Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

Valkyrja wrote:

guest7 wrote:But Benzema and Bale are CL experienced. Don't underrate that.

Experience means feck all if you're playing like shit

In Benz case he is not scoring but he is playing well, making nice linkups and even dribbling, breaking defenders and showed nice pace yesterday. But he needs to score again and knowing Benz, it's a matter of time, not permanent.

Bale... idk... no defence there. Guy is too injury prone for my liking. I prefer Asensio over him and Mbappe (simply prefer him over Mbappe over the price)

I had felt very good about this summer's changes, but I wanted Mbappe. But when the price went from 120 to 180 and beyond, I don't really blame Flo for not participating. I do believe we were interested and would have moved Bale if the price stayed around 120. I do believe Flo is making the same statement he did re Pogba and De Gea. He won't pay beyond what is the accepted norm value for a position. Plus he is listening to his coach! The values of Pogba, Neymar and now Mbappe are abnormalities and doesn't necessarily mean the market is suddenly going to escalate. Let's wait and see first if these deals work out to win trophies before assuming the market is going to turn this crazy. While not a popular opinion, I don't believe the values for these three players is sustainable. And good on Flo for refusing to participate.

And regarding this year's team I believe we are still the team to beat. Our goal, defense and midfield are great, even taking into account Navas' errors, inexperienced backup CBs and no natural RB behind Dani. The concern of course is the front line or more specifically Bale and Benz. However if Zidane's plan is to play only two of BBC with Isco or Asensio, I'm quite comfortable with that, plus we don't have a problem on bench. I.e 6 natural CMs, Asensio backs up Isco and Lucas plus Bale or Benz backup forwards.

We just have to wait until next summer to look to replace Bale and Benz!

City are going to get Mbappe for obvious reasons, for one, PSG don't really need Mbappe and the price is ridiculous, so I don't see it happening. City is a reasonable choice for Mbappe as log as he has a release clause that can attract Madrid if he light the Premier League up.

There will be no release clause

And the 180 mil price was just negotiating. 120-140 mil + bonuses based on performance (which is a good thing if earned) would get it done. We just dragged our feet with Mbappe's wage demands mostly. That's been the holdup.... not really the transfer fee.

The one idea I can't stand is missing out on Mbappe because we don't know what to do with BBC + him around. Its fcking insane, that Bale is handicapping our attempt to sign him. The guy is a clown and when he hurts himself for another 4 months we will be left stranded.

Isco keeps showing he brings more value to the team in terms of allowing our midfield to control games. Having a combination of Mbappe, Benzema, CR for the other two positions is what we should be after.

Bale lol

On one hand you can say that market brings opportunities and we might get the chance to sign someone else next summer but how often do you see a talent like Neymar show up in footy, i think mbappe is of the same order so again I'll be disappointed. If Zidane or people at the club don't value him as such then so be it.

sportsczy wrote:And the 180 mil price was just negotiating.  120-140 mil + bonuses based on performance (which is a good thing if earned) would get it done.  We just dragged our feet with Mbappe's wage demands mostly.  That's been the holdup.... not really the transfer fee.

The 180m price is just the logical consequence of the Neymar-PSG transfer.
Because before, Ronaldo could have left Real for 180m € but with Neymar's transfer he now needs to leave for 230 to become the most expensive transfer, and so in reaction to that Monaco have to put 50m € more on the 130m for Mbappe.
The result will be the same - Ronaldo to Monaco for Mbappé + 50m €.

I like Donkey Boy. When combined with our Preening Cat, it's a heck of a combo. Defenses shake with fear.

When Benz is on form, all defenders should shake with fear. remember it wasnt too long ago that beckenbauer said on bayern vs madrid that it's benz that pep should watch out for. he scored the following match. 3 years ago that was.

sure he declined physically but his technique and intelligence is still here. mostly anyways.

though I am not consoled by recent performances as he has been giving me nothing but 0/10's since the start of the preseason... hopefully it just means he's taking longer to warm up. otherwise we'll be in big trouble.

Ultimately though we won't know for sure until CR7 comes back properly. the great bbc always had CR7 to be the main man. the other 2 were always the supporting cast to the one great kommander. Not too concerned unless CR7 shows serious signs of decline.

RAC1 linking us to dembele... at this point im too disappointed to even get my hopes up.

The variables has changed, the situation has changed.
Bale needs to go, Benz needs to go.

We need a backup Striker AND probably one or two more mids. 5 mids are the answer qnd the Kommander doesn't look like he's slowing down anytime soon.

Now I understand why we did not sign it m'bappe. Besides obvious wage concerns, he would be unsuitable to be a backup.

But now the question bags who should be that backup Striker? What about the mids?

The way our formations are leaning we actually have decent coverage tbh.

It seems like we plan to either play with 1 forward and 2 attacking mids or 2 forwards and 1 attacking mid,

In the first scenario Benzema would be backing up Ronaldo, then we have Isco, Asensio, Ceballos, and Kovacic all capable of playing the attacking mid roles.

In the second scenario we pick 2 out of 4 of our forwards (BBC + Mayoral) and Asensio backing up Isco, or any of the AM possibilities listed above.

If true it's actually quite brilliant because Kovacic and Ceballos, who I worried about competing too much for game time, are flexible enough to play CM or the attacking mid role of called upon which would give them more game time.

I guess my only concern still is RB which in the grand scheme of things isn't a big deal.

Benzema is no longer suitable to play the cf spot in our team. either he is taking too long to wake up or has declined too far to make it worthwhile.
Not even as a backup striker. He is more suited to back up isco and asensio than he can CR7.

hence a backup striker is needed. Kinda wish we kept mariano now.

Well of course best case scenario would be to scrap the BB and get 2 quality replacements but that's not in the cards unfortunately.

I'd lose Bale tbh

one at the time, Bale this season, then CR or Benzema next

CR is still too good though

Benz still has a role to play but... I don't like what I have been seeing from him so far. At best currently he can be a backup to the ams we have like isco, asensio who will obviously play more ahead of the mids but not ahead of CR7. Benz's technique and vision will ensure he isn't dead weight in the build up but he can no longer be considered for the final ball. doesnt help he doesnt make the runs needed consistently, thus no longer good for the cf spot.

I am fully aware of his capabilities as well as his limitations. I was hoping to see the form that he found towards the end of last season but... I'm losing confidence that he will find that form. physically he has gotten slightly even slower than before. my old thread about the tough decisions for the future keeps coming back to my mind. maybe he can fully transition to AM and save us the trouble of finding another mid? in any case in his current state, he is no good as a starter. at best a backup.

Prefer to see bale gone. could use the wages on a decent backup striker.
The Kommander is here to stay and his unquenchable thirst for goals and triumph will see to it that we need not concern ourselves with a star striker for a good while yet. I expect at least 3-4 more years out of the kommander. him fully converting to CF has extended his shelf life at the highest level by 2 years minimum. his fitness has always been extraordinary.

I trust Zidane is paying attention. Or maybe he sees something I don't.
Bale isn't worth the time imo. Let's not forget Zidane wanted Hazard before Bale when his transfer came about. I was the same.

I am a little concerned with the lack of a backup CF/ scorer. We all (except Chad) seem to want to see Isco and Asensio in lineup which puts Benz and Bale on bench. Unfortunately there is no way they are departing anytime soon, so they in effect are our backups (unless Zidane still persists with his love of BBC). In any case even if they are in lineup, as evidence by last two games, we still have only Ronaldo as a proven scorer. I don't believe in Majoral and given his progress was stalled last season due to lack of playing time, he being on squad at Madrid will virtually kill his futbol career.

The only other option on squad is Lucas and he isn't a goal scorer. Besides he is only going to get very limited time as a backup to backup to backup forward and backup to backup to RB.

With Ronaldo out of lineup, this bench weekness is going to be more prevalent. I think it's high time, they went out and get a backup CF. He doesn't need to be a world beater, just someone who can properly play the 9 role, when needed.

When players like Morata and Lukaku go for 100 mil... you can imagine what the market for a decent striker looks like.

Pizarro is available

They can get Llorente for 30. He may not be a world beater but as a backup, he would do just fine. And there are others like him out there. All we need is someone better than Benz and Majoral. can't be that hard? besides with all the cash Flo has available, spending 50 to 70 is not an issue.

We need to sell fking bale and steal dembele from barca and also sigm this davdson dude. We need another elite talent to replace pepe if are to win 3rd cl and la liga. Shift nacho to right side.

Club has closed off market! Bale isn't going anywhere (this year). Dembele is now going for 150M! We wouldn't pay that for Mbappe so why would we for him. Plus same old problem, Bale needs to go first.

Same thing with CBs or backup RB. Backup is going to be Theo, Nacho, Lucas.

All we really need is a backup CF and not a world beater. We just need this backup for this season. Next summer will be the time to make the moves you suggest.

Carlos Bacca maybe?

Hala, assuming Majoral goes out on loan, we have a squad of 22, that includes the practice keeper. We have the 2nd backup for gk, all defense except RB, all CM positions, asensio behind Isco, if we go for 4-3-1-2, and Bale Or Benz plus Lucas behind Ronaldo and Bale or Benz.

If it's 4-3-2-1 - then it's Benz behind Ronaldo, Bale behind Asensio and Lucas behind Isco.

We also need to recognize that Lucas's main role will be as a deep sub at W and RB. The preferred backup to Isco will be Asensio, Kovacic and Ceballos. Also, with Zidane's love of BBC, we will see Isco and Asensio sent to the sidelines at times.

Bottom line the surplus of strikers you refer to is the very ineffective Benz and Bale. I just feel the club can do much better than them and we don't have to spend a fortune to add one final player to squad.