What Formation Would Best Suit Real Madrid?

Real Madrid general-director Jorge Valdano has declared that the club's summer transfer signings are over. The Blancos would make no more signings and would now concentrate on trimming their squad and downsizing it to 25 players, implying that a number of players including four or five top notch ones would leave the Bernabeu before the start of the 2009-2010 campaign.

Madrid have made five major signings this summer: Kaka has arrived from AC Milan for just over 67 million euros, Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for 93 million euros, Raul Albiol from Valencia for 15 million euros, Karim Benzema from Lyon for 35 million euros and Xabi Alonso from Liverpool for 34 million euros.

Of course, Real Madrid being Real Madrid and Florentino Perez being Florentino Perez - the creator of the world's most unmanageable but romantic footballing monster, the Galacticos - only one defender has been signed in the summer. Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay too has been drafted in but the 22-year-old was signed from Racing Santander last summer and was loaned out to the Spanish club for the 2008-2009 campaign.

New coach Manuel Pellegrini has an enviable bunch of footballing superstars and potential legends to work with. While on most levels this is indeed something to be happy about, it can be tough for the Chilean to play the players according to their strengths and fit them in the right formation.

Here are a number of possible formations that the new look Real Madrid side could play in next season:

4-4-2: Manuel Pellegrini's favourite system is this rather common 4-4-2. Custodian Iker Casillas would be protected by a flat backfour that would comprise of Sergio Ramos at right back, Raul Albiol and Pepe in central defence and Alvaro Arbeloa or possibly Marcelo at left back. Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso would be the two central midfielders with Lass working as the defensive midfielder-in-chief and shielding the backline while Alonso would be entrusted with the job of holding the midfield line and constructing moves from the middle of the park.

The problem with this 4-4-2 is Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo's positions. Ronaldo functions best in a 4-3-3 formation that Manchester United played and although he would still be able to accommodate himself in a four-man midfield, there are doubts on whether Kaka can pull himself into a left sided midfielder's role. Kaka would naturally be the central attacking midfielder/playmaker for Real Madrid and the Brazilian international functions best when given a free role with liberty to use his vision. Although the 27-year-old can play from the left, there are doubts whether he can assimilate himself properly in this role and give his best.

The front two should be Karim Benzema and initially Raul, although ideally it should be Benzema and Argentine youngster Gonzalo Higuain, who was arguably the best and most consistent player for Madrid last season. In either case, Benzema would be the main targetman with Raul or Higuain playing as the support striker. Raul, though, is better off playing closer to the goal while Higuain, with his pace, talent and especially youth, has more to offer than Raul.

4-2-3-1: Many suggest this formation to be an ideal one for Madrid. A flat backfour with Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso in defensive midfield position would imply that conceding goals becomes difficult. A three-man attacking midfield puts Ronaldo and Arjen Robben on either wing and Kaka plays through the centre.

The problem with this is that there would be too much pressure on Diarra and Alonso to hold the defensive midfield line and with Sergio Ramos willing to throw all caution to the wind and jump in on the attack every other minute, the defence could be horribly exposed. Moreover, neither Ronaldo, Robben nor Kaka are adept in their defensive duties.

This formation would see Karim Benzema enact the role of a lone striker. Of course, Ronaldo, Robben and Kaka all have the ability to find the back of the net but a lone striker implies Higuain spends time on the bench and for the Argentine who dragged Madrid to a near La Liga triumph last season it would be criminal to relegate him to the substitute bench.

4-3-3: Again, the backfour remains the same but there is considerable change in the midfield and the attackline. This time a three-man midfield line-up would engage Diarra, Alonso and Kaka with them shifting their positions during the match. Diarra would be more mobile defensively doing all the tackling and the breaking up of opposition's plays while Alonso and Kaka would be involved with creating moves of their own.

The three-pronged attackline would comprise of Karim Benzema in the centre, Ronaldo on one side and either Robben or Higuain on the other. The 4-3-3 system could be useful to settle in the three Galacticos, Kaka, Ronaldo and Benzema, as they all have played in a 4-3-3 formation.

Also, last season Barcelona’s perfect 4-3-3 was one of the main reasons for the Catalans conquering Spain and Europe. So maybe, Pellegrini might like to take a leaf out of Barcelona's books, although some might call this 'cheating'.