Lopetegui seems like the real deal

Style looks good, cohesive and balanced.  We're using the whole pitch and all our players.  With CR, we tended to be very left dominant and reliant on CR/Marcelo to deliver.

Important 5 game stretch that will show our true level since we got spanked a bit by Atleti... but that was a supercup so who cares.

Regardless, I think the team is going in the right direction even if we do struggle some.  I don't like our passiveness in the transfer market but I like our philosophical approach (so strange to write this lol; world has turned upside down).

Interested to see how Bale and Benzema perform under real pressure now.

I dont think Atletico spanked us at all, i think they took advantage of some of our players being unfit and making mistakes like Marcelo and Varane. They were winning that game until Marcelo made that dumb play and then we would not keep up due to fatigue.

With the way we are playing i dont think Benzema and Bale are feeling like the pressure is on them. It has not looked like that at all.

I am confident we will get 5 wins on that stretch

So far so good, I'll be convinced when he starts winning the big games

I'm optimistic as well. Because against Atletico in Supercup we were 50% and still dominated imo.

Maybe the departure of Zidane and Ronaldo was good for us after all. we needed a fresh start.

Being in the right direction is what satisfies me.

Time will tell. It's still way too early to jump to conclusions.

I like him so far, but if he loses to Sevilla, Valencia and Barcelona, then my opinion will change.

So let's give him time and see where this is going.

Also, I'm very happy with Bale and Benzema. But I need to see how they perform in big games and whether or not they'll keep scoring regularly.

so yeah, everything looks good so far, but only time will tell.

As far as the team's performance goes, consistency is the primary thing I care about. I appreciate that the team seems to look more like a cohesive unit now, and the football they're playing has been easier on the eyes, but other than that, I don't see much of a difference from previous seasons. It's great that Benzema seems to be getting back some of his confidence, but I'll save my excitement until we're at least halfway into the season.

This is more or less what i expected in terms of style. Well rounded and pragmatic, not dogmatic football. I like J Lo's character too. We still have to see how we progress but so far so good and btw, i put extra importance on us winning with J Lo so that playing with a modern approach to football is put in the forefront of how this club goes about with its player transfers and managers.

No Diva or Galactico players that hurt team mechanics, and no negative managers.

Don't know why you keep harping about a poor transfer window, the club made the perfect move to not buy a player for stupid money and announced to the world this is cr heir and recreate that dynamic of relying on 1 player or what you really wanted was for benzema to be ostracized by the club without being giving a chance, cause RM fans know what makes a forward right? Cr was our cf according to you, is he playing cf for juve yet? time to wake up from the dream world.

Anyway the team looks a 10x better not just because cr is gone, but mainly due to jlo seems to know what he is doing, especially how easily he can make adjustments without subbing any players, win or lose he should stay on for 2 more season to cement a proper playing style going forward.

I remain optimistic but it is too early to call right now. Next couple of weeks we got some interesting fixtures so we will see

Cautiously optimistic. We are playing better and are showing many signs that I believe are positive steps towards a much more efficient style of football- one that suits our players and club much more than what we have seen in many years.

That being said, still such early days- the sample size is too small to be anything more than cautiously optimistic.

Fk it, gonna ride this hype till Madrid get roflstomped somewhere along the season. Not that the Zidiamond wasn't putting in pleasing football but there were (a lot) of moments where I really only kept watching due to an emotional attachment.

Under Lope, I am sure the football is gonna have me remembering why I enjoyed watching talented footballers kick a ball.

Doc wrote:Not that the Zidiamond wasn't putting in pleasing football but there were (a lot) of moments where I really only kept watching due to an emotional attachment.

You're not the only one. I actually enjoyed watching PSG and City more, although I have no sentimental attachments to those clubs.

I agree. Actually I probably paid more attention to the GL rants and of course Sports, etc telling us what a great coach zidane is. These rants / so called defense were more entertaining than the games themselves.

The biggest difference I have seen is everyone is involved and I think other than a couple of midfielders, entire squad will be used.

Still it’s too early to tell, but I’m liking (and enjoying) what I’ve seen so far. And who would have thought that we all collectively would have kind words to say about Benzema and Bale!

Once he wins 1 CL... let alone 3 CLs in a row... then we can even have a conversation. As of right now it's comparing Mayoral (Lope) to CR (Zidane).

Well i don't think 3 CL's was all Zidane. as i don't think it was all Ronaldo either. winning trophies is a team effort many people are involved.

If Lope does everything right and still we don't win CL i don't think comparing him to Zidane is wrong.

I wasn’t comparing, obviously it’s too soon for that. What I was saying was the futbol being played this year is much more enjoyable to watch.

@Sports, aren’t you just wee bit overly sensitive on this subject?

stylistic comparisons? Fair game. achievement? No way.

Again, you’re overly senitive. No one was making a comparison. Read above before spouting off. Doc and Timmy about how the team is much more pleasing and enjoyable to watch.

All Zidane's teams played consistently terrible football. First time since 2005 I didn't watch every game live because I couldn't stand watching the team play.

Of course I can compare which version of Madrid entertained me the most and Zidane's version wasn't fun to watch. Now what balanced off the poor(ish) football on show was the titles but that doesn't change how I felt about the football. I really cannot say it any differently.

I've always mentioned that I have no idea what Lope would win and he can very well win nothing, get beaten by every big team he faces and be fired in December/January easily but I like this sort of football and if this is what we'll be seeing, the part of being entertained would be fulfilled.

Since when was Zidane's football bad to look at? what is this revisionist bullshit im reading?

no team looks good when players underperform. Also too soon to praise Lopetegui. solid start but when we hit the big games, the bug games will put to the fire our system of play.

also, Lopetegui doesnt have to deal with the Kommander forcing tactical decisions. So the praise for a more balanced approach compared to Zidane is disingenuous at best. We are very fortunate Bale isn't following the Kommander's example.

In any case so far so good with small fry but CL in particular will decide whether Lopetegui's ideas stand up or gets beat down by his peers. I always prefer balance. too much style means no results. some of you say we look better than Zidane madrid. big deal. there are many teams who supposedly look better on the pitch but wins decide champions and we have stomped on everyone who dared to challenge us in CL. the lack of league titles is due to a lack of consistency. at our best, even the most stylish team falters before Real Madrid's might.

whether Lopetegui's team can match the utter ruthlessness of Zidane Madrid CL remains to be seen. especially without the Kommander.

we look more balanced now but i wouldnt say we're stronger than zidane madrid. Kommander does make that much of a difference.

I liked the football we played under Zidane 2 seasons ago- balanced and used the full squad. Last season unbalanced, kept relying on the same failing players, and was frustrating to watch going forward particularly with all the crossing. I’ll admit I was a fan at first, but many people were against the style of play from the beginning, so it’s hardly revisionist.

How could something be revisionist when it's very recent? I know what I saw. Deez has it spot on to be fair. 16/17 season, had some nice football on show, really nice if I can be fair. But 17/18, nah, I know what I saw and rarely liked it.

And it is never too soon to praise someone because we all know what is in store for Lope when he loses a match. Give that man praise as much as you can while you can.

and you're surprised Turok? You know better than that.

I don't know why you're trying to re-write history. Zidane's Madrid played soul-sucking football - the kind that only trophies can save or forgive. Only during his first 3 games with us did we play great. The rest were basically a slow-killing shit show.

He achieved the impossible with us, but that shouldn't refrain anybody from admitting that his Madrid side wasn't very pleasing to look at.

I agree about Lopetegui though. It's way too early to tell.