The Coentrao experiment

Most of us were confused when we paid over 30 million for LB when we already had Marcelo. We were all speculating that he would be tried at RB or Marcelo would be moved.

The preseason rolled along and Coentrao was used as a midfielder... to the shock of all. If you wanted a midfielder, I'm sure 30+ million gets you a darn good one. No need to try and move a WC LB into a new role.

He's struggled at times in the midfield (understandably) and seemed most comfortable when asked to attack the wing on the left side and be a midfield enforcer... nothing great mind you. But at least, he had a positive impact in those roles. He lacks the passing, movement and vision of a midfielder... so there's little hope that he could play at a Madrid level if asked to be a true mid.

November is rolling in and Coentrao is now on the bench (again, understandably).

Can someone please explain to me why Mou signed him?

He can cover LB, LW and CDM. Good player for cover, but he is not worth 30 mil.

Coentrao is a young WC LB though... i mean, he's top 5 at his position. Why in the world would he agree to change positions and why in the world would we pay over 30 million for a backup midfielder who can't play the midfield???

Because he is portuguese, and Jose Mendes needs to make money

I think this is question only Mou can answer!!!!!

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:Because he is portuguese, and Jose Mendes needs to make money

LOL, and I thought you said I was the one with this bias!!!!

well its too early to judge, wasnt zanetti once a lb and now can play almost every defending position? (dm, lb, rb, cb)

it will take time before it happens but dont see him benching khedira, khediras passing, technical and brain > coentrao tbh

sportsczy wrote:Coentrao is a young WC LB though... i mean, he's top 5 at his position. Why in the world would he agree to change positions and why in the world would we pay over 30 million for a backup midfielder who can't play the midfield???

I don't blame Coentrao for coming. He said it was his dream club and he would play anywhere to come to this club. The fault was Mou's. Kind of a stupid move tbh.

Very stupid move, from Mou and from Coentrao. I dont blame Perez for letting it go through, after all that it would have been unwise not to let Mou sign whoever he wanted. I personally cant see him ever breaking in the first team, who knows? Maybe hell get pissed and leave in summer or something.

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:Because he is portuguese, and Jose Mendes needs to make money

Pretty much.

Oh, didn't know the season ended in October....

Unnecessary signing that I'm embarrassed about to be honest.

As a back up to marcelo OK but a 30 mill one? and a WC one for bench?

Jorge Mendes

and it is all mou fault,poor jorge mendes getting stick for nothing

Also may I add we could have signed Santi f*cking Cazorla for 30 million.

I don't blame the donkey he's trying his best I guess but I don't think he is good enough. Benfica hustled us.

He's surely worth 30 million or at least 25 million on the current market, he's an excellent LB, who can play a number of positions, before he came to Madrid, he was one of the most sought after players in the world. He's defensively more solid than Marcelo, and in certain matches, when required Mourinho may prefer to play him from the start or as a sub for Marcelo.

Mourinho always wants to have his aces under his sleeve, since he thrives on tactical changes before and during the game, that's why he wants a quality back up for each position and still prefers to have both Higuain and Benzema, who offer different traits required for specific matches.

Again buying him would mean our rivals cannot have one of the best left backs in the game, and he's very young with a good potential resell value, even if he flops at Madrid, he'll still be worth at least 15 million in three years time.

We bought a donkey with a bad hair cut. Total fail IMO considering what we could have done with that money.

He's not better than Marcelo, not better than any midfielders we have and not better than any wingers either.
We were totally played.

We bought him so our rivals wont get him?

sportsczy wrote:Most of us were confused when we paid over 30 million for LB when we already had Marcelo. We were all speculating that he would be tried at RB or Marcelo would be moved.

The preseason rolled along and Coentrao was used as a midfielder... to the shock of all. If you wanted a midfielder, I'm sure 30+ million gets you a darn good one. No need to try and move a WC LB into a new role.

He's struggled at times in the midfield (understandably) and seemed most comfortable when asked to attack the wing on the left side and be a midfield enforcer... nothing great mind you. But at least, he had a positive impact in those roles. He lacks the passing, movement and vision of a midfielder... so there's little hope that he could play at a Madrid level if asked to be a true mid.

November is rolling in and Coentrao is now on the bench (again, understandably).

Can someone please explain to me why Mou signed him?

Fact is Bro , we got a genuinely WC cover for Marcelo and a player with a lot of box to box potential.

Also as I've been saying all along, he will be Mourinhio's slave against Barca.

The Coentrao, Marcelo debate, is pretty much like the Benzema Higuain debate, should we let one out of the team because the other is so good?

ragbirjosh wrote:
Fact is Bro , we got a genuinely WC cover for Marcelo and a player with a lot of box to box potential.

Also as I've been saying all along, he will be Mourinhio's slave against Barca.

Box to Box?

Lets not start the B2B Left Back thing again, shall we?

Box to box fullbacks

Mark my words, he will start over Marcela at LB against tough opposition such as Barca (in supercopa marcelo was introduced in 2nd half!!! ) and other quality opponents simply because he is a Better Crosser, Better defender and not easy to beat defender.

I still Love Marcelo

ijomer wrote:Mark my words, he will start over Marcela at LB against tough opposition such as Barca (in supercopa marcelo was introduced in 2nd half!!! ) and other quality opponents simply because he is a Better Crosser, Better defender and not easy to beat defender.

I still Love Marcelo

I would pick Marcelo over Coentrao against any opponents. Coentrao may be a bit better defender but we don't need that. Marcelo's creativity is much more essential to our team.

I like this "better defender" myth. Coentrao was destroyed in the Camp Nou in the super cup second leg.

Great Defender my rich, handsome and talented arse.