Miguel Torres says Real Madrid’s lack of structure is making Cucurella ‘look like a bad player’

Real Madrid’s 2-1 derby defeat by Atletico Madrid has exposed deeper problems at the club, according to former defender Miguel Torres, who says a lack of structure is harming players and could undermine the entire project.

The loss at home to their city rivals on Sunday, in La Liga’s seventh round, has brought strong criticism of Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho’s side have failed to make the expected start despite their activity in the transfer market, with analysts pointing to weaknesses in both the squad’s composition and the team’s tactical approach.

Torres was particularly direct in his assessment, arguing that Real are making some players who had previously enjoyed the best periods of their careers appear far less effective.

Speaking to Movistar, in comments reported by Sport, the former Real Madrid player said: “There is no structure at Real Madrid. Cucurella looks like a different player; he even looks like a bad player, but the reason is the lack of structure.”

He added: “There are no playing mechanisms of any kind. If Rodri were at Real Madrid, the same weaknesses would also be visible in him.”

Torres also said supporters had been excessively optimistic during the summer because of the moves made by president Florentino Perez in the transfer market. He believes some fans went as far as assuming Real Madrid had become stronger than Barcelona, a view he does not share.

“This summer, the fans felt excited when Florentino Perez made moves in the transfer market, and they thought things would work this time,” Torres said.

“They looked at what Barcelona were doing and laughed: €80m for Gordon, who is that? Adeyemi, another striker. They would have paid a huge amount for Rodri even though he was not in good physical condition.”

The former Real Madrid full-back said the club still lacked a clear idea of how it wanted to play and had failed to correct problems that had already appeared in previous seasons. That, he argued, had left the project at risk of failing regardless of the quality of the players available.

“The weeks go by, and it does not matter who Barcelona sign, or even if they do not sign a striker, everything works well for them because they have a good structure,” he said.

“I repeat, there is no structure at Real Madrid, and that makes it very difficult for any project to succeed, even if you have good players.”