Re: FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid

by halamadrid2 Sun Nov 27, 2016 3:54 pm

Unlike Kaka I don't think James is blocking any canteranos from playing for the first team. James is the one who is the odd man out because we don't play with an AM and the closest canterano to the first team is a guy who is playing CDM

As for the worst purchase, we have a few that deserve to be in the top 5 ahead of James. He isn't a bad player he just doesn't fit into the 2 systems that we use. Kaka is definitely the worst purchase we have made in my lifetime, the names after that are debatable. I mean we bought guys like Woodgate (perma injured calamity), Gago (forever a talent), Gravesen (thuglife), Cicinho (partyboy), Cassano (party boy) and more recently Coentrao and Danilo. James' problem is his attitude, he is hardly the only player who has been benched for a prolonged period of time. I remember Mou benching Pepe when he made a statement of support for Iker and he came back the next season like a new player much calmer, classier and much better.

James is going to get his chances. We are playing a game every 3 days and ZZ is rotating nicely, he just needs to take advantage of the mins he gets

by Mr Nick09 Sun Nov 27, 2016 5:43 pm

For the money spent vs the performance on the pitch Kaka is still the worst. There were times at least here when James were killing teams and doing well. His best ever game was the Clasico win when we won playing 442. He played great. Kaka in that CL semis vs Bayern Laughing

by Cyborg Sun Nov 27, 2016 5:46 pm

Doc wrote:Would anyone consider James to be a more bad piece of transfer than Kaka because James has at least 1 good season, full season, under his belt with Madrid. Can't recall Kaka being fully fit for a season or even contributing meaningfully bar one or two La Liga matches.

At least Kaka was likeable

At least Kaka tried, just that his body took too many serious injuries and he couldnt contribute meaningfully.

To me, James thinks he a great player and feels he doesn't have to put effort in, he should be automatically selected.

by futbol_bill Sun Nov 27, 2016 6:10 pm

We got suckered in on damaged goods with Kaka. I believe we did have some decent efforts from Coentrao, Danilo, Woodgate, Gago, but sure disappointments. That however doesn't make them worst purchases.

I agree with you re the two party boys.

James' case is buying a talent we didn't need at a horrendous price. There isn't anything that James can provise that Isco isn't already doing. I wasn't referring to only canteras when I said we had in house solutions. in the case of Kaka it was Raul!

I think when it comes to purchases, they should ALWAYS
evaluate

1. Our needs
2. The talent
3. The mindset
4. The character
5. Through medical analysis

by titosantill Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:06 pm

another 2 points dropped from the rivals (sociedad should have won that match imo)....things are getting interesting. all i want is DISCIPLINE, nothing too fancy, nothing too adventurous, just disciplined football in the clasico and the remainder of the season. i really liked the comment zizou made about how he was on a team that led the league for a long time and ended up winning nothing.....the calamity at the end of the 04 season was just unforeseeable. if we can maintain discipline even with injuries, then we can do a hell of a lot more as the season progresses

right now, the fact that kaka's time has come and gone, kaka was the worse buy (in comparison to james). james still has the chance to perform some miracle and work himself into the side. but when guys like morata, lucas, asensio, are all considered ahead of you despite your obvious talent, it says something about your work rate and that the manager hardly trusts your football.

by halamadrid2 Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:25 pm

Watching Willian Jose pressure their backline for the 80 odd mins he was on the pitch. What I would do to have a striker like that

I would've accepted a draw against Atleti because they are solid unit to play against. I will not accept anything less than a win next week. No way we lose that game.

I don't care who's ass he has to kiss to get it done but we better fecking put Ronaldo as a CF and play an extra midfielder. Their midfield is terrible. We need players who can press high and with Ronaldo in this form we should be able to score at least one goal next week

by shadexticos Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:40 pm

honestly, I do not pity James. He deserves what he is getting
Last season, he resumed preseason late, knowing that he had competition ahead of him.
The result: he didnt have enough games under his belt in preseason to show he warrantied a starting spot and got benched

Stupid player, he did the same thing again this season.
With new additions to the team and a direct competition for his already ultra-competitive position in asensiso one would expect a player who wants to change his fortune to resume early.
While Kovacic and the others resumed early, the idiot completed his holiday and ended up coming later than all of his direct rivals.
The result: not enough game time in preseason to show what he is made up.

he doesnt have the attitude and mental strength to play in madrid.He should go

by The Madrid One Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:12 pm

Shame what's happening to James. If i remember correctly, he was near imperial in attack, defense, and movements exactly two years ago.

by Valkyrja Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:45 pm

James is clearly not a worse transfer than Kaka was. At least the Colombian is young and his stock is still high. We bought an injured Kaka at 27 who became fit 2 years later but didn't have the pace that made him deadly at Milan.

by The Demon of Carthage Mon Nov 28, 2016 4:32 am

I have just seen the result at the Anoeta. Barça dropped two points over there. Great news!

Now, please, whoever is planning on being lazy in the clasico, kindly stay on the bench.

With all the injuries we have, we have no room for error. We must attack as a unit and defend as a unit. I don't want a CF or a winger to be neglecting their defensive duties. The last thing we want is to be playing with 10 or 9 men.

We're 6 points clear now at the top. A Barça win would give them hope. A Madrid win would put the final nail in the coffin, and what better place than the Camp Nou to do that?

I hope our players aren't planning on going into the game thinking "it's ok to lose". That would be monumentally stupid. We must win this.

by titosantill Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:03 am

i highly doubt our players will go there thinking its okay to lose. they know what's at stake. however, the pressure's on barcelona. so i hope we can draw them into making mistakes. i want discipline on all fronts, what i don't want is us showing them too much respect by being afraid, i absolutely hate that. but we too must not give them space to hit us on the break, nor attack without thinking. a big gap wouldn't signal the end of anything, since there's still the second half of the season, but its a solid cushion to have....if we play smart

by Doc Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:07 pm

Honestly, I see no particular reason why anyone of those men should be afraid of facing Barcelona now. Sure, the front 3 can be and is ridiculously potent when the stars align but that midfield and, lol, their "defense" is nowhere near what they used to have.

For the first time since, shit, I guess the UCL semis back in 2002, I am actually confident, over-confident even, as a fan that we would win at the Nou Camp.

I'll be shocked, shocked I tell you, if our players let them control/dictate how the match goes from a midfield perspective.

by futbol_bill Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:52 pm

There is a thread out there saying Barca is ordinary and sure as hell that is true this season. The signings they have done in past 2 years have been horrendous and their academy graduates are just not as talented as their predecessors.

Look at their starters

Goal - they sold the better one
RB - they are playing a CM there!
CBs - best they have is Pique and Utimi, both mistake prone and injured often
LB - Alba - often injured and terrible defensively
Midfield - best is Ratic, Busquets, Iniesta. Busquets having major problems this year, Iniesta out injured and Ratic is overworked. There simply are no impact reserves, mediocre at best.
Front line - no denying the front line is world class and what makes them tick, however Suarez and Neymar are having issues.

Bottom line, Doc is right, this season, more than any other in a long long time, is our best chance.

The key IMO is taking over the midfield. I'm pretty sure Zidane will play 4 midfielders (to their 3) whether it be Isco, Kovacic, Modric and Lucas or Modric, Casemiro, Lucas and Isco or Kovacic.

If it were me, I would play Isco, Kovacic, Modric, Lucas and Casemiro leaving Benz on the bench, but we know that won't happen.

by The Demon of Carthage Mon Nov 28, 2016 3:06 pm

Bill, you should never, ever underestimate your opponent. As long as Barça have MSN and especially Messi, they're not ordinary.

The Argentinean is the undisputed best player in the world and he can, through a moment of magic, win games all by himself.

By giving your opponent respect, you won't be ridiculed if they beat you.

by futbol_bill Mon Nov 28, 2016 4:14 pm

I don't underestimate them at all (I am speaking in a forum LOL). I have watched them a lot this season and they are awesome when MSN is on, but otherwise they are very ordinary. As I said earlier (and Doc as well) this year is the best chance we have had in a long long time. That's not saying we should underestimate them (you are speaking about the players, I would hope).

by Valkyrja Mon Nov 28, 2016 5:14 pm

I want Ramos or Cristiano to score, preferably both

by halamadrid2 Mon Nov 28, 2016 5:20 pm

@DoC, first you underestimated Atleti, actually stopped short of calling them shite, now you are overestimating Barca hmm

. Atleti are alot tougher to beat than Barca. We all know Barca's offence is deadly but unlike Atleti Barca are easy to score against.

A loss and ZZ needs to take a long hard look in the mirror

by Doc Mon Nov 28, 2016 6:54 pm

Even with my over confident self, a loss would be an extremely bitter yet reasonable sized pill to swallow. This is Barcelona at the Camp Nou. What I think I would lose my collective shit with is if a midfield of Gomes, Rakitic and Busquets take the collective piss on us.

Rakitic and Busquets, fine players in their own right is nowhere close to even being half as good as Xavi and Iniesta. Gomes could be replaced by Denis and you wouldn't know the difference.

by halamadrid2 Mon Nov 28, 2016 7:12 pm

Exactly, no way in hell I will accept that midfield dominating against us. They have shown they can score jammy goals against us and Messi v Marcelo is still scary but I will never accept a defeat. No way in hell I sit down after the game thinking "well we played good so there's that" Their midfield is the equivalent of Granero-Diarra-Khedira (not that they got to play together thank God. If Iniesta starts he will be wholly unfit but someone to keep an eye on along with Messi. You never know with Suarez, he could come out the game having looked like a mug or come out with a hattrick from 3 chances.

As for us we have CBs that are prone to making mistakes, a CF who can't shift his ass even if it was lit on fire and a LB that can make Marlos from Sporting CP look like the second coming of Ronaldinho. Still get the win damn it

by titosantill Mon Nov 28, 2016 7:17 pm

these kind of games aren't as straight-forward as people make them out to be. this can go either way, barcelona know they aren't playing la real, so they'll actually want to step up. we know we can increase the gap and are playing in hostile territory, so i doubt we will go gung-ho, unless we concede early. we need to keep our composure and beg ramos not to do anything foolish like concede a red or an early yellow. i think zidane will set the team up to play on the counter, as has often been done

by Doc Mon Nov 28, 2016 7:27 pm

First time I'm genuinely over confident before a Clasico and here comes Tito to pour that cold water of reality on my vibe.

by halamadrid2 Mon Nov 28, 2016 7:28 pm

I don't think the ground argument can be used in ElClasico. They have won plenty of times in our stadium, one as recently as last season while we have won plenty at theirs. That is one thing that can be scraped off the advantage list.

by titosantill Mon Nov 28, 2016 7:48 pm

the ground argument is usually used in reverse with clasicos, especially with us. its like we get so nervous that our fans will boo that we sometimes just drown ourselves. i've seen us play with more confidence away in clasicos than at home over the last 10 years. before that, we played better at home than at the nou camp

in barcelona's case however, though their fans are just as demanding as ours, they'll never reach the point where they'll cheer for us (which i actually respect. i was disgusted when the bernabeu applauded ronaldinho, iniesta and even del piero), so their team is usually more comfortable than how we are at home. anyways that's just by the way side....my point is i don't want anyone doing stupid things, like forgetting who to mark or not paying attention when a player runs off the ball behind them

lol not trying to pour cold water on anyone's happiness, but sometimes we (fans and players) need that at times. we certainly needed it that year we went on a 22 game run and ended with nothing. if we can be disciplined for 90 minutes, this will go well....lol just 90 minutes of discipline and commitment is all i ask

by futbol_bill Mon Nov 28, 2016 9:29 pm

I think you can throw out history for this one. Fact is Barcelona has been the better team (sometimes much better) team in past 10 years. We've had to resort to superior tactics to even make them competitive endevours.

But this year, other than their front line, we are definitely a superior team.

We can't assume it will be an easy game, a sure win or anything like that, but there are plenty of reasons why we fans can feel confident going into this game!

by The Demon of Carthage Tue Nov 29, 2016 5:35 am

I didn't underestimate Atlético, Hala. They're elite. But I didn't agree with those who said we shouldn't expect a win because we have so many injuries. I thought the talent we had at that point was enough to beat them and I didn't like the mentality of settling for a draw. When You're Madrid, you have to play for the win, always.

Same here, I expect nothing less than a win and I would be furious if we lost against Barcelona. But you have to understand that "on-paper" predictions usually go out of the window in big games.

Nobody thought we would beat Atlético in the CL final last year, but we did. Nobody thought we would beat Barça at Camp Nou last year, but we did.

Bottom line is, don't assume anything before a big game. Just go in with the mentality that losing is not an option and give everything you have and then some more on the pitch.

And I absolutely loved this sentence of yours:

...I will never accept a defeat. No way in hell I sit down after the game thinking "well we played good so there's that"

This is the mentality of true Madrid fans.

by The Demon of Carthage Tue Nov 29, 2016 3:20 pm

Injury Update for both sides (29/11/2016):

Real Madrid:

1. Gareth Bale:

Injury: Ruptured tendons in ankle.
Status: Out.

2. Toni Kroos:

Injury: Fractured foot.
Status: Out.

3. Alvaro Morata:

Injury: Hamstring tear.
Status: Out.

4. Fabio Coentrao:

Injury: Muscle injury.
Status: Doubtful.

5. Danilo:

Injury: Muscle injury.
Status: Doubtful.

6. Raphael Varane:

Injury: Knock to the right knee.
Status: Cleared

7. Case:

Injury: fractured foot.
Status: Cleared

Barcelona:
1. Piqué: Cleared.
2. Iniesta: Cleared.
3. Umtiti: Cleared.
4. Arda: Cleared.

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