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Monday, December 26, 2011

Gotze's La Liga Dream - The Consequences

Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Mario Gotze has recently stated that his dream is to play for either of the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid or Barcelona. The 19-year-old attacking midfielder has been in scintillating form for Die Borussen over the last year, amassing 12 goals and 19 assists in 51 games. He was fairly influential in Dortmund's victorious Bundesliga campaign last season. Captain and pivotal figure Nuri Sahin left the German club this summer to join Real Madrid, leading many people to doubt Dortmund's ability to threaten for the league in Sahin's absence. But, the diminutive Gotze has only upped his game and been ever so influential in Dortmund's challenge this Hinrunde.




Whether young Mario wants to follow in Sahin's footsteps, or the thought of playing for one of the most successful clubs in the world is his main influence, Gotze's move to Spain seems fairly imminent. He surely won't make the move this January, but talks may start in June. Assuming Gotze does move this summer, here is a look at where he'd probably fit at the two clubs.

REAL MADRID

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho will almost surely look to incorporate Gotze in his current 4-2-3-1 formation. Gotze could well replace fellow German Mesut Ozil in that four man attacking unit, given all this talk of Ozil moving to Liverpool. This would see Gotze move into a completely central role, very different from his role as a wing forward at Dortmund. Given his ability to beat defenders and play killer passes, Gotze should have no difficulty in making the change.

Mourinho's other plausible option would be to play Gotze alongside Ozil in the center of attack and move from his current 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-4-1. The only thing I see in this transition is Madrid scoring a lot more goals. Barring Barcelona and a couple of other big names in Europe, Madrid will be able to destroy a majority of the teams with great, ease even with this over abundance of attack minded players on the field.



Gotze plays alongside Ozil in a four man attacking midfield
Gotze plays the exact same role as Ozil





















Either way, goals galore


In all honesty, the most realistic option for Mourinho is to use Gotze primarily as a substitute. He could double as a substitute for either Ozil or Di Maria, making him a top class utility player. Gotze is light-years ahead of the players currently on Madrid's bench, Esteban Granero, Jose Callejon and a completely unfit Kaka. If this transfer is actually pulled off in the near future, I see a bright future for Gotze.


BARCELONA

Tiki-taka should not pose any problem for Mario. The real question is, do Barcelona need Mario Gotze? And the answer is a huge yes! There is talk of David Villa leaving the Catalan giants this summer. If this does happen, a spot will open up on the left side of attack. Gotze rarely ever plays on the left, but some shuffling by Pep Guardiola and we could see Gotze fit in fine at Barcelona.

The position that Gotze will fit into best, is on the right flank in that three man attack that Pep deploys. This will see Sanchez being pushed onto the left, Fabregas into the three man midfield, and Xavi onto the bench for most games. I see nothing wrong with this at all. Gotze becoming another Afellay? Almost impossible. GOTZE IS MUCH BETTER THAN AFELLAY!

Gotze's assist and goal count to double if this does work out


There is one small problem though. Shouldn't Gotze show more loyalty towards his home club? Dortmund are on the rise and he is currently an integral part of the team. His move out of Germany could spell doom for BVB. Gotze needs to sit down and have a deep talk with his conscience. Help Dortmund back to their glory days or make the convenient switch to Spain? A really hard task for a nineteen year old.




3 comments:

  1. Sweet article ! Nice research done behind it
    -Arka

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  2. Too bad this article is a waste of time, since he won't leave in 2012, Summer 2013 though... but who knows how those two teams look by then.

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  3. Wrote it before all the news about him staying till 2013 was out. I don't see Barcelona changing very much over a year. Sanchez has done fine and Villa could be on his way out, both of which I have accounted for. Even at Madrid, there can't be any transfer leading to a drastic change in their system. So, Gotze fits into both systems.

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