A possible Real Madrid starting XI in ten years
Before 10 years, Real Madrid’s main starting XI comprised Iker Casillas, Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Now, only of them is still a starter at the club, and Marcelo is the captain but a second-choice player.
As you can observe, a lot of things can change in 10 years. Benzema, who had tough competition from Higuain in 2012, might go through a bad phase and then rise to be one of the best footballers and Real Madrid’s main player. A player like Cristiano Ronaldo, who looks like a player destined to retire at Real Madrid, might leave the club after achieving everything here. A player like Luka Modric who was signed in 2012 and was labeled as the worst signing of LaLiga can grow up to be the world’s best midfielder and be a starter for Real Madrid at the age of 36.
It’s crazy to think about how much can change in 10 years. But let’s just try our luck at predicting Real Madrid’s starting XI, 10 years from now. It would be fun.
Before we get started, let me just warn you guys of my optimism in the case of Real Madrid. Because some of my pics might make you guys think of me as a guy who lives in an ideal world.
Manager – Xabi Alonso
Carlo Ancelotti is in his sixties already, and he won’t be around here for a long time. And given that 10 years is a long time, we might get to see Zinedine Zidane come back and rescue Real Madrid once again in his career. Even the current Castilla manager, Raul might get a chance in these 10 years. But I believe that Real Madrid’s manager after 10 years can be a club legend like Xabi Alonso, who’s also one of my favourite midfielders ever.
In 2018, he completed UEFA’s elite coaching course and then joined Real Madrid’s U-14 side as a manager. He then took the next step in his managerial career by joining Real Sociedad’s B-team, where he has been working for over three seasons and took them from the third division to LaLiga 2, the second division, for the first time in 60 years. His team isn’t doing well in the second division like any other promoted B side, but the promotion itself is a huge achievement for any B-team manager.
He has earned such a good reputation that Borussia Monchengladbach wanted to secure his signing for their first team, but Xabi refused and thought of taking it slow. Who knows, in 10 years he might be one of the best managers in the world.
Another interesting choice would be that of Julian Nagelsmann, someone who was already approached by the club in the past. Even the German believes that he might say yes to the club, the next time.
GK – Illan Meslier
Thibaut Courtois is 29 now, and I doubt if he will continue to be a starter here after 10 years. Andriy Lunin is a very talented keeper, but he has been very unlucky so far and didn’t get to play a lot until now. He is a second-choice keeper in a team with Courtois as the first-choice keeper, which is enough to explain his bad luck. I feel there will come a time after one or two years when the Ukrainian would have to think more about himself and move to another club where he can be the first choice.
It’s difficult to predict who can be our keeper after 10 years, but I would like to go with Illan Meslier, the current Leeds United goalkeeper. He’s an excellent shot-stopper, and with age on his side, the 21-year-old can become one of the best keepers in Europe. Maybe he will join Madrid after 6-7 years, when he’s in his prime, and play at the best club in Europe. Even the Frenchman’s agent thinks that there will come a time in the future when Real Madrid will come for him.