Spanish Inquisition: Shedding The Crutch Of Cristiano Ronaldo

International breaks during the course of the season are unfailingly difficult to manage for many football clubs but especially so for Europe’s top sides as, in some cases, so many players have obligations to their respective countries, that only a handful remain available for training.

As if the inconvenience of losing half a squad to World Cup Qualifiers was difficult enough for club coaches to adequately prepare for the upcoming matches, the managers are additionally faced with the harrowing possibility of losing players to injury as they compete in matches that constitute the highest level of football.

You scream, I scream, we all scream

Yes, in losing Cristiano Madrid must now go without, arguably, their most dangerous weapon on the pitch. However, by the same token, with Manuel Pellegrini and his players unable to rely upon Ronaldo’s blazing speed down the flank and blistering shots both from the run of play and free kicks, the onus now falls on Los Blancos to exhibit beautiful football as a team.

The truth is that Cristiano’s injury forces Madrid to break their dependence on the Portuguese for invention in the upper third of the field and the extra attention he garners from opposing defenses - it is not news that CR9’s presence on the turf changes everything about how teams play the 'Men in White' as evidenced by the match against Sevilla when Manolo Jimenez overloaded Marcelo’s left flank with both Jesus Navas and Adriano.

For the next month, Madrid will endure a trial by fire of sorts in an effort to develop a more complete style of football to supersede their opponents. Pellegrini may even decide to get creative in his starting line-ups, possibly employing Drenthe on the left flank to add a winger’s presence, pairing Lassana and Mahamadou Diarra as a double pivot in the center to add more defensive might in light of the offensive shortcoming, or giving Esteban Granero a more concrete role in midfield to keep the ball flowing more freely through the center of the pitch rather than attacking from a flank.

Furthermore, with Cristiano out, Kaka and (especially) Karim Benzema may become encouraged to shoulder more responsibility in making up for the loss in attack. In the case of the Frenchman, such a role could be the boost of confidence the striker needs to fill his boots up front and become a dominant goalscoring force for Los Merengues.

It's up to you now, amigo!

When teams have an exceptionally talented weapon such as Ronaldo, it is only natural that they will use that player as often as possible in order to give opponents grief. But this strategy also has a significant drawback as teams can then learn to function only through that player’s individual skills rather than achieving balance and attacking as a cohesive unit.

However, it must be emphasized that none of this is to say that Madrid have been overly reliant on CR9’s performances. After all, they have managed to score a number of their goals through an impressive build-up and crisp passing. But where Madrid have scored four or five goals in a match this season, they have done so with a large portion of credit due to the mercurial winger’s threatening presence on the pitch or goalscoring prowess.

With his forced absence, comes a fortuitous obstacle in that Real Madrid have the opportunity to use the relatively innocuous months of October and November to gel more effectively as a team so that when the winter months roll around and the Champions League begins to heat up, they are able to offer a brand of Bernabeu football that is further complemented by Ronaldo’s dazzling abilities rather than one that is subservient to them.

Should Los Blancos manage to achieve favorable results and beautiful play in overcoming this challenge, they will be a much better squad as a whole for it.

Cyrus C. Malek, Goal.com

For more on Spain click ahead to Goal.com's Spain homepage