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.

Mr Nick09 wrote: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.

I was thinking the same but Di Maria pushed up as a winger.. He just occupied the space CR left. He never contributed to midfield playmaking and possession keeping as Kroos is doing now anyway. He was an additional winger played to cover CR not exactly what we are intending to play now.

We could always play cheryshev as LCM and that will bring better defensive cover and also better width and attack but at the expense of match control.

Besides why are we trying to blame Kroos for the handicap caused by other players? Let's not take the tactical handicap lightly.

I am not blaming anyone, just pointing out that the midfield as is, with lacks verticality. I could just as easily make the argument about modric lacking in final product.

Attainable Players that can play DM role

Jorginho
Alaba
Weigle
Blind
Kyrchiowak


Cb options

Koulibaly
John stones
Diego Llorente


Left back

Moreno
Ricardo Rodriguez
Wendell
Alaba

Striker options

Morata
Gameiro
Abumeyang
Benteke

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/real-madrid-may-go-pogba-perez#:Rwfyju66FTxY8Q

"Pogba is a great player, but in midfield we have six great players, so I would not want to discuss speculation," Perez said.

"While he excites me, it is difficult to reach agreements if there are no termination clauses [in a player's contract].

"If a player such as him [Pogba] is available, we may go for him, but would have to reach an agreement.

"It is very difficult to bring someone [in]. I'll talk to [Zinedine] Zidane. Our obligation is to be much better every year. He will decide if we can get someone better than we have."

I would like Madrid to go for Javi Martinez for DM

I'd love to get Gameiro and he wont cost that much more than Morata. Not sure how he feels about being a back up. Lindelöf of Benfica is a CB that we have been following. He has the potential to be one of the best CBs in Europe. Just need to make the right career move. I think he is better than Varane, so if he leaves we have an excelleny option as replacement

halamadrid2 wrote:Lindelöf of Benfica is a CB that we have been following. He has the potential to be one of the best CBs in Europe. Just need to make the right career move. I think he is better than Varane, so if he leaves we have an excelleny option as replacement

He kinda reminds me of Ramos a bit, pacy athletic CB that's dangerous in the air and good on the ball. On top of that he's not hot headed, almost never loses his composure and is very well-rounded defensively. Very good going forward as well, can play RB and CDM if needed so i wouldn't mind his addition, would be a great rotation player and exciting prospect for the future. I might be a bit biased with the possibility of having a Swede in the team in mind although i will say that i think Varane is still is a bigger prospect.

I don't trust Benfica or Porto CBs...  most if not all recently have turned out to be vastly overrated.  In fact, most of the players regardless of position have been vastly overrated coming out of that league.  Moutinho, Bernardo Silva, Ricardo Carvalho, Jackson Martinez, David Luiz, Mangala, Otamendi, Fernando, Danilo, Coentrao, Rolando, Hulk, Witsel, etc. etc.

The only guy that has turned out pretty much as a I expected recently is Guarin.  That's it. And he's by no means a WC player.

They cost a fortune to boot for no reason.

sportsczy wrote:I don't trust Benfica or Porto CBs...  most if not all recently have turned out to be vastly overrated.  In fact, most of the players regardless of position have been vastly overrated coming out of that league.  Moutinho, Bernardo Silva, Ricardo Carvalho, Jackson Martinez, David Luiz, Mangala, Otamendi, Fernando, Danilo, Coentrao, Rolando, Hulk, Witsel, etc. etc.

The only guy that has turned out pretty much as a I expected recently is Guarin.  That's it. And he's by no means a WC player.

They cost a fortune to boot for no reason.

Coentrao and Carvalho do not belong on that list m8. You high?

Wouldn't Pepe and Figo and Deco be on that list?

Sorry... i meant Ivan Cavaleiro and my brain wrote Carvalho lol.

Carvalho, Deco, Figo...  this is 10-20+ years ago.  I'm talking recently.

Lindelöf has only played in Benfica for a season. He gained prominence helping Sweden win the u21 EC. He is as legit as it gets. He is moving definately this summer, but where he goes depends on how much playing time he aspires to get. I hope Barca dont get him, Barca will become less exposed with him

Marca

ZZ:Isco Disco is our player and will not leave Madrid. We have not heard anything from Juve, it has not been the time for that. We wil talk to him soon

ZZ: Morata has done very well at Juve, he has grown alot over there. Juve want him for one more year

ZZ: Pogba is a great player every team would want to have but we know Juve and what to expect

Nothing on James

He echoed what Perez said about Pogba being impossible since he is not for sale. He was coy about Morata. Maybe because he doesnt know whether he will be sold or come back

Some random swedish guy from benfica is better than the best CB in the world ?

Nobody said he is better than Pepe. While Varane couldnt defend against Castro from Betis Lindelöf helped Benfica win the league and to within touching distance of beating Bayern. He is better and less injury prone than Varane. He is going to show it this EC

halamadrid2 wrote:Nobody said he is better than Pepe. While Varane couldnt defend against Castro from Betis Lindelöf helped Benfica win the league and to within touching distance of beating Bayern. He is better and less injury prone than Varane. He is going to show it this EC

Varane is better than Pepe mate

Guys, who would you rather have as back-up, Morata or Chicharito? And also, how many of you think we should replace Benzema?

After reading what both Perez and Zidane had to say, I suspect they both are being careful not to reveal their hands. Bottom line I feel is there is interest in Pogba and Morata, but they are unsure if they can reach any deal with Juve. Perhaps even using Morata as a bargaining tool to get Pogba!

What I want to see more than anything else is to get the missing pieces, a DM, a CF and a LB with James and Arbeloa departing. All three should be capable of challenging the incumbents.

Then as both Perez and Zidane said, only sign someone, if it improves team. In other words if they find Pogba can be obtained and he is deemed better than Kroos or Isco, then Kroos or Isco has to go. Objective is if there is another signing beyond the three vacancies we have, then someone in same position as new signing has to go. We should have 2 players (plus the versatility we have) for every position.

What I want next, is for the backups to get up to 30% of the starts, plus I want to see regular subs, particularly with the forwards (both Benz and Bale now have injury history and Ronaldo needs to start reducing his playing time - in other words like pitchers in baseball, they need their minutes managed). In so doing, the reserve players can keep up their confidence, coach's faith and challenging the incumbents.

Hernandez can actually replace Benz, full stop. He isn't a scrub like Lewandowski or Higuain or his lesser Aguerlol.

Dont like the odds of his court case. If he is charged, replace him. If Acquitted, then find a backup.

Hernandez is our best bet imo. Cheapest and provides us with speed and relentless attacking. His game is more modern now.
Chicharito hernandez along with Aubameyang and Martial are one of the very few who can actually displace the benz in europe.

Morata? A waste of time, he had his chance. Let mayoral and that mariano kid have theirs.
Edit:: though this season was a triumphant one, it was also very chaotic. Shouldn't judge mayoral or any other youth product we have at the academy when they didnt get properly prepped. I hope this preseason we see Zidane prepping mayoral in particular for the backup role. We need more youth involved. Can't get another like vazquez without risks.

My most ideal and dream player to potentially replace Benzema would have been Higuain but in order to facilitate Higuain, I would have to rid myself of Cristiano which is definitely not my ideal move. Turok ain't the first person I heard say Javier has gotten a lot better with the ball (my Bundesliga watching best friend seems to be very vocal about that) and he actually can coincide with Ronaldo and Bale. So I wouldn't mind such a move.

Is Benzema a better footballer, definitely but I really think his ship is beginning to sale away from Madrid.

The only people tired of Benzema are the ones on this board it seems... the crowd applauds him and often standing applause to boot when he is subbed off. Flo and Zidane categorically kill any story about him leaving

Even Benzema himself cast aside any potential transfer.

I don't see a move there... and definitely not for Chicha or Higuain lol. Come on now. The idea is to improve if you change.

Spanish Twitter is throwing around news about Pogba at these hours. Don't see it unlikely that we sell James and use a good amount of that money to go for Alaba, Pogba, or whatever it is that we need.

Nobody wants Chicharito instead of Benzema, lol

Higuain would be a huge improvement though

They basically have said none of the starters are going unless they can acquire someone better. I believe the only for sure exits are Arbeloa and James (if there are suitable offers) - apparently James has said he expects to move. The search is for backups CF, DM and LB.

They (Perez and Zidane) are being careful not to give any plans / thoughts away.

Trying to arrange something with Juve for Pogba makes sense and no doubt Barca are in there as well. we just have to wait and see.

As to Chicarito or Morata, I lean towards Morata as I feel after watching him a lot lately that he can be an impact sub. I wouldn't mind Hernandez either, but we must keep in mind we are talking about a reserve position. As I said earlier hopefully Zidane will manage Benz' minutes and give the reserve enough action both in occasional starts and sub activity, so that they can be effective when needed. NO doubt both have improved significantly since they left.