Jack Daniels wrote:As long as we score goals like against Ajax last season, to hell with possession.

People throw around the word possession so much that it has started to lack meaning.

Every team trying to keep the ball gets contextualized within the huge sprawling category of possession based teams without really understanding it's purpose.

It serves a dual function :

1. It's a more effective method of breaking down set defenses ( pass and move ) as it facilitates dragging defenses apart.

2.It helps protect the midfield and defense.

These are two things we clearly struggle with....yet....we dominate possession against basically every team we face. Posession is never going to be the problem, teams give us too much respect for that issue to arise - at least with regularity.

So what is the problem? After Xabi and Modric circulate in midfield, gain complete control over the ball and seek to distribute to an attacker....what happens?. Ronaldo and Di Maria and to an extent Ozil are predictable and narrow. The forwards effectively don't matter because they rarely get to touch the ball anyway.

So the solution?

Our solution is to avoid that all together. Don't let defenses setup, score before they can setup. Save that....individual magic or conjunctive magic even. But there's no set pattern to follow, no team play, it's 1 or 2 people connecting with others and creating something.

The team has that advantage.

But if a team completely takes the initial approach away and we're forced to purposefully use possession we don't have much of a plan.

All I want is a plan.

It doesn't need to be pass and move. That ship has sailed and Mourinhio is incapable of implementing it and it would likely inhibit the superstar. It could be something as ridiculously simple as playing the right players.

Because if Modric and Xabi are trying to link play and then Ronaldo and Di Maria are having individual battles with keepers and defenders respectively, then our players are actively undermining each other.

I have my own individual approach to it but really just any approach would make me happy now. Pelting on strikers like they've gone out of style is not an approach, it's a desperate last resort.

Last game the guy literally had no strikers and he was actually forced to somewhat take a rational approach but that's a double edged sword as all he could put on was Kaka.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway , where does Modric fit into all of this. As a CM in a 4-3-3 against teams that force us to break them down. Sportczy was excited to see this lineup

-------------Xabi--------------
---Khedria-----Modric--------
-Ozil------Benz--------Ronaldo


That lineup will likely never take the pitch. I don't know why, because Mourinhio has actually shown some degree of awareness in terms of putting players who actually fit together on the pitch, but something like this particularly eludes him.

wouldnt say Modric has been a flop
he has added a dimension to our play, he has been a good addition
Alonso can now get a few games rest

punkfusion1992 wrote:wouldnt say Modric has been a flop
he has added a dimension to our play, he has been a good addition
Alonso can now get a few games rest

Granted... However, spending ~40 mil euros on a player who is essentially a squad player could be considered a flop. You have to think he was brought in to do something more.

I always thought we'd see something like this:
--------Xabi
--Khedira---Modric
Ozil---------------Ronaldo
-------Benzema

I tend to think that Mou isn't convinced with his squad in this formation, yet. Given his propensity to move on quickly, I'm not sure if we'll ever see Modric really bed-in under him. We all know Mou's tendency to prefer a small core of players. If Modric can't get into that set-up, then this will be a very wasteful transfer.

I'm sure Modric will start under our next coach.

So at the age of 30?

danyjr wrote:So at the age of 30?

Hopefully Mourinho leaves after winning the CL this season.

Yet another EPL flop

People throwing the word flop around like no tomorrow here.

Modric really hasn't done anything to be a 'flop'. Not sure why people can't wait a bit longer, and if he's been a flop it's through no fault of his own, it's just because of the price tag and management issues. It's not like Modric has been bad when he's played, he's not been a Torres at all.

Modric has done exactly what he did in England.....

Bossed the small teams and went missing in the big games....

If you actually watched him and not base your opinion on stats and youtube highlights you would know that.

He did fine against Man City....? lol

The only big games he's played this season have been against Dortmund and a bit against Man City. You can say he's been poor in the Dortmund games but even then he didn't play a full game in either one. Against Man City he did well, and I can't speak for the 3-2 as I didn't see it at all and he was only in for a bit anyway.

I mean I guess if we want to start judging players based on like 3 games I'm OK with it but I hardly think it's fair, I mean I'm not sure what you guys think but you all love to knee jerk so I think we can agree in this forum that that should be the best course of action.

Base opinion on stats? His stats are awful

If people want to call Modric a flop that's fine, but don't say it's because he's been bad when he's played, because that's not really been the case.

Modric hasn't played CM for 90 mins in a big game this season.

And in the minutes he has played, he's done alright. He just needs a consistent run in the team in his preferred position.

Also we need to play to his strengths too.

CBarca wrote:Modric really hasn't done anything.

Fix'd.

I dont think Modric has been a flop, he has done about as well as I expect. Just dont think he has a position, and especially not in most of the big games.

The Franchise wrote:I dont think Modric has been a flop, he has done about as well as I expect. Just dont think he has a position, and especially not in most of the big games.

Sums up about what Mole and I have been saying about Modric for 2 years now.

Would you say the same about Nasri too?

danyjr wrote:

CBarca wrote:Modric really hasn't done anything.

Fix'd.

You certainly are a mature one aren't you?

Time for the haters to admit they were wrong.

Ever since the Man Utd game he has been bossing it and has been starting for us. He even performs well for us in big games.

Not worth the 40 mil, but still a good buy imo.

Better than Alonso atm.

Not good enough to play CM , not an AM either. He's too selfish to play a dictating DLP/CM role, and he isn't better than Ozil at AM.

He has actually improved in the last month or so. He's been one of Madrid's better players, obviously playing regularly has helped. The problem is Madrid's midfield and a lack of balance and compatibility. Modrić is not successor to Alonso, they are very different types of players. Alonso is a gem midfielder for counter attacking teams, fantastic vision and execution, plays a quick pass (as Mourinho loves those - see: Lampard, Sneijder). Modrić is the type of player you want if you want to dictate play instead. Problem arises when having Modrić and Özil at the same time, it doesn't work and frankly I prefer the German to Flopdrić because he is simply more talented as an AM and also much younger. I would have liked to see Madrid experiment with a 3-man midfield of Pepe-Modrić-Özil though.

The big downside for Madrid was always going to justify the €40 million for a player who is almost 28. Not only Levy didn't get bullied by Pérez (like Wenger does when someone approaches his players), he also ripped Pérez big time and got a player who is much more versatile in Dembélé.

Our tactics will hopefully change next season which'll mean we don't need a successor to Alonso.

Meh, he is working just fine in our tactics right now.

Modric has been outperforming Alonso when playing in a 2 man midfield for us aswell, and was our best player in the final vs Atleti.

Obviously, the tactics works just fine for him. We just need Pogba/Vidal/Martinez next to him and together they will destroy.

halamadrid2 wrote:they dont even play the same role

Well you have to choose one of them. so i say Modric should start next season.