Real Madrid : Squad Analysis

I'll go on record saying Real Madrid's best signing will be Jose Mourinho. The Special One brings the perfect stability to a Real Madrid side that has had it's lack of unity and direction exposed whenever faced with World class opposition. Despite this, Madrid have arguably the strongest squad in football and Mourinho could be the ideal candidate to bring the egos together.

Goalkeeper

This is perhaps the one position of the pitch for which there is only one cadidate. Captain Iker Casillas has had the gloves for almost ten years at the Bernebau and despite insisting he is "not a galactico", the 29-year-old is widely considered the best in the business. Jerzy Dudek will likely remain the back-up with few other alternatives on the books.

Defenders

Much in the same way Casillas is the undisputed Real Madrid goalkeeper, Sergio Ramos is the right-back. Competition comes from Alvaro Arbeloa meaning Ramos has nothing to worry about. Raul Albiol is another sure starter after his £11m move last summer. There are a few candidates for the other central spot with the aforementioned Arbeloa as well as Ezequiel Garay in the running. My vote however would go to Pepe. The Portugese missed the bulk of last season with a ruptured cruciate ligament but did play a part in the recent World Cup. The left-back spot seems to belong to Marcelo - again there is not much in the way of competition. This is a problem Mourinho wants to address however, telling Portuguese newspaper Record, "I think the club can still give me a defender but it's difficult to find quality players and youngsters with a lot of potential."

Midfielders

This is the point where we need to figure out what formation Mourinho will employ at Madrid. According to reports, the base formation will be a 4-3-3 with a 4-2-3-1 employed in European fixtures. If this is true, Madrid will be going man-for-man with Barcelona in a bid to regain the La Liga title. A 3-man-midfield would likely contain Mourinho's own signing Sami Khedira. Another name you cannot really leave out if you are trying to win a title is Xabi Alonso. So with one defensive man and one ball player, the midfield is just lacking one creative spark. Madrid have a decent one in Kaka. He would likely be in the middle of the 3 with Khedira and Alonso either side of him. The Brazilian is however facing the first two months of the season out with a knee injury leaving a temporary spot open. Any one of Higuain, Benzema, van der Vaart or even Ronaldo could play useful hands in this role but the most likely pick is 19-year-old Sergio Canales. Real Madrid were keen on the youngster, securing his signature in February through fear of rival bidders. He was key to Racing Santander's survival last season and his touch, creativity and vision is sure to make him a hit next season. Madrid's midfield looks very well balanced though there may be a few guys fearing for their futures and looking for the exits. In Granero and Canales, Real have two seriously gifted footballers for the future and will almost certainly look to hold onto the two - possibly even involving them in first team duties. The Kaka injury may persuade van der Vaart to stay and fight for a place. Fernando Gago is apparently unfazed by the competition for places saying, "I do not care if there is talk of signing players in the same position as me. That is not my problem - I am here to work and play and I will not change the way I go about things." Lassana Diarra has been linked with debt-collector-dodging Manchester United while Mahamadou Diarra apparently also wants to stay and fight, depite links reporting him with a move to Milan, saying, “The decision is with the club but I would like to play more matches than last season.”

Strikers

Royston Drenthe and Pedro Leon will have their eyes on the left wing spot but it is almost certain to go to the emperor's new clother Angel di Maria. Mourinho was very clean to bring the Argentine to Spain and the fans will be waiting anxiously to see what he can do. The right wing spot. Any guesses? It will, of course, go to Real Madrid's number 7. Not Raul. Cristiano Ronaldo. The winker has shown himself to be more than capable of playing up-front but Mourinho has expressed his preference to sign a new man to lead the line allowing Ronaldo to do his damage between the boxes. "I prefer for him to have more freedom, to feel comfortable. He has too much talent to be limited to that position(up-front). That's why I would like to have someone else, let's see if it's possible." The new man (if there is one) would have to compete with Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema for a place - and I'm expecting the former to get the nod. Higuain has taken himself to the next level in the last couple of years, scoring 22 times in 34 La Liga games in the 2008/2009 season and 27 times in 32 La Liga games last season.

I worry for Madrid that there is simply too much that can go wrong in every game. Marcelo may be exposed defensively, the 3-man-midfield could fall flat if "the third man" has a quiet game, di Maria may not make the transition to the highest level of football or Barcelona may simply never drop any points. If anyone can make it work it's surely Jose Mourinho though I expect him to add a centre-back and an out and out target man striker as well as offloading a central midfielder or two.

Real Madrid (4-3-3) : Casillas, Ramos, Albiol, Pepe, Marcelo, Khedira, Kaka, Alonso, Ronaldo, di Maria, Higuain

What do you think is Real Madrid's strongest eleven?