Real Madrid (old thread)

[estranged]

Which is where?

I would have thought Jose would invest in a good center back or 2, Carvalho is old and slow, Ramos, Albiol and Arbeloa, are all decent but just thought maybe Mourinho would reinforce the back line. Ramos is great going forward but he and Albiol are highly prone to the occasional brain farts and lapses of concentration.

 

[woobie]

Uhm. Didn't Madrid in fact buy a french CB?

 

[Bergkamp10]

Yeah, Varane and he's pretty highly rated.

 

[estranged]

Uhm. Didn't Madrid in fact buy a french CB?

Isn't he 17 and largely unproven? Sorry but I don't even see him on the bench next season.

 

[Sergio]

Which is where?

The short answer would be: Certainly not left back, which is where you have invested most significantly.

But the areas that still look short to me are centre of defence not having pace unless Ramos plays, and he is a spaz. Kaka' and Benzema still look like millstones in the squad as well. Those were the biggest issues I saw from last season and Madrid didn't address them, instead they addressed problems that didn't exist.

 

[El Gato]

I would have thought Jose would invest in a good center back or 2, Carvalho is old and slow, Ramos, Albiol and Arbeloa, are all decent but just thought maybe Mourinho would reinforce the back line. Ramos is great going forward but he and Albiol are highly prone to the occasional brain farts and lapses of concentration.

RM right now has 5 players capable of playing at centre back with success of which 3 are capable of doing so against Barcelona. They have 2 good RBs and 2 excellent LBs. Ramos being a brain fart? Hardly noticable against Barcelona TBF (ignoring the frustration incident in November). It was majorly Albiol's shit positioning and decision making that led to defensive breakdowns in April, which isn't likely to happen again. + you have to consider the fact that it will be their second year with Mourinho which is more likely to make them better, not worse.

The short answer would be: Certainly not left back, which is where you have invested most significantly.

But the areas that still look short to me are centre of defence not having pace unless Ramos plays, and he is a spaz. Kaka' and Benzema still look like millstones in the squad as well. Those were the biggest issues I saw from last season and Madrid didn't address them, instead they addressed problems that didn't exist.

I would say it is you that sees the issues that do not exist.

Marcelo isn't a world class defender, sure, but he has shown enormous improvement and managed to pull off 3 good Clasicos and will continue to improve defensively (+ Coentrao is a workhorse and has much more defensive potential than he is given credit for, and if he shows that he will be a better choice for games against Barca, then he will play instead of Marcelo). Center of defence will have pace, because Pepe won't be moved to DM position anymore. Benzema is a crack in the making and Kaka? Well, he is Kaka. Ozil is certainly good enough so there is no need to be bothered about Kaka. And also with RM switching to 4-3-3 you will see more of Ozil/Di Maria bench rotation.

 

[estranged]

Hmm guess so. I like Ramos but was never convinced that he is a great defender. I've seen him make mistakes numerous times, he was owned all game long in the manita in november, and could have done better on both Messi goals in the CL classico at the Bernabeu, I just watched that the other day and he also picked up a dumb yellow which meant he missed the return leg.

 

[jamrock]

Ramos commits 5-10 serious braid farts per season, at least two is assured against barca

 

[Barcafan 2304]

Good post...

I always thought that the whole 'Barca can't be stopped without negative football' is overused. I'm not saying its easy but I believe that we have the tendency to get unsettled when another team takes us head on, a team like Real should take advantage of the fact that we aren't used to being in the position. Some Cules were complaining about Mou's negative tactics but I was kinda relieved, I never felt seriously worried by them, frustrating and infuriating? Yes, but hardly worrying. Real have more than enough firepower to cause us problems if they take the initiative, something like the game in Camp Nou in 2009, which I always thought was our most fortunate recent Classico...

Yeah, pretty good points from you and Raed. Maybe a bolder approach would yield better outcomes for teams when playing us. The thing is, the defensive approach is all well and good (and occasionally worked, such as for Inter in the CL semi tie) but on the whole, it affords us the majority of the possession and ultimately, 9 times out of 10, we will take advantyage of that. The only question is, will Mourinho be bold enough (or is it in his armoury) to try and go on the offensive when playing Barca

 

[El Gato]

Hmm guess so. I like Ramos but was never convinced that he is a great defender. I've seen him make mistakes numerous times, he was owned all game long in the manita in november, and could have done better on both Messi goals in the CL classico at the Bernabeu, I just watched that the other day and he also picked up a dumb yellow which meant he missed the return leg.

Back in the day when he was starting at RM he was a great force in defence. It is only later on when he became mistake prone and as Barca started to rise to glory, 1/8s curse continued, pressure started to work on his mentality. He has dumbfuck moments, it was never a secret that he isn't too intelligent, but shouldn't really get any worse and with the right shifts in formation Madrid have a chance to get more than one positive result out of five games.

 

[jamrock]

isn't it funny how jose and real got the result in the least important game of the set and some constantly try to make it seem as some sort of great success.

 

[DucdeOrléans]

French + Spaniards = Catalans.

When will people learn?

 

[estranged]

what does that have to do with anything?

 

[DucdeOrléans]

what does that have to do with anything?

Look a few pages back in this thread.

 

[soarq]

I am really sorry for Mesut Ozil. I believe he's going to sit on the bench far more often than last year. I can see him being the first choice man for a position just behind two strikers in 4-4-2 with a diamond in midfield, but Madrid is certainly going to play 4-3-3 against top teams. And on the right flank there's so much competition. He's going to sit a lot.