In this formation as Sumlit said Bale and Ronaldo have to do a lot of defensive work that Di maria used to do, Hames is slow as hell to do Di Maria's dirty work in the defensive section also with Kroos and no Xabi they will not have any control in the mid field basically Kroos and Hames are Iniesta lite in their attack. So Modric is the only one they rely on who will be try to take control of the midfield. I think either way Mad-rid are fricked and Carlo will probably lose all his hair in trying to get the balance of the squad right at the same time playing all the star players.
Penal Madrid
- Thread starter PearLBLacK
- Start date
In this formation as Sumlit said Bale and Ronaldo have to do a lot of defensive work that Di maria used to do, Hames is slow as hell to do Di Maria's dirty work in the defensive section also with Kroos and no Xabi they will not have any control in the mid field basically Kroos and Hames are Iniesta lite in their attack. So Modric is the only one they rely on who will be try to take control of the midfield. I think either way Mad-rid are fricked and Carlo will probably lose all his hair in trying to get the balance of the squad right at the same time playing all the star players.
R
Ryu Hayabusa
Guest
If Kroos is anything, he IS a controller.
Semi-Neutral
Sir Alupp Heynrguson
How I imagined that formation would look during defending
The 3 defenders and midfielders hang around the box and clog up the middle, Ronaldo, Bale, and James are in position to both pressure if the other team tries to reset and to receive the ball when it's cleared.
The 3 defenders and midfielders hang around the box and clog up the middle, Ronaldo, Bale, and James are in position to both pressure if the other team tries to reset and to receive the ball when it's cleared.
Sumlit
San Claudio Bravo
That's the most likely formation they'll play going forward, and the one they have been playing lately, but it has issues. The lack of pure DM is obvious, Kroos is certainly defensively competent, as is Modric, but still the lack of pure dedicated game breaker and ball recoverer is very liable to get exploited, moreso when you consider that on top of not having that recoverer and game breaker presence, your midfield trio is pretty slow to boot.
The other issue I see is that so far, granted it is early, James does not look comfortable in that position, at all. He seems lost in that position and too often he takes up Ronaldo's areas and both player suffer as consequence. This might get worked out later with familiarity, but right now it looks awkward. James also is not the support player Di Maria was. He is far more direct and individualistic in his play. He seems to look more for his play than to look to play others. This is another aspect of friction and incompatibility I've noticed between he and Ronaldo.
Sumlit
San Claudio Bravo
How I imagined that formation would look during defending
The 3 defenders and midfielders hang around the box and clog up the middle, Ronaldo, Bale, and James are in position to both pressure if the other team tries to reset and to receive the ball when it's cleared.
Yeah that looks woefully insufficient for a defensive formation. Without Ronaldo and Bale dropping deeper to help the defensive lines, this formation on defense is going to get stretched and broken by the wings.
I consider Kroos to be more attack minded than Xabi and will be playing closer to the likes of Ronaldo and Bale than Xabi. Real will miss Xabi's vision, his long range passes and control at the center of the pitch. Modric used to attack and tried to score or assist when Xabi was on the pitch last season which he will not be able to do nor more this season.
Semi-Neutral
Sir Alupp Heynrguson
What happens when the other team gets the ball in behind and on the wings? They run down to the corner flank, or put in an early ball? If it's an early ball, there's three defenders there to head it clear and a line of three right in front of them to stop any shots and to clear the ball. If they run down to the corner flag, then they just stay in the middle and let their opponents have the ball on the wing. They put no pressure on the ball and definitely wouldn't want to play this against a small team, but as a formation to protect a lead or something it could work.
CuleLife4Life
Active member
Madrid isn't stupid. Strong rumors going around they'll buy a new DM which sucks for us. Won't be as easy as we want it to be.
Last year's El Classico, Bale was forced to start even though he was unfit because of his price tag but then during later stages of the CL he wouldn't even have an obvious injury but wouldn't play such as the 1st leg semi. A part of me thinks they've learned their lesson but then again Florentino is a clown so who knows. Either way I see us winning.
Last year's El Classico, Bale was forced to start even though he was unfit because of his price tag but then during later stages of the CL he wouldn't even have an obvious injury but wouldn't play such as the 1st leg semi. A part of me thinks they've learned their lesson but then again Florentino is a clown so who knows. Either way I see us winning.
Sumlit
San Claudio Bravo
Problem is, you're only thinking about wing crossing into the box. Without proper marks in the wings, when a skilled player takes the ball into the wing, either one of the CBs has to go and mark him, or one of the 3 midfielders. If it is the CB, then you just broke your defensive block in the middle of the box and stretched your CBs; if it is a midfielder, then you have a quick and skilled wing player going against a slow midfielder, meaning the midfield player is going to get beaten and the wing is going to go straight into your CBs in the box with a dribble. That kind of attacks creates ripples that will discombobulate an already unorthodox defensive system. There would be no need to cross into the box when you can beat a midfielder and go directly at the CBs.
They could experiment with it for sure. Madrid spent the better part of last season experimenting until they settled on a stable system, mostly because of Di Maria's special skillset making it possible. They'll have to experiment similarly this season to find a nice balance that works.
Semi-Neutral
Sir Alupp Heynrguson
I don't see why, I feel like they could just sit and wait for the player to get closer, at which point pressuring wouldn't drag players wildly out of position.
Sumlit
San Claudio Bravo
If you're keeping your 3 CBs stacked and bunched in the box, then you're defending the whole attack with just 3 midfielders, and not very quick ones at that. Offensive player would just need to beat 1 midfielder and he is all clear to go and attack your CBs in the box. That is plain suicide. Unless in your formation Ronaldo and Bale are deep helping their respective wing so that then you are defending and pressing with 5 instead of 3, that formation will just create free players running straight at your CBs. With Ramos' and Pepe's clumsiness and aggressiveness, that has penalties and cards written all over them.
If stacking the box worked, then every team would just play with 4 CBs blocked and bunched in the box all the time. It's not that simple. You need to be able to defend effectively outside of the box with numbers.
CuleLife4Life
Active member
Looks like no Falcao but Alvaro Negredo from Man City. They have to unload a foreign player for CL and Kun and Dzeko are now ahead of him in the striking category.
I dont think that formation will work, Bale does put in good defensive work, and has been left back at one point. Ronaldo on the other hand, will track back once in a while, but it will not be enough. In a 3 back formation, Ronaldo have to be put up front, but he is much better out wide, it would be a waste of his talent.
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