Do you see how sportz is practically lowering the standard with zidane? He'll keep his job because of the brand of footy even if he doesn't win anything? Spectacle ffs

Sports is right. There is no pressure on zidane this season apart from finishing in top 3 and building a foundation for next season. The coaching staff isn't even his own, it will take a while to get things going. The important aspect will be the quality of football he intends to bring.

Good to have you back doc. You have missed ALOT lol. I suggest you dont find out what exactly it is you have missed

lmao, i'll brief him anyway...you've missed us having fun against rayo, malmo, getafe, whilst looking like girl scouts against barcelona and every team that's in that top 4 region. you've missed central and attacking midfielders being told to conjure up their best makelele and gattuso impressions in defensive midfield. i can't say you've missed anything in defense from us that you haven't seen before, besides ramos nearly breaking his arm and pulling it out the socket from a failed dive.

oh there's this new tactic on here people call the 4-2-4 or 4-1-5 that we seem to be employing. arbeloa still sucks at right back, danilo hasn't been doing any better, cristiano finds the top sides repulsive so doesn't grace the fans with his presence against them, nobody besides marcelo can dribble reasonably well on this team, and yada yada yada, zidane's now the coach. never a dull moment at Real Madrid. but hell, call us what you want, we still love this club.

Adit wrote:Sports is right.  There is no pressure on zidane this season apart from finishing in top 3 and building a foundation for next season. The coaching staff isn't even his own, it will take a while to get things going.  The important aspect will be the quality of football he intends to bring.

There's no such thing as 'no pressure' at Real Madrid; even for an interim coach.

The only way he can be kept on even if he finishes trophyless is if he drags the title race to the very last day and reaches at least the semi-final of the CL.

That's the only way he can survive a trophyless season at Real Madrid. And trust me I'm being very nice to him. Carlo did it and he was given the chop. But for an interim coach, the expectations are slightly lower.

The Demon of Carthage wrote:

Adit wrote:Sports is right.  There is no pressure on zidane this season apart from finishing in top 3 and building a foundation for next season. The coaching staff isn't even his own, it will take a while to get things going.  The important aspect will be the quality of football he intends to bring.

There's no such thing as 'no pressure' at Real Madrid; even for an interim coach.

The only way he can be kept on even if he finishes trophyless is if he drags the title race to the very last day and reaches at least the semi-final of the CL.

That's the only way he can survive a trophyless season at Real Madrid. And trust me I'm being very nice to him. Carlo did it and he was given the chop. But for an interim coach, the expectations are slightly lower.

You are not really putting things into context. We can't expect a manager to come and implement his tactics with out a preseason. It will take atleast 3 months for the team to learn new tactics. If Zidane is doing va Benitez with 424 hope less football and destroying the dressing room leading to several players wanting out I will OK with letting him go but as far as this season is concerned it is about building base for the next season football and then try to win a trophy.

I'll take your word for it, Adit.

Anyway, here's a depressing quote from Zidane's press conference:

In response to whether he would persist with BBC:

Yes, I will play with all three. Clearly that’s the idea

The Demon of Carthage wrote:I'll take your word for it, Adit.

Anyway, here's a depressing quote from Zidane's press conference:

In response to whether he would persist with BBC:

Yes, I will play with all three. Clearly that’s the idea

That was a given, Benzema is his favourite, he can't bench Bale 'cause of Flo, and it would be a nightmare to bench Ronaldo, however i expect they would be more willing to help out and track back

how is benzema/bale playing this season to deserve benching? use your brain the only player playing bad in the attack is cr, don't know why people keep over looking how shit he is, to find issues with the ones are actually playing well typical sheep mentality.

anyway no matter how bad zidane does, he is still gonna continue after this season its obvious, he has a lot of pull in madrid, don't see why the club or fans gonna turn on him, over bad results in almost lost season, other than the hipsters on here trying to seem knowledgeable.

Chad, I'm not against playing Benzema, Bale or Ronaldo for that matter. I'm against playing all three at the same time, capisce?

dude we have been over this a million times already, bale ain't getting benched and benzema is the ONLY CF ON THE TEAM, cr is cr if you guys really wanted somebody dropped then speak it, stop with the whole bbc needs to be broken up, cause when bale/benz was bad the focus was on them only, man up then say cr is done and needs to bench, stop with benz is zidane favorite talk like all the goals he scored this season are flukes or something sheep mentality.

You guys are missing the appointment entirely. Zidane has been appointed 'INTERIM' coach. It is a logical move because bringing in a new full time coach rearely works yet with Zidane he knows the squad extremely well, knows what has worked and what hasn't with three coaches with basically same lineup. Noone but him can get this team playing better at this point in the season.

aS to next year, Ziadane has the OPPORTUNITY to prove to Perez that he is up to the challenge and essentially has 6 months to win that permanent (lol as if there ever is anything permanent at Madrid) coaching job, or at least to have the word interim removed. tHere isn't any pressure to win anything, noone in their right mind can expect that, but he can improve the team play, make the team competitive at least to be on the same field as big teams.

As futbol Junior said in another thread, Keep in mind that Enrique's teams traditionally play better in 2nd half, that they have now played most of their top competitors away and now have their two signed players available (plus maybe a third coming) thus ending their thin squad problems. Atletico will be the target as well as putting some distance from the rest of the pack.

In CL, getting to semis will be an accomplishment.

Glad to be back Hala and from highlights alone, I may owe you some sort of apology on Danilo. He really has gotten and subsequently is getting worse by each match day. So, sorry, kinda. Also, has Izzy left because it just feels like he left until August :p

Um, I am kinda excited to see what Zidane would do and also dreading what I feel might actually be the reality of things aka he is gonna be in over his lovely shaped head. Alas, just Madrid things. For the very least, it keeps this section very lively.

I hope the players don't think the same way we do here.

Less than a year ago we were frontrunners for the CL, it's not impossible. LL is not impossible either. 5 points isn't that much.

As to Chad's constant rants of Benz and CR, he is right to a certain degree. The coach(es) have little choice but to play BBC. bUt I would expect (hope) that Zidane will sub all of them off more frequently for James, Isco and Jese. iN the midfield, I think Sports is right. casemiro will anchor the MF with Modric and Kroos, however I expect Kovacic, Isco and maybe James to get some action there.

nExt summer will be the time to make major changes beginning with Ronaldo. iF Benz escapes his conviction as Sports suggested the other day, then he will stay and no doubt Perez will keep Bale. the challenge for Flo will be to resist his galactico purchase and rather make signing that improves our midfield as well as decent backup laterals.

Doc wrote:Glad to be back Hala and from highlights alone, I may owe you some sort of apology on Danilo. He really has gotten and subsequently is getting worse by each match day. So, sorry, kinda. Also, has Izzy left because it just feels like he left until August :p

Um, I am kinda excited to see what Zidane would do and also dreading what I feel might actually be the reality of things aka he is gonna be in over his lovely shaped head. Alas, just Madrid things. For the very least, it keeps this section very lively.

Apology accepted mate If i am not mistaken Izzy still drops in every now and again. Probably really busy

Zidane vs the media is going to be interesting since he isnt one of many words

the main why i rant about bale/benzema vs cr, is because of the tip toeing around the real issue, cr has been more meh than the usual and his fanboys are clearly trying to make the whole attack is at fault instead its obvious, if benz and bale was bad this season no one would mention cr at all.

Chad, I think most people here acknowledge the fact that CR has been a detriment to the team for a while. The problem is he is unbenchable. In an ideal world he would have been sold this summer but as the situation is now, Zidane has to accommodate the others around CR so Benzema will most likely be benched out of the BBC, even though Madrids attack looks pathetic without him.

CR is the face of Madrid and Bale is Florentinos Galactico, so Benzema will most likely be sacrificed.

nice try jibs

like zidane would bench the player he backed behind the scenes all this time, anyway as my point stated when a player sucks highlight them only, like illarra,kroos,danilo etc..., no need to play dumb or twist facts its just a forum.

chad4401 wrote:nice try jibs

like zidane would bench the player he backed behind the scenes all this time, anyway as my point stated when a player sucks highlight them only, like illarra,kroos,danilo etc..., no need to play dumb or twist facts its just a forum.

Nice try at what?

Chad, for the life of me I don't know where the f do you come up with these imaginary statements. Did anybody here say that CR is playing well? Did anybody here say that he shouldn't be benched? Did anybody here say that CR is playing better than the other two? NO one. Read it again please. NO ONE.

I don't know why every time you hear somebody criticizing BBC, for some weird reason you solely focus on the BB and you leave out the C. We're criticizing all of them. Yes, Bale and Benzema are playing better than CR, but my point is that even those two aren't performing the way they should.

Here's my personal ranking of BBC based on our most recent games:

1. Bale
2. Benzema
3. Cristiano

And here's what I truly think about all three: they are lazy and are dragging us down. They might give you a couple of scintillating performances against scrubs, but when it really counts they'll disappear.

So please next time you feel like repeating what you said a gazillion times already, remember this:

1. We all think CR is past it.
2. We all think he should be benched.
3. We all think he should be sold.
4. We all think that BBC are a bunch of lazy primadonnas.

Let's not get back to this again please. And I'll continue to criticize BBC because every single one of them isn't living up to our standards, some more than others of course.

I think Madrid put the "interim" tag on there to allow for the possibility of Pep coming and in case Zizou is a disaster... gives everyone some outs.

Pep in Madrid, you got to be kidding. No way would that certified Catalan ever make it in Madrid. That's like saying we should go after Pique!!!

This isn't the first time they have promoted the B team coach to direct the first team for the remainder of the season. Difference this time is Zidane has an opportunity to make this full time. I know your zest for him Sports and I would also like to give him an opportunity, but the reality is it is an interim appointment, he is unproven and there likely will be alternatives come this summer. However if he makes the best of the opportunity (I think playing much better than they did under Benitez and getting 2nd in liga and to semis in CL would be enough) he likely will get the job without the interim tag.

as far as CL... it really depends on the luck of the draw. He needs to make the quarters based on the opponent. But it depends on who we get in the quarters to make the semis. If it's a very tough matchup, i think being very competitive will be the key.

We can't get run over like we have been this season.

cristiano will be sold in the summer. that's confirmed. jorge mendes stated a few days ago that he will retire at real madrid. you know how these things work, the opposite always holds true- like when he was so sad, he signed a buffer contract, or how a few weeks ago "rafa was the solution, not the problem"....the 'opposite' statement tactic has become predictable, football dignitaries need to change their style

futbol_bill wrote:Pep in Madrid, you got to be kidding. No way would that certified Catalan ever make it in Madrid. That's like saying we should go after Pique!!!

This isn't the first time they have promoted the B team coach to direct the first team for the remainder of the season. Difference this time is Zidane has an opportunity to make this full time. I know your zest for him Sports and I would also like to give him an opportunity, but the reality is it is an interim appointment, he is unproven and there likely will be alternatives come this summer. However if he makes the best of the opportunity (I think playing much better than they did under Benitez and getting 2nd in liga and to semis in CL would be enough) he likely will get the job without the interim tag.

Dude its crazy. Madrid hater journalist Graham hunter is their source some people are so much detached from reality. Same arguments im having in that zidane thread in general section.. As a socio I hope you educate those people what is what.