There is so much still to happen this summer. With Iker Casillas moving to Porto, who will be the keeper? David De Gea, Keylor Navas, Kiko Casilla? What about Sergio Ramos? Who will be his replacement if he moves to Manchester United? We are going to assume two things in this post. First, De Gea will be the number one. Secondly, Sergio Ramos will get his raise and become the captain of Madrid. With those two things out of the way, let’s move on to how Madrid will lineup this season.

Rafa Benítez’s preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1 similar to the way Mourinho lined up Los Blancos. This will change to a 4-4-2 in defense with the wide men dropping back and the number 10 and number nine pressing high up the pitch. He loves rotation, so this lineup will change on a weekly basis. Real Madrid fans became accustomed to seeing the same lineup when the team was at full health. This will not happen under Rafa. With that being said, we will explore what the optimal lineup could be this season.

At forward, Rafa has a few options. The logical choice is Karim Benzema, but there has been talk of Cristiano Ronaldo moving to a number nine role. Unless Alvaro Morata is bought back from Juventus, I see this happening. Ronaldo has moved closer and closer to the middle of the pitch when receiving the ball in the last two seasons. With Rafa’s rotation policy, there needs to be more options up front. Wherever CR7 plays, he will be preferred, but he has been run into the ground in recent seasons. There will be enough playing time out on the left, and up front for all three of the BBC. Ronaldo will be the preferred number nine this season.

The three attacking midfield positions are interesting. If CR7 moves up front like I think he will, Gareth Bale will be able to move to his preferred position on the left. Having Gareth Bale comfortable will only help Madrid. The next question is, who plays in the number 10 role behind Cristiano? There are so many options on this squad. Isco, James Rodríguez, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos are all natural number 10’s. Isco’s passing, vision, and creativity make him perfect for this position. James Rodriguez has shown an ability to create for himself and others on the right side of the field, so he would slot in next to Isco. James and Isco are both creative in different ways which make them hard to stop when they’re on the field together. Isco holds the ball and beats defenders to create openings for himself and his teammates. James is a little more direct with one or two touches, but he is also a bigger goal scoring threat.

This is the tough part: The doble pivot. Rafa likes to have a more defensive player next to a more creative player. That leaves either Kroos or Modric off the field. When Modric is healthy, Real Madrid is a better team. He is the rare combination of toughness off the ball, creativity on the ball, and work rate. Again, Rafa rotates A LOT. Kroos and Modric will swap a lot and possibly play together depending on the opponent, but Modric next to a more defensive midfielder provides more balance. The choices at the second deep lying spot are Asier Illarramendi, Casemiro, and Lucas Silva. There has been talk of Silva going out on loan, so we will assume it is between Illarramendi and Casemiro. Illarra has had the ire of the Bernabeu faithful, but has been in a formation and a position that does not suit him. In this new formation he can thrive. He won’t be Xabi Alonso. Those comparisons were never fair to Illarra or Xabi. He can make the simple passes and switch play like Sergio Busquets for the Spanish national team when playing next to Xabi.

The defense is a little easier. Marcelo will start out on the left, Ramos will play next to him, and Varane will take his spot as the right-sided central defender. The tough decision is at right fullback. With the arrival of Danilo from Porto, Rafa has a headache to decide whom he will prefer. Danilo has shown that he can do it all. While with Santos and Porto he has been a force moving forward and makes smart decisions when defending. Dani Carvajal is the fiery, Spanish, hard worker that the Bernabeu crowd enjoys. Florentino Pérez just showed his faith in the Spaniard by giving him a contract until 2020. I believe it is the La Fábrica product’s position to lose and I believe he will make the position his.

I probably sound like a broken record, but there will be a lot of rotation and a squad with this much talent will be perfect for Rafa. There won’t be much drop off from week to week when he makes changes based on the fitness of his players. It should be quite interesting to see how he balances tactics and the egos in the dressing room.