Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

Jabrodinho

I wish we could add 2 strikers, a RW and a CM

But knowing our board, we'll go for a LB, RB, GK and a ball boy and call it a day. Wait how can i forget, we'll buy back Joselu and expect him to hit double digit goals from a combined total of 10 mins off the bench all season

Then we'll be out of all competitions by mid November after relying on great grandad Modric, permanently crippled Bale and great grandson Vinicious to carry us

i've always said flo is rightly suited for the madrid job, but i feel if we do make big signings this summer, he should also include an apology for this stench of a season we've had. its not too much to ask. if we don't sign anyone and we sign a bunch of 15 year old kids, then fine, no apology needed, he is really sticking with his new found philosophy

but all that "this team just won 3 ucls (even though we were without our talisman, and it makes a huge difference, especially in Big games), so we will keep it the same and sign a goalie" someone has to apologize for attempting to market that rubbish to fans, especially when it has yielded hiring 3 coaches in one season, and getting knocked out of all comps in march, and no matter how much cologne we tried to put on it, it was complete doodoo

and btw son would be a welcomed addition if we go for him; he'll be fantastic in our league, he has the right physique and skill-set. but for a team that hasn't made a major coup in the market in years, we need to not get too excited on any signings until we see flo hold the person's jersey at a presser

Hapless_Hans wrote:100m

Contract is up next year

Noone throws around stupid money like Uncle Flo tbh, and it's great that he's back in action to remind us

I'm with Hans though.

Why pay 100 mil for Hazard and he has one year left on contract

Makes no sense. Should be way less, even 50 mil seems high.

Then again the club paid 15 mil for Brahim Diaz with 6 month left on his contract.

Because you can't force Chelsea to accept 50 millions lol. As much as Chelsea know Hazard want to leave and will not renew, they also know we are desperate to sign him now and desperate not to wait a year.

Hazard is worth 200 million in todays market. 100 million for him is nothing 1 year left or not.

Mr Nick09 wrote:Because you can't force Chelsea to accept 50 millions lol. As much as Chelsea know Hazard want to leave and will not renew, they also know we are desperate to sign him now and desperate not to wait a year.

i was just going to say that. a player having a year left doesn't automatically mean they'll go for 24 million ala van pearsie. not only does chelsea know madrid is desperate, but we know we are desperate, and it will be a huge blunder for management to lose out on a player who has actually made it no secret that he wants to join. even if it means waiting a year; a year is a long time and a lot can change; he can sign a new deal or walk as a free agent to another club not named Real Madrid

the context surrounding the situation matters. for a player like kagawa, if dortmund proved stubborn, there where other options for utd. in the case of rvp, arsenal already had an alarmingly poor reputation when it came to bargaining power and holding unto their experienced players....basically they were too nice in the market, and that's not going to cut it, in such cut throat environment

There’s also the fact that the market is relatively small, same clubs dealing with each other over and over. If you screw someone, they will remember. That’s why you see Flo pay something extra at times, so as to not piss off other clubs.

You can take the Trump approach to deals, extract all the benefits in one direction as opposed to a win win situation, but you can’t expect to come back a second time with that approach.

Zidane: There will be changes, I know who I want

Once it isn't the double full back tactic or starting Vasquez, do what you must Don Zizou.

halamadrid2 wrote:Zidane: There will be changes, I know who I want

I bet it's all of his sons.

Jeux Finis.

Vallejo is out of here, and not only have Ceballos and Llorente been ostracized since Zidane's return, now THEY HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN CALLED UP for tommorow's match against Bilbao. Valverde meanwhile has been called up and has posted a picture on his social media of Zidane tenderly watching over him like a mama duck with her ducklings.



Told ya. Vallejo, Llorente, Ceballos, and prob Isco, all out.

Fede in.

he also said even the tactics will change... this would be the least predictable to me, as i have been saying all this time, Vinicius will start, and so will Hazard. That means you need a 4231, you want to be aggressive and you want to attack teams to make sure madrid is feared again.

I say we go for this lineup just because

Valverde
Rodrygo - Hazard - Vinicius
Jovic - Benzema

You want to make a wager on that Nick.  I say that, unless we sign Pogba or another type of super freak B2B CM, we're never in a million years going to play a 4231. And even then, I am very very skeptical that Zidane is going to run an unbalanced scheme.

we can make a wager on that sure. i think that's the vision right now, and they will try to sign players who fit that. Even without signing pogba you can sign players who allow you to play a dynamic 2 man midfield.

And if that's the vision it doesnt surprise me that Zidane loves Valverde because he will do well in a 2 man midfield, he is a little bit jack of all trades right now, plays simple and direct, and is very active running up and down.

I've been thinking that i'm not sure Zidane is the biggest fan of Reguilon, and i also think Zidane may still like Marcelo, which may end up in a loan (and eventual return) for Reguilon, buying a new elite-potential LB, and having Marcelo stay 1 more year or two.  

As for formations, 4312 would not be ideal for Hazard or Vinicius, and it would be suicidal if we also started Marcelo + CMK. 433, 4231, and 442 probably most likely formations, but 433 doesn't maximize Hazard and Vinicius together, and Modric is getting older, Kroos is a tractor, and Casemiro is incomplete. So we need a least one very good dynamic midfielder, two if one of Kroos or Modric leaves. I hope Zidane is enthusiastic about ending the CMK, sounds like he has plans and players in mind.

With Marcelo 4231 is impossible and you could have prime Essien there.  That's the first major hurdle.   Second one is that it's equally impossible if Kroos is going to cover that side and you could have Maldini as his fullback.  Third, Casemiro/Modric would be an awful combo too regardless of the fullback.

You would literally need to sell both Kroos and Casemiro and then get a prime athletic B2B.  This is assuming Modric can do the job on the right side (or if he wants to)... and that's questionable for me too given his age.

You're asking Zidane to get rid of Marcelo, Casemiro, Kroos and likely Modric...  to accommodate Vinicius...  I give it a 0.00001% chance of happening in terms of the 4231 being our most used formation. Against shit team and cup games where the other side is going to park the bus exclusively, i can see ZZ doing it to get some playing time for Vinicius/Rodrygo and give a CM some rest. But other than that, no.

casemiro might not be the best fit in a 2 man midfield, but he is a lot more fonctional than Kroos for example, so i dont anticipate him to go anywhere. I do expect Kroos to move and maybe Modric as well, specially if he intends to be a starter

I am asking Zidane to mainly get rid of Kroos. If we sign Pogba, then i can foresee a Pogba-Casemiro double pivot. The reality is that Vinicius makes more differences today than Modric, Kroos, Marcelo etc...

Pogba - Casemiro works... as long as Marcelo is gone. Hazard doesn't defend. Benzema neither obviously. Vinicius is very poor at it too (based on your lineup). You need 8 men to defend.

That's the big reason that BBC + Marcelo was often such an unmitigated disaster despite having moments. You were asking Bale and Marcelo to play functional defense and they couldn't do that more often than not.

If we're ever going to compete for La Liga titles, we need a starting 11 that is balanced and consistent...

Yeah, I'm with sports for the most part. I don't see ZZ departing from his 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 diamond. He is a man of balance, and you would really have to throw out the baby with the bathwater (so to speak) in order to accommodate a 4-2-3-1. I like the 4-2-3-1, I just think in Madrid and under ZZ it is unbalanced and unrealistic. Especially if we didn't make a ton of signings to make it work.

Vallejo and Isco made it into the squad though TMO

Also, you do know most of us are fine with whatever Zizou does right? I mean, I was also an Ozil fan and that shipped sailed years ago. Players come, players go. Shit, @halamadrid2 probably still sleeps in his Di Maria jersey.

vanDEEZ wrote:Yeah, I'm with sports for the most part. I don't see ZZ departing from his 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 diamond. He is a man of balance, and you would really have to throw out the baby with the bathwater (so to speak) in order to accommodate a 4-2-3-1. I like the 4-2-3-1, I just think in Madrid and under ZZ it is unbalanced and unrealistic. Especially if we didn't make a ton of signings to make it work.

yes, it's very clear that we will need to sign at least 2 new midfielders and maybe a 3rd one if modric or kroos want out, to run a competent double pivot; not to mention moving on from marcelo.

I just think the 433 or 41212 do not fix the issues we have had creating chances and scoring. Hazard-Benzema-Mane (best case scenario) is not a very high scoring attacking line, specially when your right winger is the only one who is great at running into space.

I think we need to open up the pitch and let go of that balance we had with the 433, we need to look for something else. PLayers like Modric and Kroos imo are players we need to move on from, let go of the old and try to create a new dynamic with new players. guys that will run the pitch, and deal with the physical challenge we face in la liga.

we dont have a high volume scoring player anymore, nor do we play tiki taka to monopolize possession away from the other team. In this case, if you want to score a lot of goals again, open up the pitch, run and take some chances.

IF Marcelo comes back motivated and in form + Hazard + Mane/Pepe + Jovic to compete with Benzeam... and assuming you sign someone like Pogba. That's plenty of firepower. Balanced firepower to boot.

We were counting on both Bale and Benzema to score 30+ this season. And you also thought one of Isco or Asensio were going to break out. Benzema's pretty much done his job. The others have been a complete disaster.

Hazard gets you 20 goals, Pogba 10-15, Benzema 25, Mane/Pepe 20-25 and Jovic will get his.

I don't want to get depressed so I won't look up how many goals Isco, Asensio, Kroos, Modric and Bale have gotten us this year lol.

sportsczy wrote:IF Marcelo comes back motivated and in form + Hazard + Mane/Pepe + Jovic to compete with Benzeam... and assuming you sign someone like Pogba. That's plenty of firepower. Balanced firepower to boot.

We were counting on both Bale and Benzema to score 30+ this season. And you also thought one of Isco or Asensio were going to break out. Benzema's pretty much done his job. The others have been a complete disaster.

Hazard gets you 20 goals, Pogba 10-15, Benzema 25, Mane/Pepe 20-25 and Jovic will get his.

I don't want to get depressed so I won't look up how many goals Isco, Asensio, Kroos, Modric and Bale have gotten us this year lol.

Isco - 6
Asensio - 6
Kroos - 1
Modric - 4
Bale - 14

Not exactly great output

Vinicius will start

here is a piece from ABC talking about the 4231 and the status of the players in the squad at the moment...

https://www.abc.es/deportes/real-madrid/abci-zidane-quince-fijos-y-muchos-interrogantes-201904210144_noticia.html