Should Callejon start over Di Maria?

I think Di Maria has been inconsistent this season. Callejon keeps things simple, works hard, makes intelligent runs and he's a good finisher. There probably wouldn't be pointless crosses from the right wing if Callejon played.

Yes

Di Maria has been woeful

Yes.

Di Maria is out of form, he needs more competition in his role, I'd bench him for the next league match and play Callejon instead. Mourinho is aware of his loss of form and has been substituting him a lot more often this season, he may eventually lose his place to Callejon if he doesn't improve his performances.

no, di maria should get benched (he wont) but i wouldnt start callejon,

i basically would give a try to one of these duos, modric-kaka, ozil-kaka, modric-ozil.
and once again sub in callejon later in the game, or di maria..

No i wouldn't want Callegoat on the wings he is too shall i say predictable and a non-factor out there.

Ok if he was able to cross, play a throughball, chip in between defenders. but he does none of these atm

the guy is a master at running behind defenders and he is very(i hate to say this word b/c MT always uses it) agile. I'd definitely try him out as a CF for a run of games and see how he fares. I know he will do good tho, he is basically a less injury prone Higuain and has shown alot more efficiency than him lately

We need a right back. Di maria is literally playing two positions.

I think you might start callejon for a couple of games but overall di maria should be the favoured right winger. has been hit and miss but has had to defend a lot too and offers more than callejon there. no disrespect to calleti, he is a great goal scorer but is more suited to the role of a squad player

AS usual Le Sams insight is near flawless. Di Maria is having to do overtime because of your poor rb position.

Le Samourai wrote:We need a right back. Di maria is literally playing two positions.

Carvajal :dreaming:

Yes for callejon.

Di maria is out of form. He has taken that turnover tendency to another level. As much as i think he is being limited by not having a right back to support him,this level of performance is really pathetic and should not be tolerated. Worst ground passer in our team.

Yes, right now he should. Di Maria is an extremely hard worker, has to be said. But he is senseless with the ball and surrenders possession far too easily.

At the very least Calle should be used to motivate Di Maria

jibers wrote:AS usual Le Sams insight is near flawless. Di Maria is having to do overtime because of your poor rb position.

yep, love le samourai contributions

yeah hes right, di maria does. but two attacking full backs, at least when marcelo is in the squad, may be a little much.

di maria has been inconsistent, annoying at times. does something worth while every once every ten tries. prefer modric and ozil playing together.

but callejon has been great, he deserves it.

Here is a case for why Callejon should perhaps be given a chance under certain circumstances.

If you put say Modric and Ozil on the pitch at the same time our play will be become much more controlled and centralized (the counter will always be on, all the players look it and understand how to execute it, Ozil is actually better than Di Maria in that regard). Ozil will take up deep slightly off centre positions rather than runs on the wing and Modric is a player who is comfortable playing in congestion, I think he actually prefers it.

With this, because Ronaldo does gravitate toward the wing to collect the ball in space the oppostion's defensive focus will shift left. Because Callejon is an auxillary player he'll square the ball to the creative players in the centre and wait to time his runs.

The result is Arbeloa is under less pressure to come up, he can hang back and stay in position and Callejon presses high almost as well as Di Maria does. So Arbeloa is less exposed and there's much less opportunity for someone like Callejon to give the ball away.

But keep in mind you're sacrificing potency for control. And potency and wing play is what the attack has always revolved around. You're also giving teams freedom to bracket better players, because defenses actually need to pay attention to Di Maria. Callejon can punish you but you're not afraid of him being on the ball.

If we had an overlapping right back there would be no conversation. Di Maria would eventually develop the acumen to utilize all four of his options because the spacing of attacking players would be much more conducive to his extrodinary vision. As it is he's aiming for Ronaldo, we know this,, as does the manager and everyone else in the Stadium. With Higuiain on the pitch he's less predictable and more likely to succeed because he has two options he trusts.

Benz can play on the right as well. From an attacking standpoint he can do anything you can think of but he is not going to effectively press in even the slightest sense.

Yes, I think so too. Di Maria for all his defensive skills can not control the ball well enough (May be he has too much pace for his own good). Callejon is a good alternative and competition for the position.

As for Carvajal - what makes ppl think he is better than Arbeloa at this point?

Nedved wrote:As for Carvajal - what makes ppl think he is better than Arbeloa at this point?

His performances up until now???

halamadrid2 wrote:

Nedved wrote:As for Carvajal - what makes ppl think he is better than Arbeloa at this point?

His performances up until now???

Do you have any stats? I am sure he is getting invaluable mins at Bayer Leverkusen to develop his game and come back to RM in future.

But with his current experience no coach at RM would have risked starting him. My concern with shorter defenders (Carvajal is 5.8 ) is pitting them against big strikers. Unless shorter defenders are wide and strong like Roberto Carlos.

Nedved wrote:

halamadrid2 wrote:

Nedved wrote:As for Carvajal - what makes ppl think he is better than Arbeloa at this point?

His performances up until now???

Do you have any stats? I am sure he is getting invaluable mins at Bayer Leverkusen to develop his game and come back to RM in future.

But with his current experience no coach at RM would have risked starting him. My concern with shorter defenders (Carvajal is 5.8 ) is pitting them against big strikers. Unless shorter defenders are wide and strong like Roberto Carlos.

A couple points. I don't really disagree with you , coaches have the right to not risk throwing a 20 year old into the deep end. It's not really assured that he would have had the same opportunities/form here.

1. He is a fullback. He does not need aerial ability. The only contribution aerial ability can make is on set pieces.

2.He is wide and strong. The physical aspect of the game is the most impressive part. It is his energy and speed combined with his feel for the game that make him such an impressive talent.

3.I agree that he's developing his game and provided he should come back at some point, his stint in Germany will be helpful. However I also think he's ready.

4.I don't know if stats really make a difference. He's averaging 3.9 interceptions and 3.4 tackles a game. But if you watch some Leverkuzen games you'll see exactly what he can do.

He's always all over the place regardless.

Di Maria benched for Callejon.

Right decision by mou.

I don't mind if Di Maria comes on as a sub to help out/possibly make the difference.

But right now it's only fair that Callejon starts.