Lucas Vazquez’s dip in form a big issue for Real Madrid

Real Madrid winger Lucas Vazquez isn’t providing the kind of spark he had during the last two seasons. Vazquez is still getting plenty of minutes and he’s usually one of Zidane’s first players off the bench because of his work rate and his playmaking through the wing, although lately he’s become way too predictable and other players could be more useful whenever Real Madrid try to shake things up.

It’s true that Madrid’s lack of ideas upfront is not helping Vazquez. The team is barely creating chances through the center of the field and that means that the winger never finds the ball without a defender close to him. When that happens, he’s expected to dribble past the opposition and cross the ball, but that’s not an effective offensive system for the team considering that they have quality midfielders like Kroos, Modric or Isco capable of creating more than enough chances without having to cross the ball time and time again.

Again, the team’s habit of crossing the ball so many times is actually hurting Vazquez’s game because that’s precisely what he’s there for.

If other teams know what’s coming and Vazquez can’t provide a different kind of answer, both the player and the team become too predictable and easy to defend, meaning that other players like mainly Dani Ceballos could be much more useful off the bench whenever Real Madrid need to find the back of the net.

Los Blancos need to play better and create chances through the center of the park when they have the ball if they want Lucas’ crosses to become the dangerous weapon they once were.