Madrid vs Barcelona & other clubs

Valkyrja wrote:

Yohan Modric wrote:Limited doesn't mean the player is poor or anything. Just means in Alonso's case he's slow, can't deal with being pressed and can only playmake from deep.

Alonso's getting on a bit and requires someone like Khedira next to him. An Alonso-Khedira midfield is just awful, as witnessed in the Mourinho era.

Maybe he's slow physically. Mentally he is 'faster' than anybody else in our team. His leadership, organizational skills, composure, defensive skills, tactical awareness are greatly missed.

Dante wrote:Tbh , i find that awkward by Ancelotti.  

You see , there's no Iniesta's position . A CM has certain duties to see off and those mainly depend on what he can do and on the tactics enabled , there's no Iniesta's position .. Iniesta is an attacking midfielder and he begins games deeper because of Messi and because he has a deep connection with Xavi , he helps him out and they both make their lifes easier when near each other , thus controlling the game when in possesion . Real doesn't have a Xavi and much more importantly , even if i accept that Modric does the part well enough for Real , Real doesn't have what Xavi and Iniesta have on the field with Isco-Modric .

Iniesta's best game still comes near the penalty area , cm and whatnot . You may say and rightfully so , that's what Isco is supposed to do as well. Fair enough , but here's what i argue about. Iniesta may find himself a bit deeper when the attack begins , but he still plays AMF when he reaches that zone near the penalty area. Iniesta has the patience , the vision and the help from the system(and a certain Xavi) to do this effectively and although it's extremely difficult to be consistent in such a role , imho he has done it like no other . But most important of all , the deep runs with the ball that are required from the AMF , are Messi's responsibility in the first place and so , it actually is a bonus to have a player like Iniesta playing deeper and still having everything a canonical AMF would do in Messi .

That doesn't happen in Real's case . Who's going to make those runs with the ball like Ozil did ? There's only one player to do that through the axis and that is Isco . Having said that , you could say Bale / Di Maria and up to an extend Ronaldo can do this and i would agree , even though it's different to do this on the wings .. I suppose since your best players are on the wings , Ancelotti wants them to cut in with/without the ball as much as possible and thus overload the opponents area and hurt them this way .. If they can do it well and Isco can deal with the added responsibilities , then fine , i have nothing else to say.

What happens though when they fail ? Then Isco has to act as a canonical CM and then lmfao. When Messi fails with his run in , and that doesn't happen often , the ball is in front of the penalty area 9 out of 10 times and Iniesta has enough time to press and close down space properly , even help retain the ball straight away some times. When Bale / Di Maria / Ronaldo lose the ball on the wings , all hell breaks loose on the counter , especially when it's Ronaldo .

Anyway despite all that , it can still work , especially when Bale finds some form , but it will take time imo .