Penal Madrid

[pacp_96]

the latter.
P.S, Madrid fans should instead of celebrating be more concerned that they let in 2 goals to shitty Deportivo

That's what I thought when I saw the score.

 

[Paganinisrvnge]

We could've won at least 4 or 5-0 against APOEL with a full strength lineup. Xavi and Iniesta often are way too hesitant to push forward for counterattacks. Thankfully we now have Rakitic who has loads of energy and is more direct. There's no reason why we shouldn't have some of the deadliest counters in the world but Xavi the past two years slowed our game down EVERY time even with forwards running in loads of space. I've found Iniesta does it to some extent too and he needs to be encouraged to get it quickly to Messi and Neymar.

 

[blaugrana1987]

If Real thinks this is some kind of turnaround they are in for rude awakening. Seriously, they will get smacked at El Madrigal. Every ball that gets in their half looks dangerous, even if Deportivo like teams are having it. They could have scored 4 goals today easily, and that should ring alarm bells in Madrid.

 

[DonAK]

 

[footyfan]

^I agree. However, I find Madrid's way of playing not really suitable for winning a title. I expect Barcelona to rack a lot of 2-0 wins this season. And while Madrid will maybe walk over the small teams, we pick up the points in a risk free manner. The only thing we must do is score from the chances we make.

Things are simple. Barca cares about possession a lot more than Madrid does. Hence the difference of styles.

I would tend to agree. The side-effect of Madrid's style is that they concede more goals than Barca despite having the better individual defenders. It's harder for them to reach a level of consistency in their play compared to Barca. But if you look at the trophy count for Barca in the last 3 years, it is identical to Mourinho's 3 years at Madrid and people specially Barca fans consider his reign a resounding failure. So maybe Barca are not really doing well nowadays despite their playing style.

Until last season, Madrid also had the better individual players overall, or atleast the more versatile players, and this allows them to play different styles against different opponents, which under a good manager, is a huge advantage. (Of course they pretty much fucked themselves over this transfer window, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still win stuff). Look at Ronaldo for example. Talent wise, he's not really on Messi's level. But he scores goals in almost any and every kind of setup. Under Mourinho's 4-2-3-1 when they setup really defensively against the better teams, or with the same 4-2-3-1 against the weaker teams where they played really offensive, he had no problems scoring. Under Ancelotti's possession 4-3-3 against all opponents or in his 4-4-2 against the better teams at the end of last season, he had no problems scoring. Contrast this with Messi whose game depends a lot on interacting with other players. The forwards need to be setup in a certain way for him to flourish. First half against Bosnia in the World Cup, in Sabella's weird 5-3-2 formation, he had his worst 45 minutes at the World Cup. When they switched to 4-3-3 for the rest of the group stage he started scoring the goals. In the knockouts, they switched to 4-4-2 for more defensive solidity and his goals+assists totally dried up.

 

[Blaugrana Bull]

Despite their last two results I think Madrid still has huge problems and they will suffer against better and well organized teams.
But there is no reason to not give them credit for their performance today. Every fan would celebrate the moment if his own club would score 8 goals in a league game, no matter how the situation looks like in general.

 

[Behrox]

Despite their last two results I think Madrid still has huge problems and they will suffer against better and well organized teams.
But there is no reason to not give them credit for their performance today. Every fan would celebrate the moment if his own club would score 8 goals in a league game, no matter how the situation looks like in general.

Why do people neglect the 2 they conceded I know if it were Barca's scoreline half the defense would have been sold by the fans

 

[Luftstalag14]

I see people complaining all the time about how Madrid get so much space and Barca don't.

It's totally Barcelona's fault that they don't get any space. They take ages in transition and they keep the ball for ages. I made a post about this in one of the match threads last season but it's probably deleted by now. Madrid give the other team opportunities to have the ball and attack with it, which means the other team pushes up to support it's offensive players. Which is why when Madrid win the ball back quickly, they tend to have more space at the back to exploit. There are of course going to be 1 or 2 matches a season where the other team will just boot the ball out if you give it to them so Madrid face a parked bus too and there are also going to be teams who attack you every minute naively and Barca and Madrid have goal fests against them.

Barca hog the ball for ages in the opposition third of the pitch leaving the other team with no choice but to have two banks of four to defend. Also, Madrid attack all different ways and angles while Barca are the most predictable and formulaic team out there. This doesn't necessarily mean the way Madrid attack is better but it influences how the game pans out. I find Madrid are even better than Barca to watch nowadays. Barca's games have been dull for the past 2 years. The individual moments of quality from Iniesta, Messi, Busquets or Xavi or even the quick snappy team passing pales in comparison to how it used to be in 2008-2012.

Good post.

We have become way too slow and way too predictable. It is not others fault when we are stagnant. I am waiting to see if Lucho will change things around this season.

 

[Luftstalag14]

This too. Can't wait for Suarez to come we will be relentless with his no bs attitude.

On topic of Ronaldo...He is currently the best goalscorrer in the world. Messi used to score like this, only Messi goals were majority of times more solo like and he DEFINITELY had more impressive game along with the goals.

Take Ronaldos performance today...He had 0 dribbles and 0 key passes in game where defense didn't exist. I'm not taking anything from him, but his dribbling and passing skill are severly lacking in comparison with Leo. If only Leo still had this kind of drive for goals...

My sentiment exactly. He should be given credit for his killer ability to score, but scoring seems to be his only responsibility these days (and I understand). Today other than finishing and delivering, I don't think he played that great at all. Last game he played like a beast was the first half against Atletico, he was truly awesome and he only scored a PK.

 

[Flavia]

I see people complaining all the time about how Madrid get so much space and Barca don't.

It's totally Barcelona's fault that they don't get any space. They take ages in transition and they keep the ball for ages. I made a post about this in one of the match threads last season but it's probably deleted by now. Madrid give the other team opportunities to have the ball and attack with it, which means the other team pushes up to support it's offensive players. Which is why when Madrid win the ball back quickly, they tend to have more space at the back to exploit. There are of course going to be 1 or 2 matches a season where the other team will just boot the ball out if you give it to them so Madrid face a parked bus too and there are also going to be teams who attack you every minute naively and Barca and Madrid have goal fests against them.

Barca hog the ball for ages in the opposition third of the pitch leaving the other team with no choice but to have two banks of four to defend. Also, Madrid attack all different ways and angles while Barca are the most predictable and formulaic team out there. This doesn't necessarily mean the way Madrid attack is better but it influences how the game pans out. I find Madrid are even better than Barca to watch nowadays. Barca's games have been dull for the past 2 years. The individual moments of quality from Iniesta, Messi, Busquets or Xavi or even the quick snappy team passing pales in comparison to how it used to be in 2008-2012.

That's true. Neyney 1st goal against Athletic happened because the ball was intercepted and Messi was fast serving Neyney. Lucho keeps sayng he wants the team to be less predictable, let's hope he accomplishes that.

 

[Luftstalag14]

I would tend to agree. The side-effect of Madrid's style is that they concede more goals than Barca despite having the better individual defenders. It's harder for them to reach a level of consistency in their play compared to Barca. But if you look at the trophy count for Barca in the last 3 years, it is identical to Mourinho's 3 years at Madrid and people specially Barca fans consider his reign a resounding failure. So maybe Barca are not really doing well nowadays despite their playing style.

Until last season, Madrid also had the better individual players overall, or atleast the more versatile players, and this allows them to play different styles against different opponents, which under a good manager, is a huge advantage. (Of course they pretty much fucked themselves over this transfer window, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still win stuff). Look at Ronaldo for example. Talent wise, he's not really on Messi's level. But he scores goals in almost any and every kind of setup. Under Mourinho's 4-2-3-1 when they setup really defensively against the better teams, or with the same 4-2-3-1 against the weaker teams where they played really offensive, he had no problems scoring. Under Ancelotti's possession 4-3-3 against all opponents or in his 4-4-2 against the better teams at the end of last season, he had no problems scoring. Contrast this with Messi whose game depends a lot on interacting with other players. The forwards need to be setup in a certain way for him to flourish. First half against Bosnia in the World Cup, in Sabella's weird 5-3-2 formation, he had his worst 45 minutes at the World Cup. When they switched to 4-3-3 for the rest of the group stage he started scoring the goals. In the knockouts, they switched to 4-4-2 for more defensive solidity and his goals+assists totally dried up.

I felt that Ronaldo is a more complete striker/forward who can score goals in many different ways, who relies more on brute force, physiques and excellent positioning, regardless of team setup and formations etc. That said, he does rely on his teammates to deliver though, if his teammates are contained and not providing him with the crucial pass he is also contained as well.

 

[CuleLife4Life]

Good post.

We have become way too slow and way too predictable. It is not others fault when we are stagnant. I am waiting to see if Lucho will change things around this season.

Very true but Lucho is smart and knows this. We'll be seeing a lot of different types of play this season under him.


Btw Illara played and did pretty well. I think Carlo realized that the midfield needs help. Don't let the scoreline fool you.

 

[Sumlit]

Real Madrid are the same team as last season, except even more imbalanced now. Capable of overwhelming a team in a short span and knocking them out in a blink of an eye, but also capable of inexplicable stinkers. That imbalance makes them a very inconsistent team. Dangerous on a one game basis because of their individualities, but inconsistent and unreliable in a longer span.

I expect plenty of 5+ goal performances, sprinkled in some terrible stinkers. This is who they are, more so now that they destroyed the small measure of balance they were able to achieve later on last season.

 

[Morten]

Real Madrid are the same team as last season, except even more imbalanced now. Capable of overwhelming a team in a short span and knocking them out in a blink of an eye, but also capable of inexplicable stinkers. That imbalance makes them a very inconsistent team. Dangerous on a one game basis because of their individualities, but inconsistent and unreliable in a longer span.

I expect plenty of 5+ goal performances, sprinkled in some terrible stinkers. This is who they are, more so now that they destroyed the small measure of balance they were able to achieve later on last season.

Sounds like a cup-team.I agree, i think we can do well in the cl and copa, but i dont think we will win the league.

 

[CuleLife4Life]

Real Madrid are the same team as last season, except even more imbalanced now. Capable of overwhelming a team in a short span and knocking them out in a blink of an eye, but also capable of inexplicable stinkers. That imbalance makes them a very inconsistent team. Dangerous on a one game basis because of their individualities, but inconsistent and unreliable in a longer span.

I expect plenty of 5+ goal performances, sprinkled in some terrible stinkers. This is who they are, more so now that they destroyed the small measure of balance they were able to achieve later on last season.

With Khedira and Illara playing they actually won't be as imbalanced as most of us think. Problem is that Khedira is injured and Illara was banished. I really think it was media influence that caused Carlo to finally play the kid last week and today. But as a starter? I highly doubt that will happen so we'll still see the midfield trio they have now.

But Carlo seemed to have a hard on for Khedira which kind of goes against us or any other top team facing them since he is a defensive presence they need. Once he comes back, he'll probably be a starter again along with Modric and Kroos.