Whoever that is following the displays of Spanish club Real Madrid know they are currently struggling badly. Out of the three major competitions to contest for this season, they are left with two after getting kicked out of the Copa Del Rey by Real Sociedad early last month. The Uefa Champions League and the League title are remaining for grabs but things are not looking quite smooth for the whites.

The major struggle of Real Madrid and which unfortunately has been taunting them since last season is the absence of a pure goal scorer and Benzema who is the first choice striker is lacking goals at the moment and many are calling for his head.

Rewind back to seasons before the last, they was barely a time Real Madrid was on the headlines for lack of goals. They purchased pure goal scorers who used their goals to shield other issues facing the team and the last player to perform that magic was Cristiano Ronaldo who departed the summer of last two seasons and now plays for Juventus FC.

When Cristiano left, the baton fell to Karim Benzema who has been the striker on paper for the team for over a decade. What people failed to understand was Benzema was a striker but only on paper. The Frenchman lost his predating instincts in front of goal a long time ago and he lost it all in good faith because of Ronaldo. Cristiano banged in all the goals and Benzema was okay with the support. Now, Ronaldo is gone and Benzema has no one else to support, instead he is expected to replace Ronaldo, a player that scores over 50 goals a season.

Benzema has done his best to score as much as he can since Ronaldo's departure but he clearly isn't up to the standards of the Portuguese. When Benzema is badly covered by the defenders, Real Madrid has no other goal scorer in the team. These days, opponents has discovered Real Madrid overcome their scoring problems by pushing other players forward to help in the scoring duties, therefore, they push their players forward as well to prevent Real Madrid's midfielders and defenders from pushing higher up the pitch to score. By so doing, Benzema is badly isolated as there is no other player to combine with him as he once did with Ronaldo.

This was why Eden Hazard was bought, to help in the combination and scoring process but injury has shrouded the season of the Belgian and Real Madrid are left eating their fingers at the moment. Many are calling for Benzema's axe from the first eleven as he no longer scores frequently like he did last season and in the beginning of this season but is that truly necessary? Is Benzema truly the problem of the team?

People clearly do not understand the factors affecting the game of football and thus they arrive at dumb conclusions. Right now, it is clear teams are playing a high line against Real Madrid with the hope of disrupting their buildup from the back and this has forced Benzema to drop deeper and collect the ball. Right now, Real Madrid need players that can break free from any high pressing team and players that can combine well with Benzema for him to get into good scoring positions. Allowing the Frenchman to handle the job of both building up and scoring is very difficult and I suggest he be cut some slack!.

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