Arda Güler will be the conductor of Real Madrid, and the Turkish player has taken his new role in the team very seriously, because he is aware of the great opportunity that is presenting itself at this point in his career. However, his role in the team continues to raise questions, and it remains to be seen whether his performance will be good enough to keep him in his new position.
Arda Güler and the big challenge
There is no doubt that Güler is approaching this new role at Real Madrid with motivation, enthusiasm, and conviction that he can do well. In the final stretch of La Liga and in the Club World Cup, he experienced what it means to be a midfielder for Real Madrid, the responsibility that comes with it, and he passed the test with flying colors.
The player’s quality is beyond question, his commitment is unquestionable, and as Toni Kroos said a few months ago in an interview, he is a player who is willing to listen and willing to learn, things that are not common in today’s football and with young people. His attitude couldn’t be better, but it takes much more than attitude and quality to take on the role of Real Madrid’s conductor.
The doubts surrounding Güler
It is normal for Arda Güler to raise doubts in midfield, because it is one of the most complicated positions in football today. It is not the same to command as it is to execute, and Güler has been an executor since he started playing, but his new role now requires, above all, a cool head.
The doubts lie in his adaptation, because although he had some great performances when he was a stopgap, the seams didn’t hold in the last game against PSG, a top team (the current European champions). The club, and a large part of the Madrid fanbase, believe that he is a valid player for day-to-day games against domestic rivals that the club should be able to beat. But against big-name opponents, when the midfield is crucial in tipping the balance one way or the other, doubts grow. Because this position requires finding solutions, and to find solutions, you first have to be able to understand everything that is going on around you, a job that midfielders have absorbed and learned from a young age and is not easy to internalize if you have not lived with it since you were young, and even less so in a few months.
Reinforcement in midfield
That is why there are still doubts at Real Madrid about the current squad and the lack of a specialist. If Rodrygo finally leaves the club in this transfer window, it would free up a place in the squad that the club would look to fill with an established midfielder, but this would be too high an investment for a club that is not used to spending as much as it has in recent years.
In the meantime, they are clinging to the quality of Güler and the football cliché that great players can play anywhere. And with this cliché, some are looking for similarities, as happened in Italy with Pirlo, an attacking midfielder who ended up being one of the best playmakers in the history of football. These are big words, but even though there are doubts about Güler, they are still betting that he will be one of the great talents of the next decade.
The trick begins his third year at Real Madrid with a new role, a new opportunity, and perhaps his last chance to prove his great quality.