Real Madrid (old thread)
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Catalonian Devil
Shukran Pep
I don't rate Sami at all and don't even put him on the same level as Lass. People seem to only remember the shadow of Essien, I was a HUGE fan of this dude and at one point would take him over any midfielder in the world, however since then he has regressed tremendously. I refused to believe it myself but after watching numerous Chelsea games over the past 2 seasons I was taken back by how different he looked when he played. Lass to me is criminally underrated, especially by Mourinho. I rate him over Sami and Essien easily tbf, not to mention he can fill in for your already thin right back spot way better than the aging Essien or anyone else can. Not to mention the ever increasing amount of glass in Essien's body composition.
Having said that Mourinho once brought the best out of Essien and he might just do it again. I could easily be wrong, but the hunch I get a lot of fans will be underwhelmed with his contributions....
El Gato
Villarato!
Lass is a shit tactician and has a lousy attitude despite being a tireless worker, and his on ball game leaves a lot to be desired. He forces managers to play him in the position he wants to play in. Did you know he hasn't learnt borderline Spanish since coming to Madrid? Says a lot about a player.
Catalonian Devil
Shukran Pep
If you were Jose who would you start in a decisive game, Lass or Sami?
Beast
The Observer
I think he answered that several times CD... Sami .. the German Messi
Lass had issues with listening to what the managers want.. it's been the case he complained before when he is deployed in any other position and that's why he left both Arsenal & Chelsea before
he is very inconsistent some games you want to kiss him some games u want to shoot him.. lately mostly been shooting
If Essien is fit enough i believe our midfield is way better than Chelsea's from 09 till now and he can find his form.. we all know the talent is there
Catalonian Devil
Shukran Pep
I think he answered that several times CD... Sami .. the German Messi
Lass had issues with listening to what the managers want.. it's been the case he complained before when he is deployed in any other position and that's why he left both Arsenal & Chelsea before
he is very inconsistent some games you want to kiss him some games u want to shoot him.. lately mostly been shooting
If Essien is fit enough i believe our midfield is way better than Chelsea's from 09 till now and he can find his form.. we all know the talent is there
I understand that Mou prefers a more tactically disciplined player in Sami but I guess outside of being 'disciplined' I just don't see the quality that qualifies him as a starting midfielder for Real Madrid.
Guess we'll have to wait and see on Essien, I'm just not buying into this resurrection theme I guess.
jairzinho
Senior Member
More reason for us to cringe when we play Madrid. I bet when we play them next it will be a Pepe, Essien, Xabi midfield.
Catalonian Devil
Shukran Pep
Alright, you've forced me to put my tactical hat on.
Lets take a closer look here...
Its not really Jose playing him in crucial games, its more about those games involving teams whose playing style is one where Sami's attributes are most useful.
This means teams such as Valencia and most of the Champions League teams, teams that are not going to put 10 men behind the ball.
First let's take a step back. If you notice, Sami tends to spend his time in a much more advanced role than Lass. In fact, in many games, Sami's average position is higher than Ronaldo, Benzema, Di Maria, and Ozil, a good example is vs Lyon in the Santiago. In contrast, Lass spends most of his time in Real's own half. He plays a much more conserved role than Khedira and is very rarely seen near the opposition box. His average position is more withdrawn. On a side note this sort of shows he's more tactically disciplined than given credit for. All this could be verified by pulling ESPN's soccernet heat maps and average position maps.
Having said that, why is Sami's attributes more useful against the more dangerous or daring teams? Well, it all comes down to how Sami's playing style affects the role of Real's most important midfielder, Xabi Alonso. If you notice, when Sami is playing against those teams that are not afraid to attack Madrid and aren't parking the bus, he is able constantly make vertical runs and feed the media-punto, usually Ozil. This allows Alonso to silently carry on his horizontal game with the opposition paying him little attention, which means whenever those teams lose possession in offense, Alonso is already in an advanced position and in the perfect spot to dictate the lethal counter attack. That's why when you look at the goals resulting from these counters you'll nearly always notice that Xabi is in an advanced position usually providing that pre-assist pass.
So why do I feel Lass will be an underrated loss? Because of the other La Liga games vs those smaller teams who like to play with 10 men behind the ball, this is when Lass is more effective. Against those teams, the midfield is usually congested with Real finding less space to work with. In those games Khedira finds it difficult to utilize his vertical runs, in those games Sami's best attributes become of no use and his weaknesses are exploited. In those types of games you need a player who can hold the ball, someone who can run tirelessly and routinely win the ball back. Sami isn't the greatest athlete, hence these are certainly not his strengths. It is in those games that Lass thrives. Lass's roles becomes even more important since his constant hassling allows Alonso some breathing room and prevents him being overworked on defensive duties. Therefore overall, Alonso plays deeper with Lass on the pitch as opposed to when playing with Sami.
Essien was essentially a primarily vertical player in Chelsea. In Madrid, following the above analysis, I believe he'll be utilized more in the Khedira role. Essien is definitely more dangerous making those vertical runs and is often seen near the opposition box, as opposed to camping in his own box. He will be basically a more talented version of Samiin Real's midfield. Which means I can see him being utilized more in those games vs those braver team that leave space in the midfield, in a similar way to how Khedira is utilized now, probably translating into more UCL appearances. That's when Chelsea used to invite teams and play on the counter, Essien was essential for their success. However, I don't see him being effective in games against teams packing the midfield with a 4-5-1 formation, especially with his age and regressing stamina, this is when I feel Lass will be missed. Essien won't be able to effectively replace that tireless job, the dirty work that Lass does, and keep up with the younger legs when trying to win back possession IMO.
To sum it up Essien will provide a slight improvement to Sami's role in Real Madrid's midfield, but won't be able to replace Lass's job against the lesser teams, those games where Real needs to grind one those hard fought 1-0 victories that could sway a title race.
Therefore I go back to my original statement, I believe Lass's loss will affect Madrid more than Essien's gain.
...or all this could be a bunch of bollocks
La Furia
Legion of Doooom
Lass left, Madrid signed Essien to be Mourinho's very own Emerson.
El Gato
Villarato!
Everything is done according to the official website. Only pending a medical. 5mln euros from Anji.
Catalonian Devil..
It really doesn't need so much detail and tactical explanation. And you're in the wrong in places too.
Lass' constant hassling and roaming from his defensive position made Real look clumsy as fuck in midfield, because of how much area Xabi and the CBs had to cover due to his poor movement. Look at Valencia game for instance. The guy made so many holes in just a 2-man midfield with Ozil focusing on mediapunto role, it even seemed as Valencia was the better team at times in the game.
While yes, it would certainly be better if he stayed, because he is a good rotation option for a side like Real who work off ball heckuva lot, it still solves the problems to do with him.
1) He doesn't learn. Twice in his career Mourinho tried to teach him to stop fucking around in midfield and twice the guy was too stubborn to do so. AND the problem is outside football field too, because he probably still speaks fuckall grammatical English or Spanish despite spending most of his career. Really shitty IQ.
2) He has an ego. He's no Makelele to do that. He was once hailed as a guy who'd be better than Yaya Toure and Makelele combined at the time when his promise skyrocketed as he joined RM and made a tremendous impact saving a clusterfuck midfield consisting of Gago, Guti etc. from entire embarrassment, but he was just the best worker of the pack. When the level of training, discipline and the game rose with Mourinho, he automatically became an odd-ball and needed to be replaced by someone who accepted concepts better.
To sum up, no, I don't think Essien will replace him well. He won't play a right-back or at least I doubt it, but the guy at least listens to his manager and does what he is told and then doesn't whine about being a sidekick to a less technically gifted defensive-mid. Frankly if it wasn't for his wonky legs I wouldn't mind him replacing Lass. I'd just be a bit bitter we didn't sign Debuchy. Well, a bit less than I am right now.
Catalonian Devil..
It really doesn't need so much detail and tactical explanation. And you're in the wrong in places too.
Lass' constant hassling and roaming from his defensive position made Real look clumsy as fuck in midfield, because of how much area Xabi and the CBs had to cover due to his poor movement. Look at Valencia game for instance. The guy made so many holes in just a 2-man midfield with Ozil focusing on mediapunto role, it even seemed as Valencia was the better team at times in the game.
While yes, it would certainly be better if he stayed, because he is a good rotation option for a side like Real who work off ball heckuva lot, it still solves the problems to do with him.
1) He doesn't learn. Twice in his career Mourinho tried to teach him to stop fucking around in midfield and twice the guy was too stubborn to do so. AND the problem is outside football field too, because he probably still speaks fuckall grammatical English or Spanish despite spending most of his career. Really shitty IQ.
2) He has an ego. He's no Makelele to do that. He was once hailed as a guy who'd be better than Yaya Toure and Makelele combined at the time when his promise skyrocketed as he joined RM and made a tremendous impact saving a clusterfuck midfield consisting of Gago, Guti etc. from entire embarrassment, but he was just the best worker of the pack. When the level of training, discipline and the game rose with Mourinho, he automatically became an odd-ball and needed to be replaced by someone who accepted concepts better.
To sum up, no, I don't think Essien will replace him well. He won't play a right-back or at least I doubt it, but the guy at least listens to his manager and does what he is told and then doesn't whine about being a sidekick to a less technically gifted defensive-mid. Frankly if it wasn't for his wonky legs I wouldn't mind him replacing Lass. I'd just be a bit bitter we didn't sign Debuchy. Well, a bit less than I am right now.
Catalonian Devil
Shukran Pep
I didn't watch the Valencia game but what you're saying pretty much confirms what I've said above. Lass is better utilized against lesser teams who clog the midfield, against teams like Valencia Sami's vertical play is more useful than Lass's defensive approach. I would've preferred to start Khedira in that particular game.
Not really gonna argue much re his IQ as I don't really know much about his off the pitch attributes.
It just seems odd to me that such a tactically defiant player as you say, seems to rarely ever stray away from his proper positioning on the pitch throughout the game or venture into the opponents area, as can be seen in various heat maps. It actually seems as if he is strictly abiding by the restrictions Jose is setting to his role. Whining about sharing minutes with Khedira I could understand, just doesn't make sense to me how he is tactically defiant given what is observed on the pitch game in game out.
At least we agree that Essien won't be replacing Lass's role.
Bottom line, the issue IMO is not essentially about losing Lass himself, but rather letting him go without having/getting someone who could effectively do his job at the same level or better...
Not really gonna argue much re his IQ as I don't really know much about his off the pitch attributes.
It just seems odd to me that such a tactically defiant player as you say, seems to rarely ever stray away from his proper positioning on the pitch throughout the game or venture into the opponents area, as can be seen in various heat maps. It actually seems as if he is strictly abiding by the restrictions Jose is setting to his role. Whining about sharing minutes with Khedira I could understand, just doesn't make sense to me how he is tactically defiant given what is observed on the pitch game in game out.
At least we agree that Essien won't be replacing Lass's role.
Bottom line, the issue IMO is not essentially about losing Lass himself, but rather letting him go without having/getting someone who could effectively do his job at the same level or better...
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