Real Madrid might not have played the best football all year. Even after Solari's takeover, the statistics still appears underlying but they have always found a way to WIN and there are reasons to be optimistic for the future.

Just recently, Real Madrid became the first team to win the Club World Cup three consecutive times and the only team to have won an international club trophy seven times( 3 intercontinental cups and 4 Club World Cup).

Real Madrid have developed this habit of winning that is already making the wins look boring. Few months ago, they lifted the most prestigious club trophy for a record three consecutive times. That win made them eligible to participate in the annual end of the year Club World Cup competition, featuring champions from different continents. A trophy they recently won under the canopy of Santiago Solari, a former player and now manager of Real Madrid. Below I take a look at three positives picked from his brief management.

The unvieling of young talents

One fault Zinedine Zidane had while managing the team but ended up escaping unscathed as a result of its consequences was the "lack of faith" in the fringe players while the veterans or starters are injured. During his tenure, he preferred a winger deployed at right back over younger players at the castilla. A perfect example of this was the deployment of Lucas Vasquez at right back when both Carvajal and Nacho were injured. Although Zidane's unintentional mistake didn't backfire as it did to his replacement.

Julen Lopetegui insisted on using his preferred starting eleven consisting of fatigued, pompous and overconfident players, who in turn produced series of uneventful and uninteresting displays that led to the team dropping points and going down the table. At a point when a player is injured, Julen would rather seek to tweak his formation to a way it suites the regular starters over testing the Castilla players or the overlooked players in the first team.

Solari came in, noted Julen's faults and corrected them. His first match in a copa del rey match saw him use the younger and fringed players and some Castilla players in form of a test and boy did they deliver.

Under Solari, the long contemplation and argument on who to replace Marcelo has been ditched as Sergio Reguilon, a Castilla players has proved himself worthy under Solari. A return from loan of Theo Hernandez will further solidify that position and end the long wait for a saviour in that position.

Another interesting discovery of Solari is an apparent Toni Kroos heir in Fernando Valverde. The young Castilla player possesses a rare calmness and accurate distribution of the ball just like the German. In matches Solari has included him in, he hasn't failed to shine and stand out. He is without doubt, a future for the club and Solari deserves credit for that.

Unleashing of the great Marcos Llorente

Marcos Llorente was an academy player of Real Madrid who was sent on loan to Alaves. At Alaves, Marcos was made a starter and he was crucial to Alaves's stay in the upper half of the table

He was a cog all season in their midfield and Real Madrid felt the need to request back their youngster.

Llorente returned to Santiago Bernabeu under Zinedine Zidane and after two seasons with the club, it looked like he will be leaving for loan again or a permanent transfer before Solari's takeover.

Regular starter Casemiro was injured and Solari seeked to continue with central midfielder Ceballos and it backfired as the midfield was outran time without number and there was little support for the defenders.

Solari immediately picked that mistake and sent out Llorente in place of Ceballos in the next match, a Uefa Champions League match against Roma. Marcos played so very well and earned the manager's trust. Since then, the young Spaniard has gone on to start seven consecutive matches and looked set to give the coach a headache in that position.

Retention of the winning spirit

Zinedine Zidane was praised as a coach without tactics but classic. With just a little managerial experience at the Real Madrid B team, experience of the game as a player and his personality, Zidane took the team to a record three consecutive Uefa Champions league trophies and a cup double since 1952.

Under Zidane, the team didn't play breathtaking football but their togetherness and belief kept them alive in every stage of the most adventurous and difficult club football competition, of which they ended up defying all odds and keeping a record.

Unfortunately, Zidane unexpectedly stepped down and everyone wondered if his replacement will possess the kind of aura and winning personality as the French man.

Julen Lopetegui took over the wheel and was sacked before the season could hit halfway. Solari took over and is quietly clearing all doubts, he recently won a trophy with the team with games that showed more hunger from the players, like the days of the iconic French legend.

We are already halfway through the season and things appear to be pointing at the right direction. Solari might end up not lifting a major trophy come end of season, but we will have to leave the analysis for the end of season. For now, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

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Note: All images are Google sourced