless. Mourinho's tactics and formations just don't complement a true striker.
All 4 of Madrid's main forwards (Ronaldo, Di Maria, Higuain and Benzema) are very good at roaming from left to right. Combined with a strong #10 on the field like Ozil, our forwards always drag defenders and create space, causing havok and making it very hard for the opposition to man-mark and play a structured defense.
This also means that a true striker can't play his position efficiently, as he'll need to switch sides throughout the game and not always look to score.
Another problem is that we can really only field 3 forwards at any one time. In the last game, both Benzema and Higuain were able to play, but that's only because Di Maria is currently injured. What happens when DiMa is fit again? He'll more than likely start, because he's a much better RW than either Higuain or Benzema when he's in form. This leaves either Higuain or Benzema on the bench, and I'm not sure if either would be happy playing off the bench (Higuain nearly left last summer!)
It's true that our main strikers have been shitty at finishing, but I don't think the immediate solution is to go out and buy Falcao for 75M euros or whatever. That's neither a remedy nor an intelligent use of funds. At least not while Mourinho is in charge. IMO, unless one of them wants to leave, we should let Higuain/Benz get integrated under our current system and see where it takes us.
Modric beastin'
Modric has been incredible. Against Mallorca, he's had a 95% pass accuracy with 99 passes played, the most dribbles won among any player on the pitch, and he even scored that incredible goal to boot. He wasn't so great in the match previous to that, against Celta de Vigo, but I think his pairing with Alonso or even Pepe rather than Khedira might be a key factor as to why he's been able to excel in some games and play average in others.