Real Madrid vs Deportivo La Coruña

I really appreciated this performance. The Bernabeu needed a performance like this and as much as I want and can nitpick, it is nice to see positive and sensible football. Ronaldo was unlucky to not get his goal but he did quite well throughout.

Good start by the great man.

I also like the fact that Z is such a classy guy. He didn't jump up and down when we scored, like many managers of other elite clubs do, and kept his cool while standing like a silent killer on the sidelines.

Class, if you don't have it, you're not good enough for Real Madrid.

Deportivo has been anything but tame this year btw. Ask Barca and Atleti (drew all 3 games so far)... they've allowed the second lowest avg shots against per game and this is the third time they were shutout all season (first since October). This was an impressive performance.

Only haters try to belittle this impressive victory

the bernabeu was really loud, let's hope they keep that up even when things aren't going so well. i knew they'd give zidane such a reception. from start to finish they drummed and chanted. i have issues with the defense deportivo could have punished us on a number of occasions in the first half....i'm not happy about that. yeah cristiano's desperation was becoming a bit of a bother. i wish he'd put in a tackle in every game, not just solely to get on the score sheet. i thought he played well on the right. and i got super worried when carvajal took that knock on the shin, the players looked motivated....but yeah defence, defence, defence and more defence.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:I also like the fact that Z is such a classy guy. He didn't jump up and down when we scored, like many managers of other elite clubs do, and kept his cool while standing like a silent killer on the sidelines.

Class, if you don't have it, you're not good enough for Real Madrid.

yes, i also particularly liked that he didn't pull any major fanfare like  step on the field and wave to the crowd before the game, just get on with business....let's see how this goes. for our sake and his i hope this turns out well. i think he wants to promote competition between isco and james, and i like that. not them playing together

Fine fine Sports here I am, for what little time I'm in the U.S.

Told you guys a long time ago Rafael Benitez was a mistake. anyone who paid attention to his blog would have seen what transpired coming. Almost everything I've said of Rafa came to pass. though thankfully I wasnt able to see it as I was hired to fight ISIS in Syria for the past couple of months and only just returned in new years.

Managed to see Zidane's debut on my return. first madrid game for me in a while.

Zidane has learned well from Carlo Ancelotti, saw shades of Carlo's philosophy on the pitch today. I have absolute faith in Zidane. He shadowed the best in the business as his assistant and now is his time to prove himself what he has learned. there are some issues but thats just nitpicking at best for what was a 5 star performance from the former #5, Zinedine Zidane, for what was ultimately a 5 star debut.

Very pleased. first and maybe last game for me. I still havent decided whether to return to the conflict or not. Money's good but I don't feel like I'm making a difference seeing what has happened in recent time... I hope everyone is in good health as mine was under constant threat by scum for a good while.

welcome, hope you're doing alright. a good first game to catch. you wouldn't have wanted to see us last week

titosantill wrote:welcome, hope you're doing alright. a good first game to catch. you wouldn't have wanted to see us last week

Thankfully ISIS scum are not well trained. but fools aplenty can cause problems for anyone. Our previous coach was Rafael Benitez. I haven't seen his matches in a while but I can easily imagine what has transpired since my tour in Syria. most likely he pissed off the team and lost what little control he had. his shit tactics don't help either. Benitez is a poor mans Mourinho without the man management and is tactically outdated. you don't need a dm in today's game. you just need everyone to do their job defensively.

we saw some of that today and the difference is night and day. Zidane pleases me greatly, attacking football with a hint of Carlo philosophy. A great balance with attacking intent makes for great football.
I can only see great things if Zidane is given time.

Good to see everything is all good Turok. This is Bena from the madridista forum I just changed my name

Perucho21 wrote:Good to see everything is all good Turok. This is Bena from the madridista forum I just changed my name

I remember you m8, you explained this to me before.

I'm only here now as I taking a break (privileges of being a pmc). my site is still closed for the moment, only because I am not sure whether I'm going back or not. but enough of that.

How do you feel about james taking backseat for Isco? I think James is more talented but I am very bothered to learn since returning about him wanting more money for one who hasnt won madrid a title yet.

Isco played in his preferred position for the first time and killed it. James had his chance and he played well, though not as good as Isco.

With BBC nailed to the starting eleven, it's almost impossible to play both James and Isco and keep our balance. So it's not really a matter of James taking a secondary role. It's just either him or Isco. Today Z chose Isco, next time it might be James. But the most important thing is that both will have their fair share of playing time.

Isco did a fine job though he needs to learn to balance his forward runs with his defensive duties. sometimes today he was a little too forward but considering what has happened recently, i will not blame him for any issues.

getting rid of that idiot benitez's ideas and removing whatever nonsense he tried to instill on this team will take time to adjust.

from today's result we're well on our way, just time is needed to perfect everything.

The issues defensively was more about Pepe and Ramos breaking the bad habits they developed under Rafa... namely, they've lost aggressiveness since the had absolutely no cover. Always played on their heels.

With Carvajal in there and tighter line gaps, they'll get more comfortable attacking the play as opposed to reacting to it.

As a side note... Kroos needs to step it up too. Whenever he gets any pressure, he loses the ball. A lot of the opposition danger came from him losing the ball in the middle or not occupying space to receive a pass. Needs to read plays a whole lot better.

isco killed it really? really? ok then

kroos was excellent ease up with criticism.

sportsczy wrote:The issues defensively was more about Pepe and Ramos breaking the bad habits they developed under Rafa... namely, they've lost aggressiveness since the had absolutely no cover.  Always played on their heels.

With Carvajal in there and tighter line gaps, they'll get more comfortable attacking the play as opposed to reacting to it.

As a side note... Kroos needs to step it up too.  Whenever he gets any pressure, he loses the ball.  A lot of the opposition danger came from him losing the ball in the middle or not occupying space to receive a pass.  Needs to read plays a whole lot better.

Everyone is still recovering from Rafa Benitez. Kroos has played very well for the first time in a long time. he did lose the ball but he will get better with time. I saw many positives with Kroos, such as his passing and coordination with modric though it is true it could be better as does the tactical awareness.

Having said that, first time in a while I've seen madrid midfield have control of a match even if its loose control. I feel varane needs to start but thats just me. Pepe needs to learn to compensate for his loss of speed as his positioning led to some moments for the opposition like you said. Ramos will be ramos. which is why I think Varane is needed but at the same time Varane was a little rusty out there today. some bad passing.

having said all that, this is nitpicking at best apart from pepe-ramos. Everyone else did an excellent job all things considered. I expect great things to come.

real talk though Kroos nearly back to his best in Zidane's debut. what kind of PoS was Rafa that Kroos was playing bad up until now? further vindication that Benitez an utter shit.

Well then... that says it all about benitez don't it? pinche pendejo es Rafa benitez.

Turok

I'd need to watch the match again but overall i felt like it was a positive performance.

The formations i saw out there by the team were consistently mainly in-between 433 and 442, and to keep it short, i think that unclear in-betweenness/disposition is not going to be desirable against tougher opponents.

Bale seems to have improved but he still lacks that constant movement and thinking intensity required at the top level i think. Too much strolling around. In the tougher matches everything will have to be more compact, more intense, and more error free but this seems like a good start.

I think Zizou's startling line-up and subs were pretty well picked, gave Isco the playing time he needed in the area of the pitch he most likes, brought in James and gave him some good time too...Jese...

Ronaldo is despicable.

Nicolas Cage wrote:Turok

I'd need to watch the match again but overall i felt like it was a positive performance.

The formations i saw out there by the team were consistently mainly in-between 433 and 442, and to keep it short, i think that unclear in-betweenness/disposition is not going to be desirable against tougher opponents.

Bale seems to have improved but he still lacks that constant movement and thinking intensity required at the top level i think. Too much strolling around. In the tougher matches everything will have to be more compact, more intense, and more error free but this seems like a good start.

I think Zizou's startling line-up and subs were pretty well picked, gave Isco the playing time he needed in the area of the pitch he most likes, brought in James and gave him some good time too...Jese...

Ronaldo is despicable.

Changing your name does not hide your style of posting, TMO. I recognise your posts well as I was a capable admin.   Sports was right, you did make it back here... good. looks like coming here was worth it after all. in case you're wondering, I've already contacted tototo. dunno when she will respond but hopefully she replies to my email.

CR7 will always be CR7. I personally thought it was a great performance from everyone all things considered.

edit: shamelessly stealing this from SRM's twitter:

SocialRealMadrid Twitter wrote:
Modric on Benitez: "I want to thank him for what he has done. But to be honest, I think the change has been good."
"Whenever you lose, someone always has to pay, but to be honest, you only have to compare this game with the previous ones."

Top kek @ Benitez.

Here's a graphic of our team's average positioning today Vs Coruna.



If you try to imagine the various things that this image can come to represent, they will surely mostly be positive. They go inline with the belief that the team has to be compact, hard working and efficient.

None of that BS Benitez 4231 experimenting with Bale as a freeroller (headless chicken) or CR7 in positions that imply more work than he is capable of .

A quick survey of our average positioning (courtesy of Whoscored) throughout some of our more difficult matches with Benitez such as against Sevilla (Loss), PSG (Draw) , Barcelona (****), Villareal (Loss), Valencia (Draw), Atletico (Draw) show positioning that pretty much varies significantly from that seen with Ancelotti and and so far with Zizou. Take that in as you please.

This graphic of us with Ancelotti vs Bilbao at the Bernabeu last season is also interesting.



VERY similar player to player with what we saw today. Bale had one of his best matches with us that day and his positioning was better today. Also notice the difference in midfield positioning between Isco and James in these two graphics; against Bilbao we played something that leaned more towards 433 and today we played something that leaned more towards 442. Isco's positioning is thus arguably more positively fluid (and more similar to what we played when Bale was out against Liverpool, Barcelona, Granada) whilst James' is not.

Interestingly, we won both matches (Bilbao and Coruna) 5-0. And Bale had two of his best performances when he actually came close to doing his duties.

Positive performance overall but we lost possession a lot during build-up. It is something that will get fixed over time (when the players get used to Zidane's tactics).

best game in more than 12 months. Simply Lovely. This is the madrid we want to see.
The quick transition from defense to attack, the speed at which they passed the ball, the confidence they all showed, the speed at which navas always released the ball - this was orgasmic football, and it was just 4 days into the Zidane era. I hope they improve at a linear rate.

The only error in the game, which is actually a big deal, was the ease with which they penetrated us when we lost possession.
What we have to do to overcome that is focus on keeping the ball better.

I also hope Zidane has a plan B apart from attack attack attack.

Danilo should not just be benched, he should be sold; we lost the wrong battle with Barca.
Vaqquez can be our Sergi Roberto - Jack of all trades, master of all.
Ronaldo sold, Sign Hazard or GIve Jese the chance
Dont sign pogba
Use Cheryshev as a left-back.