La Liga 2023/24

sportsczy wrote:

halamadrid2 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:

That game wasn't a dismantling.  They were starting to dominate and then we scored two quick goals against the run of play.  That killed the game.  They didn't have the belief in themselves as they do now... early in the season (September).  They've beaten good teams and picked up a lot more confidence since.

If they can keep this type of form going, they aren't going away.

We went 2-0 up in the first half. The game was never in doubt. Could've scored a couple of more goals too. Girona won all but one of their games and were top of the league when we played them.

Their form reminds me of Celta's form a few seasons ago when they were first until Christmas. I am glad they beat Barca because they are our rivals. Girona picking up this many wins is a hood cinderella story but they'll falter eventually just like all these smaller teams that go on these runs.

I am more worried about Atleti, who seem to be winning every game.

They were starting to dominate play early on and then we scored 2 quick goals against play (17 and 21 minutes).  That ended the game.  We didn't control anything. We were very pragmatic with our chances.

I disgaree. The game was never in doubt from start to finish. We started better than Girona and scored two well deserved goals. We then cruised through the whole game and could've scored a couple of more goals than we did.

The only game we were outclassed in was against Atleti. Who ran us off the road. All blame goes to Carlo on that one.

All our draws should actually be wins but I don't mind those results given we have nearly a whole 11 out injured

Pedri giving away the ball time after time. Lewa missing sitters amd Balde being useless. But then again Valencia are crap themselves. Far too many kids in that team. They need some senior players

Pedri always looks like he's ran a marathon before the game

FDJ with a couple of beautiful balls todays

Xavi on borrowed time

Draw vs lowly Valencia... yep, thats our level. Top 4 in risk?

Still dont think Xavi will be sacked midseason but now I'm starting to doubt

Endrick has arrived, will he make any immediate impact

for Sociedad in 18 months yeah

I thought cules should know n not be surprised by all this, n dont think we should be aiming to win anything these few yrs, thats always been the aim we should have considering the adjustments we have had to make despite trying to bring top players in. Real n other top players are just better than us both financially n players wise. Xavi isnt bad just ppl always react the same when things dont go well. There are plenty of positives... but still a few more adjustments to make obviously. Need wingers is top priority, n depending how good Roque will be n if Lewand will continue to drop off or able to regain his form, etc.

Vibe wrote:Endrick has arrived, will he make any immediate impact

Who?

I think Villareal made this match very comfortable for us, but Modric really is a joy to watch when he's in this kind of form. Wish we could roll back his years and have him with us for another few years, because his profile of player and level of quality are probably going to be impossible to replace like for like.

Alaba gone for season. Another torn ACL. The club may for once use the January market to pick up another CB!

is it just me or are we playing the best football we have played in the last 5 years? as far as from a 'fun to watch' perspective.

titosantill wrote:is it just me or are we playing the best football we have played in the last 5 years? as far as from a 'fun to watch' perspective.

I like to think that it will get even better once we sign a proper striker and a defender or two, but it does feel like we're no longer in the early stages of a re-building process, which is definitely a good sign for the near future.

I hope xavi remains coach of farca. He is the man for the job. Ive never seen a man who can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory the way he has, its quite admirable really.

Wow... another ACL...wtf is happening... so I guess Real will be stuck with Nacho? Great

Btw, no one talking about the Luton captains heart problem? Anything gotta do with Covid vax?

Its quite amazing that I have never seen anywhere on the net where anyone mentions the fact that we miss Alba, criminally underrated. Hes been such a big part of our play for so long, its really been evident this season that hes gone alongside Busquets that we struggle so much. Alba gets up n down offering so much all those yrs its only the final one or two hes declined due to age. Watching how left side is pretty bad nowadays in comparison.

Balde we thought will be good enough replacements has prove atm lacking a bit. Hopefully Xavi gets a LW n asap to help things, badly needed.

titosantill wrote:is it just me or are we playing the best football we have played in the last 5 years? as far as from a 'fun to watch' perspective.

Competition in midfield.  Kroos, Modric and Casemiro could walk half the season without worrying about getting out of the top 11.  Casemiro is gone... and Kroos + Modric need to compete against Tchou, Camavinga and Valverde.

That's literally all it is IMO.

Unpopular opinion: I also feel that Vini would stall movement because he's a player who keeps the ball at his feet too much and always goes for 1v1 regardless of what's in front of him. The current players rely a lot more on movement and, thus, the play feels a lot more fluid.

It’s not just you, Tito. I have been saying this team is exciting to watch since beginning of season. Sports is right re internal competition, but I say it was getting rid of the dead wood that has made for the internal competition. I don’t ever remember a time when every single player on squad had the coach’s confidence. That plus the fact that Carlo is more flexible is the reason we are doing well and it’s actually incredible when you think of the number of severe injuries there have been. I remember a time, I think it was Modric went out for an extended period and that one player killed any chance of success. In years past, any of the injuries to Courtois, Militao, Vinicius would have had a huge impact on team’s chances.

Plus if the club does follow through with the reported additions at CF, LB, the team only gets better and given age of players, it should be for a sustained period.

The only future concerns of mine is I hope they also look for reinforcements at RB and CBs, as these two areas will have aging / competition issues in a couple of years.

I was hoping they would give Vinicius Tobias (he was on bench) some minutes yesterday to see if he is a possibility or not, but the injuries to Alaba and Mendy, plus wanting to get returning injured players some minutes, killed the chance to play him.

Why does it looks like we're playing our "best" football in a long time?

Well... we've dialed back the years back to my favorite period of play that I've ever seen from us since I started watching in 10/11.





The 442/424 4 midfielder quartet of that post La Décima period in 14/15 where Bale got injured for a few games and we played the closest I've ever seen us play a "total football" brand of football, as I think of it anyways, we were great at defending and attacking as a team. The team was very "connected". There was a lot of dynamic movement from everyone, most particularly perhaps Isco and James, and Marcelo, Carvajal, Ronaldo, and Benzema were in support of the magic that Isco-Kroos-Modric-James were doing. There was a lot of good pressing and tracking back, and we were very technical and you could feel the good vibes in the dressing room. This current dressing room is lovely, I believe.

What movement yesterday from Bellingham, Modric, Rodrygo, Brahim.

Exciting to see more of this in the coming years.

CL is going to be the big test for Madrid without a proper CB pairing (there are none available to buy in the winter). Like Nacho... but he's not quite good enough against the best players. Maybe they move Mendy to CB.

sportsczy wrote:CL is going to be the big test for Madrid without a proper CB pairing (there are none available to buy in the winter).  Like Nacho... but he's not quite good enough against the best players.  Maybe they move Mendy to CB.

If Nacho isn't good enough which isn't true, we've won a couple of CLs with him as a starter then Mendy will mpst definitely not be good enough lol

halamadrid2 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:CL is going to be the big test for Madrid without a proper CB pairing (there are none available to buy in the winter).  Like Nacho... but he's not quite good enough against the best players.  Maybe they move Mendy to CB.

If Nacho isn't good enough which isn't true, we've won a couple of CLs with him as a starter then Mendy will mpst definitely not be good enough lol

I do think he's been a very under-appreciated, utility player for us, but he's about to turn 34. I used to really appreciate his work rate, but I don't want to find out how much he's declined physically over the years.

I don’t think the issue will be Nacho’s capabilities. Sports never has liked our defense since Varane left plus he doesn’t watch a lot of our games! But there is real issue and that is no depth. We have only 2 CBs left!

I believe the CL is not as strong as last year. In the first knockout round the only matchups difficult to predict are La Real and Barcelona. It sure looks like semis will be down to RMad, City, Arsenal and Bayern. And all of these have issues. So I believe the issue will be not enough CB available.

There are only a couple of options re depth,

1. Go to January market, but there isn’t much available.
2. Use some Castilla CBs, but IMO, none are ready.
3. Use players in squad, i.e. Mendy and Tchouameni. Carvajal could be an option, but he has his own injuries to deal with and there is no other competent right lateral in squad.

Nacho has been more than adequate and Rudiger has been great this year. Tchouameni played there one game and did well. I laugh when Sports says we should use Mendy over Nacho! Another case of not watching games!

I'm not saying Nacho is bad... he's just not 1st team quality for any of the better teams in Europe.  His biggest issue is lack of athleticism combined with being short.  Not much he can do about it.

Once he has to face Haaland, Mbappe, Kane, etc., he's just naturally going to have problems.  He will do well in a game... but over a string of games?  He'll get exposed.  Like Joselu, it's not his fault either.  He is what he is.  Difference with Joselu is that defensive mistakes are paid cash.  Very unforgiving.

My issue with our defense have been two players: Militao and his lack of maturity + Carvajal just getting old. I also think Mendy is horrible on the attack but a great defender (hence my suggestion of putting him as a CB in this case, even if it's for depth). Rudigger and Alaba (mostly) are great. Now we're just down to Ruddiger.

Tell me that you feel comfortable with Carvajal-Ruddiger-Nacho-Mendy/Fran and no Courtois in CL elimination rounds.