Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

So because the real estate agent for Pogba says its only for investment purposes...  we're supposed to believe him?  If it was on the French Riviera, Amalfi Coast, Miami, Malibu...  heck, even Malaga or Majorca.  Sure.  Those are vacation spots and a lot of people "invest" there.  But Barcelona?  Come on now.  

It makes little sense.  But whatever.  We'll find out soon enough anyhow.  It was pretty much considered a fait accompli that Pogba was going to transfer to Barcelona this summer based on the happenings of last summer...  i hope not.  It would be a blow for Real Madrid.

S wrote:It was when the Barca rumors popped up.Apparently he'll leave for another club only if they play him in midfield.

I dont think he'll leave Bayern however.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/david-alaba-wants-sign-barcelona-7944356

One other article i found which is a few months old

http://www.espnfc.com/bayern-munich/story/2714004/david-alaba-wants-regular-playing-position-at-bayern-munich

it's a bit farfetched specially when you are quoting mirror and espn.

Frankly, if the great wizard pep thought it best to sign vidal instead of using him in midfield, im not sure it would be smart to spend 60+ mil to experiment that lol

What happened last summer? We rejected their bid,we said no to them.

But continue buying into Mundo Deportivo and other self-righteous Catalan papers' agenda though

Just after the Alves rumors broke out,Mundo Deportivo reported that they're buying Berardi Its like 'how dare they take our players ?!'

Please.I dont buy into any of that self-righteous shitcrap of Barca sources.

It could happen at some point but surely not this summer.So it would mean the 4th summer in a row you've failed to push Pogba away from Juve (:

Alaba would be great in transition something similar to Di Maria in 2013-14

But it seems Casemiro is adding the right balance to your midfield however so youd have to take him out to fit Alaba in.

pretty much, it creates more issues as, you have to bench someone to play him.

Generally speaking,
Do you guys prefer a DLP in the DM role or a conventional DM like Casemiro himself for example in that position?

We all do know Madrid love to fix things even it aint broken.

I dont watch Madrid but i wonder if you guys think having Modric and Kroos on either side of CM position as kinda slow and unathletic.

Still think Alonso-Modric-Di Maria is the best midfield Madrid have had since many yrs.

If you ask me,I'd play Kroos as the deepest midfielder

S wrote:
So it would mean the 4th summer in a row you've failed to push Pogba away from Juve (:

Your statement implies that we, Real Madrid, made at some point, a bid for him and got rejected. As far as I know, we haven't, and our president has so far shown less than no interest in him. Real Madrid isn't trying to "push Pogba away from you".

There's only sports who seems very eager to get him, the rest of us meh. You can keep him and I hope he never wears the white of Madrid

But haven"t you said before Casemiro is not ggod enough and we need a DM purchase to start and let Casemiro be the backup?

I feel the most important need we have right now (other than needing backups for CF and LB) is a DM, whether it be to replace Casemiro as starter, to be Casemiro's backup or just someone to challenge Casemiro and may the better one obtain the starter role.

these are our immediate needs. The rest (a purchase of Pogba, replacement for Benz) are all dependent upon finding someone (that Flo can make a deal) to improve the incumbent.

@DoC, he was referring to Barca not Real.

Alaba is a better fit though than Casemiro. He's a DM with ball skills. But I do think that Alaba would come in to take out Marcelo anyhow. I know Marcelo is a free spirit, likeable and does fun stuff on the pitch... but his defending and end product are both poor. Alaba would be a bigger upgrade over him than Casemiro tbh.

Not that Bayern would sell anyhow...

S wrote:Generally speaking,
Do you guys prefer a DLP in the DM role or a conventional DM like  Casemiro himself for example in that position?

We  all do know Madrid love to fix things even it aint broken.

I dont watch Madrid but i wonder if you guys think having Modric and Kroos on either side of CM position as kinda slow and unathletic.

Still  think Alonso-Modric-Di Maria is the best midfield Madrid have had since many yrs.

If you ask me,I'd play Kroos as the deepest midfielder

I prefer a DLP in front of the defense, as long as he can actually defend lol. Which makes it a difficult combination.

Kroos in front of the defense is a disaster waiting to happen. Puts too much stress on the defense and creates too much liability on transition defense. That's why Casemiro is starting now, because he protects us much more in transition and actually wins tackles and 50-50 balls kroos was never winning.

Yet at the same time, i dont like both Modric and Kroos alongside my DM as it lacks verticality.

As for the pipe dream about ALaba being a Dm or what not, if we want a DM with ball skills we can sign Lass, or Kante, they wont cost us 80 millions.

i don't think we need another deep lying play maker. we've got modric, i like casemiro in his position, focus on doing the dirty job, not yet another defensive minded player bombing forward, obviously get someone to compete with him for that spot or when injuries occur. not a mega signing. the mega midfield signing will raise questions for kroos....

i like kroos, i think maybe he's been fielded wrongly, but based on the final and a couple of games this season, we have problems with creativity. the front 3 aren't that, they're counter suited; cristiano strength is when there's a bit of space or some 1-2 with marcelo, benzema's not a creator, he too is a 1-2/ 1 touch man, he's not going to give a through pass or dribble, bale can do sometimes get by his man, but you don't know what kind of cross to expect

so we need someone in midfield who can coexist with modric as a cm (which means he should also be able to tackle and mark), but can create something for the front 3. modric's strength is in the middle of the park, further forward he gets in unfamiliar territory...my guess is that's why zizou brought isco on. but isco at madrid doesn't have a creative bone in his body, can't mark nor defend, and his biggest asset which is his ability to hold the ball, funny enough is also his biggest weakness, cos he either loses it or gives it away

the difficulty is, i want a player with multiple combinations, able to play the cm role, but can also create something closer to goal, and has some good skillsets. and all that is difficult to find. going to a 4 2 3 1, which is a formation i like, would put too much pressure on luka and casemiro as a midfield 2

Alaba plays CM for Austria. If he left Bayern it is to play that position and not DM. Dont need these hybrid multi position semi specialists. We have too many of those as is. The only time our team actually functioned properly this season was everyone were played in their preferred positions. The ONLY way we improve our team is buying compeititors as certain positions, mainly the striker position. We conceded just 7 in all competitions since ZZ put Casemiro into the starting eleven and in alot of those games we were rotation as we had CL games inbetween tough games. The last thing we need is to fix what is not broken by playing players where they are not comfortable

As I mentioned before, just get a true DM and be done with the midfield for next season. We have 2 positions which have not been addressed for over 3/4 seasons that needs to be looked into.

well said hala, players playing their position. we wont be able to sign with the transfer ban next summer. So loading up now and doubling positions is the least we can do.

Modric-Kroos does lack in verticality and i would welcome box to box players that can drive the ball forward as opposed to the kids we have as back up right now.

according to some marca journalist, their headline tomorow is going to be juicy transfer wise

Sounds like Marca will have Pogba on their cover page

Yeah... there is a bidding war brewing. Madrid have activated on him because Barca are frontrunners at this point. Maybe too little too late like Neymar. We'll see.

Juve will make 100+ mil so they won't hurt much from this. They'll replace him fine and then some.

I see having Zidane here makes little difference in regards to pogba, sports.

Not a big loss. Pogba is worth too much money anyhow.

When you play a counter attacking game your midfielders can't pusp up.In our case Kroos is well capable of creating but how many have we seen him near the box in final? Almost zero.

That is because midfielders are v primarily asked to defend when the head less front three turned the ball over. It's not like mids will any help recovering ball, they have to do it themselves.

Atletico penalty happened because Ronaldo got dispossessed and let 3vs2 .


Juanfran made over load for the goal as well. Guess who should have been tracking the right back ?


But let's but unnecessary Pogba because well he can cover for CR? Zidanes system is basically use the bbc for counter and the mids are there to defend.

Atletico's equaliser was way more attributed to Danilo losing Carrasco than Juanfran hitting a hopeful cross in the box but I get what you're saying. Honestly, we are gonna spend lavishly on one player, as Madrid fans, you should be very much aware this is gonna happen.

If it is going to be Pogba or Alaba, I don't mind. These guys can be very beneficial towards the team. It is when we spend big on the Flavio Concecaio's of the footballing world is what sets us back.

To be fair to Conceição, he was a beast with Deportivo... he just went full retard as soon as he came to Madrid. Has happened a lot to us unfortunately.

Doc wrote:Atletico's equaliser was way more attributed to Danilo losing Carrasco than Juanfran hitting a hopeful cross in the box but I get what you're saying. Honestly, we are gonna spend lavishly on one player, as Madrid fans, you should be very much aware this is gonna happen.

If it is going to be Pogba or Alaba, I don't mind. These guys can be very beneficial towards the team. It is when we spend big on the Flavio Concecaio's of the footballing world is what sets us back.

Totally disagree. Danillo is not at fault for the goal.

You can not let a ground cross across the box reach the back post. All you have to do is put a leg and it ends up goal, defending it is harder because there is high probability it will result in own goal. Ground cross and tapin is very easy way for goal which is why it should not have allowed to begin with.

What Doc means is that, as a defender, you can't let the forward you're marking get in front of you on a cross. That's really the first thing you're supposed to stop because it's a simple and direct pass to him. If he's behind you, the cross has to get past you for the forward to get to it. It's called being on the wrong side.

It was a mistake by whoever that was. Was it Danilo or Vasquez in the end? If it was Vasquez, Danilo should be on him to begin with. Vasquez is supposed to cover a midfielder or fullback coming in. But he tried to cover for Danilo and was on the wrong side of the player.

Agreed sport, that goal is on Danilo and Marcelo/Isco. Atleti were playing the ball harmlessly when Koke made that lob. Marcelo and Isco did not react and Vasquez was trying to mark Danilo's man but Carrasco got in ahead of him. It was basically a guaranteed goal as soon as Juanfran played that cross.

@adit, I get what you are saying about the front 3, but they drop back alot and Bale has become awesome at dropping back and combining with the midfielders. I think Kroos not getting close to the box is solely his fault because alot of the times Marcelo and Ronaldo have the ball one has to drop to where Kroos should be because he is not there. That is one area Kroos and Modric need to improve

Kroos is not going forward because his partners Marcelo and Ronaldo are one way players. Marcelo runs forwards but jogs back. Ronaldo is lost cause defensively. Kroos will have to run back and forth too much if he went forward so he limits his runs.

You push forward when you are defensively free of responsibility. That happens when your team mate can cover you, that doesn't happen here at all.


Sure Marcelo and isco are to blame for the Goal. Marcelo came out of box when he should be marking the space. Isco also showed no co ordination with Marcelo at that time.. But let's not forget that wing was overloaded. Out numbered actually, what caused that?

While you have a good point, we had Di Maria in the same position and he had no trouble pushing up. Yes players can be tactically limited as far as what their team mates allow them to do, but some can bypass those limitations by their physical abilities, which is clearly not the case for Kroos.

According to COPE we are not interesting in Pogba and are only after a DM to strengthen the midfield. They also say that James will stay unless we can sell him for €80mill or over

And it was Vasquez s man that scored. Atletico had 4 players in the box in a line waiting for the cross.. Are you telling me a ground cross was not going to end up in the net in such a situation? The sensible option was to not let the player cross.