Re: Carlo Ancelotti

by Mamad Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:03 pm

I agree about Benzema relaxing too much but he is the key against top teams imo.

by Valkyrja Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:44 pm

Benzema on form is perfect to play alongside Bale and Benzema. What we need is a midfielder to play alongside Xabi and Modric, a player capable of both attacking and defending, aka Gundogan/Vidal/Kroos

by titosantill Thu Jan 30, 2014 9:43 pm

then what happens to illara? what happens to khedira? i can't help but get reminded of makelele the way people gloss over what khedira brings to the table, urmm i remember florentino saying makelele only made short passes to the back and to the sides, whereas becks made long passes....
khedira is a spoiler, that's his job. if anything he would thrive in a 3 man midfield with modric and xabi (illara) as he gives them freedom...his work rate is top notch too, he misses chances, he isn't a striker, nor is he an attacking midfielder, but the pressing question should be, if khedira is the one pouncing at such chances, then where is the striker and what is he doing?? the goal he scored against barcelona last year, the one he hustled puyol, if our offensive mentality and attitude was like that we won't lose games regardless of who the opponent is. I can't wait for khedira's return, he fits the gattuso mould (he isn't as tough as gattuso was tho), that carlo utilized at milan
this madrid side, hell madrid since florentino part 2 has always had the skill and technique to win games, just that we have had many players who shrink against stubborn opposition, both big and small......
I don't want to make this about benzema, i've never been a fan, but he is scoring goals and deserves all the credit. My worry is two fold; one, benzema plays well, when the team is generally playing well...when the team isn't playing well, he becomes a liability, it begins to look like we are playing with 10 men, unless he comes on as a substitute...an impact sub. Two, he has the tendency to relax. since he came here he has had seasons where we praise him, but then he gets comfortable and relaxes, and gets booed, which in turn leads to valuable points being dropped, in a league where draws are the new defeats. the fact that after 5 years we have still had discussions about a striker leads me to ask myself, "is a run of form enough to trust this guy for another 4 years"? "what if his friend zidane goes, and he needs someone to motivate him all over again"? or "what if all of a sudden the likes of jese pick up amazing form and pose a threat to his place, will it be the same complaint of him needing to be an assured starter"?
His run of form is fantastic, but for me its about trust and attitude. a striker cannot have a zidane-esque calm attitude, especially when the team is down or not playing well. leave that to the midfielders, and as far as trust is concerned i've mentioned that above....i hope he proves me wrong
just to mention, i have no malice against him, he is a madrid player, i know he has a lot of supporters here, who are trigger-happy the moment they get a whif of anyone taking aim at him, even if there is truth to some of the accusations. i'm not looking to trade insults over any player with whom anyone might or might not have a man-crush on, just stating my opinion....and i hope he proves me wrong. if he does, then we can build on that trust and forget dreams of signing the likes of suarez.......hopefully decima and liga this season, and even copa, cos i don't want another loss to atleti or barca......tough goals to achieve, but this is madrid, we cannot and should not be content with anything less.....my apologies for that long rant

by Valkyrja Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:02 pm

Khedira is out for 8 months. It's a big possibility that he won't be the player he used to.

by chad4401 Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:28 pm

tito your so lame everything always rebound back to benzema for you get over it and wait until summer Laughing

by titosantill Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:36 pm

true, 8 months is a long time, and he may or may not be the same player, but i reckon that's not enough to discard him, especially as in my opinion he was doing well prior to the injury.....so if we bring a new midfielder and he too gets taken out for that long, do we go to the market again?? many players have gotten chances to redeem themselves at madrid...sami has never even been terrible to begin with, he deserves a shot .....on another note, lol, i expected someone to comment with regards to what might or might not be their man-crush, if the shoe fits wear it i guess.... but i think it was quite obvious my post was about summer transfers

by jugster Sat Feb 08, 2014 5:37 am

Carlo Ancelotti prepared well, and came out with a super gameplan. For once, Diego Simeone had no response.

by Onyx Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:15 pm

Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti not only guided his team to a 0-3 win over cross-town rivals Getafe, but became the fastest manager to reach 1o0 goals with Real Madrid since Miguel Muñoz in 1959.

It took Ancelotti just 38 matches to reach the 100 goals mark (101 when the match was over); 68 in La Liga, 20 in the Champions League and 13 in the Copa del Rey.

However, it took Muñoz just 32 games to reach the tremendous feat, a record that won’t soon be broken.

Yet, Ancelotti has surpassed is two predecessors, beating Manuel Pellegrini’s 40 matches and Jose Mourinho’s 42.

In addition to being a tremendous attacking side, Ancelotti has equaled the second best unbeaten run in Real Madrid history with 25 wins, something that was accomplished by his comaptriot, Fabio Capello’s first run with the club and is only beaten by Leo Beenhakker’s run of 34 games without a loss, achieved in the 1988-89 season.

by Onyx Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:32 am

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti admits his squad is a midfielder short.

But he insists they can find an internal solution.

"It is true that we need a midfielder, but many forget that before the end of the season we'll recover Sami Khedira."

"And while this happens we also have the opportunity to develop another youth or Casemiro and Asier Illarramendi."

by titosantill Thu Feb 20, 2014 2:31 am

i've said it before, we don't need a midfielder. we are stacked in that position...u only need one guy to take the reigns as midfield general, and it appears modric is taking over that role from alonso, who in some regards plays a little deeper. by the time khedira returns, we will have a ball winning midfielder back, who can do the dirty job....illaramendi hasn't been great but he hasn't been poor either, imo he has been good when brought on, keeps passes neat and tidy....the midfield imo is the least of our worries

by Valkyrja Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:40 am

If not our midfield than what ? we are set in defense in attack. we need a replacement for Di Maria, who as good as he is, his form might not last forever.

by Mamad Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:21 pm

Khedira is shite. we are better without him.

by halamadrid2 Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:09 pm

I agree with Carlo, could explain why the three midfielders always play and only Illarra filling in when necessary. But as you guys said we can find the replacement internally. He is overplaying DiMaria/Modric/Xabi because he is so reluctant to play Casemiro. Illarra is being played in all those positions at the moment which is not good for his development. Think he should call up Jose Rodriguez to fill in from time to time imo

by Crimson Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:32 pm

halamadrid2 wrote:I agree with Carlo, could explain why the three midfielders always play and only Illarra filling in when necessary. But as you guys said we can find the replacement internally. He is overplaying DiMaria/Modric/Xabi because he is so reluctant to play Casemiro. Illarra is being played in all those positions at the moment which is not good for his development. Think he should call up Jose Rodriguez to fill in from time to time imo

JoseR has been playing as an attacking midfielder for a while now because he was so *bleep* inconsistent and tbh shit as a DM/CM in Castilla.

Do not see him being called up for that sort of position any time soon.....

by halamadrid2 Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:39 pm

J-Rod has been playing AM because there is not a single creative AM in our team. Jose creates chances and can score screamers. If not Jose we would have to play Borja god forbid or Benavente who Diaz seems to dislike for some reason

Besides a couple of games this season as an AM to save us from relegation is hardly the end of the world. He has spent most of his career at CM, that's where he is most comfortable and where his future will be

his inconsistency has nothing to do with position. The guy has an attitude problems, his footballing ability is splendind but he thinks he is the star and should only play well when he wants. His callups to the first teams is probably what fuelled this. Just look back at any of the games he played for the first team, thats hiw good he is. He should stop being so arrogant though and wait for his time like Jese did

by FennecFox7 Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:55 pm

Casemiro deserves a shot at CM. He should get 30 minute cameos at least when the game is dying

by Valkyrja Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:58 pm

Giggity5313 wrote:Casemiro deserves a shot at CM. He should get 30 minute cameos at least when the game is dying

this. for instance, the elche game is the perfect time for him to start. but we all know that carlo won't give him more than 10 mins, if he gives him that at all.

by jugster Thu Feb 20, 2014 10:57 pm

Valkyrja wrote:
Giggity5313 wrote:Casemiro deserves a shot at CM. He should get 30 minute cameos at least when the game is dying

this. for instance, the elche game is the perfect time for him to start. but we all know that carlo won't give him more than 10 mins, if he gives him that at all.

why do you think that is?

by halamadrid2 Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:16 am

Carlo probably does not rate him all that much

by titosantill Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:27 am

all this talk of youth....whilst i like the promotion of youth players, i feel sometimes madridistas just want it simply because it has worked for barcelona in recent time...i don't fancy promoting a player simply for bragging rights. such players should be able to add something to the team...that said, if casemiro gets these 30 mins of playing time when the game is dying, what happens to other players on the team who need minutes? the coentraos, arbeloas/carvajals, moratas, nachos, varane, illaramendi, isco, jese etc...? carlo has 3 subs to make and i'd say that right now, those above hold more priority than casemiro, @ least for now. if any of our first team players suffers any injury, it is necessary for those players i have listed to be match fit in order to fill in such void, and they'll gain such fitness coming on as subs. its about priorities, not about whether or not carlo rates young casemiro. finally, in a league where draws are like losses, and the team does not yet have a defined system of play, promoting any and every youth player is risky....the two scenarios perfect for promoting youngsters are, when a team is extremely dominant in the league they are participating in, as youth players can take cover within the playing style, or when a team is in total shambles, and thus resorts to promoting any and everyone as a form of desperation.....i'm not saying we shouldn't promote youngsters, i'm all for it....but keep in mind, not every youth player will turn into raul, as not every youth player had the same attitude or aggression he had as a kid

by halamadrid2 Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:44 am

Out of all those players you mentioned only Illarramendi is a midfielder and he is getting plenty of time. Carlo has made it perfectly clear he will not be intending to use Isco in midfield anytime soon. That leaves the ostracised Casemiro. Carlo has overplayed Modric/DiMaria and Xabi (since he came back from injury) because he doesn't think anyone has what it takes besides Illarra. Jose Rodriguez has already played for the first team before so it will hardly something new to him

We will not always start with the strongest line up so the subs will free up to rotation players

Nobody is bluntly naming random names of castilla players because we want to do what Barca do. There are just some players there that are good enough for the first team that we can't afford to lose, we have lost enough as it is. We kept harping on about Jese last(2) seasons with people saying the same as yourself and look at him although its still a little premature to heap praise on him just yet.

Is there a single other castilla player anyone has mentioned besides J-Rod this season??? no simply because none of the others have enough qualities to do as much as fight for a place in the first team ( Pachecho and Llorente can but not overly concerned if they didn't)

We have two players per position everywhere bar the midfield and that will prove to be a problem later on when the real tough games start to pile up

by jugster Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:51 pm

titosantill wrote:all this talk of youth....whilst i like the promotion of youth players, i feel sometimes madridistas just want it simply because it has worked for barcelona in recent time...i don't fancy promoting a player simply for bragging rights. such players should be able to add something to the team...that said, if casemiro gets these 30 mins of playing time when the game is dying, what happens to other players on the team who need minutes? the coentraos, arbeloas/carvajals, moratas, nachos, varane, illaramendi, isco, jese etc...? carlo has 3 subs to make and i'd say that right now, those above hold more priority than casemiro, @ least for now. if any of our first team players suffers any injury, it is necessary for those players i have listed to be match fit in order to fill in such void, and they'll gain such fitness coming on as subs. its about priorities, not about whether or not carlo rates young casemiro. finally, in a league where draws are like losses, and the team does not yet have a defined system of play, promoting any and every youth player is risky....the two scenarios perfect for promoting youngsters are, when a team is extremely dominant in the league they are participating in, as youth players can take cover within the playing style, or when a team is in total shambles, and thus resorts to promoting any and everyone as a form of desperation.....i'm not saying we shouldn't promote youngsters, i'm all for it....but keep in mind, not every youth player will turn into raul, as not every youth player had the same attitude or aggression he had as a kid

There is a case for youth. Right now the economics in football are totally messed up. The Big-2 have huge debt. They have to sell their souls to bwin & qatar foundation just to survive. Because football is a billionaires' playground. The owners of Chelsea, City, Monaco, PSG have inflated the price for players. Because they don't care about the money. Its chump-change for them.

I think the money aspect has to be cleaned out first. And the only way for non-billionaire-owned teams is to have a robust youth team system or take on massive debt and sell their souls.

by titosantill Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:49 pm

halamadrid2 wrote:Out of all those players you mentioned only Illarramendi is a midfielder and he is getting plenty of time. Carlo has made it perfectly clear he will not be intending to use Isco in midfield anytime soon. That leaves the ostracised Casemiro. Carlo has overplayed Modric/DiMaria and Xabi (since he came back from injury) because he doesn't think anyone has what it takes besides Illarra. Jose Rodriguez has already played for the first team before so it will hardly something new to him

We will not always start with the strongest line up so the subs will free up to rotation players

Nobody is bluntly naming random names of castilla players because we want to do what Barca do. There are just some players there that are good enough for the first team that we can't afford to lose, we have lost enough as it is. We kept harping on about Jese last(2) seasons with people saying the same as yourself and look at him although its still a little premature to heap praise on him just yet.

Is there a single other castilla player anyone has mentioned besides J-Rod this season??? no simply because none of the others have enough qualities to do as much as fight for a place in the first team ( Pachecho and Llorente can but not overly concerned if they didn't)

We have two players per position everywhere bar the midfield and that will prove to be a problem later on when the real tough games start to pile up

the castilla team is playing crap at the moment, there was a case for jese cos of the number of goals he scored in the youth ranks. there was a case for javier portillo in the early 2000s cos he broke all raul's goal scoring records at the youth level, there was a case for esteban cambiasso cos he had a good season at the youth level in i think 97, and the team did well....granted if anyone gets promoted, they will be playing with better players at the first team and this may yield some improvement; however, imo it is rewarding mediocrity, the castilla team is last in the segunda if i'm not mistaken; players should be rewarded based on merit, not simply because they play for the youth team...what happened to standards? now if i'm not mistaken, j rod is an attacking midfielder, i doubt he has the defensive know-how to play central mid, people like to neglect the fact that a central mid has to have some defensive iq to succeed in that position, also when jrod played for the first team in the league and cup last year, he did not play central mid, he played further up front as an attacking mid. these are young players, i understand madridistas are furious about some of our talent leaving, fact is, some of those players who left were good enough and politics took over....but some won't even have succeeded at madrid to begin with. these guys are young, let them mature and prove themselves in segunda first, u can't be coming last in segunda and get into the first team, what happened to meritocracy? jese was obviously good and deserved a call up . finally, those players i mentioned, i didn't mention any of them as midfield replacements, i mentioned them as general replacements in the scheme of rotation. carlo has 3 subs to make per game, and regardless of positions, those players need minutes as well, one cannot prioritize casemiro over coentrao for example cos if marcelo gets injured or suspended, carlo needs a fit coentrao to replace him (arbeloa too has been solid at left back) , in order for coentrao to maintain such fitness levels he needs the extra mins of playing time, same goes for a player like varane or jese and/or morata in their respective positions.

by titosantill Fri Feb 21, 2014 10:17 pm

jugster wrote:
titosantill wrote:all this talk of youth....whilst i like the promotion of youth players, i feel sometimes madridistas just want it simply because it has worked for barcelona in recent time...i don't fancy promoting a player simply for bragging rights. such players should be able to add something to the team...that said, if casemiro gets these 30 mins of playing time when the game is dying, what happens to other players on the team who need minutes? the coentraos, arbeloas/carvajals, moratas, nachos, varane, illaramendi, isco, jese etc...? carlo has 3 subs to make and i'd say that right now, those above hold more priority than casemiro, @ least for now. if any of our first team players suffers any injury, it is necessary for those players i have listed to be match fit in order to fill in such void, and they'll gain such fitness coming on as subs. its about priorities, not about whether or not carlo rates young casemiro. finally, in a league where draws are like losses, and the team does not yet have a defined system of play, promoting any and every youth player is risky....the two scenarios perfect for promoting youngsters are, when a team is extremely dominant in the league they are participating in, as youth players can take cover within the playing style, or when a team is in total shambles, and thus resorts to promoting any and everyone as a form of desperation.....i'm not saying we shouldn't promote youngsters, i'm all for it....but keep in mind, not every youth player will turn into raul, as not every youth player had the same attitude or aggression he had as a kid

There is a case for youth. Right now the economics in football are totally messed up. The Big-2 have huge debt. They have to sell their souls to bwin & qatar foundation just to survive. Because football is a billionaires' playground. The owners of Chelsea, City, Monaco, PSG have inflated the price for players. Because they don't care about the money. Its chump-change for them.

I think the money aspect has to be cleaned out first. And the only way for non-billionaire-owned teams is to have a robust youth team system or take on massive debt and sell their souls.

there is a case for the youth if they are doing well in segunda, they are last in segunda right now if i'm not mistaken...in spanish football, the key word to winning the league is consistency, to win the league you have to rack up 90 plus points, even first team players in other leagues can't cope with that type of pressure or consistency, let alone youth players who are coming last in segunda. i understand that if these players get to play alongside the likes of cristiano, modric, di maria and co, their game will step up; but i like rewarding players on the basis of merit not on the basis of where they grew up....besides, there are other things real madrid can do to address the situation of debt, and promoting youth is not all of a sudden going to solve the problems of the economy or the capital markets. hell, to promote and develop the right youngsters takes time and costs money as well, maybe not gareth bale type of money but it is costly if done the right way. once again let me make this clear, i'm all for promoting youth team players, but only when its necessary and only the right players..people act like madrid do not promote youngsters, we have always done so, but some have been rewarded too early and thus have failed to make any impact, they succeed in footy after years of trial and error with other minnow teams, and some never even get past that stage...unless we want to seat back and watch barcelona rack trophy after trophy after trophy all in the name of promoting players.

by Onyx Wed Mar 12, 2014 4:39 pm

Real Madrid Coach Carlo Ancelotti has said he is aware of the importance of La Decima but wants to focus on getting to the Champions League final first.

Madrid have been searching for their 10th European Cup for more than a decade now and Ancelotti told a French radio station that getting to the final is the aim for this season.

“The history of Real Madrid is important, but in spite of this, the club has not played in a final since 2002,” Marca quotes Ancelotti as telling RMC.

“That was a long time ago, so the objective right now is to reach the final.

“[Bayern Munich] are the team to beat at the moment and pose the most danger.”

Ancelotti was also asked about Karim Benzema and spoke in positive terms regarding the France international, although he did pinpoint what he sees as a flaw in the striker’s game.

“He can get better, especially in terms of showing more character on the pitch as he's too timid,” Ancelotti argued.

The subject of Benzema’s compatriot, Raphael Varane, was raised, and Ancelotti was glowing about the defender and another young France international, Paul Pogba.

“[Varane] has all the qualities to become the best defender in the world,” Ancelotti said.

“[Pogba] is a player with a bright future. He's one of the best young midfielders around at the moment.”

Ancelotti added that he is happy with the squad he has available and praised the youngsters within it for rising to the challenge of being at Santiago Bernabeu.

“We have several great players in all positions,” Ancelotti said.

“[The young players] are ready to play for Real Madrid, which is not easy because it requires a lot of responsibility.”

by raulmadrid4vr Sun May 04, 2014 6:47 pm

I am pretty sure we will win the treble this year.

But how much praise does Ancelotti deserve? He certainly faced a weaker Barca than Mourinho, so that accounts for the copa del ray and la liga (i know he also faced the threat from Atletico but it is not like they are better than us). One could also say that pep came into the CL semifinals with wrong tactics and we were also blessed with an early goal off a set play as opposed to Ancelotti being a genius who thwarted the mighty Bayern. Bayern only beat Arsenal and Manchester United before us, neither being a good team.

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