If we can't buy anyone Deez... let's hope he turns out ok lol. That's why I'm focused on him anyhow. He's our only hope!

Which game did you watch if you don't mind me asking? The amount of tackles and interceptions he puts in every game is even more than Casemiro. Iirc he has the most tackles per game in LaLiga. Also he plays for a newly promoted side that can't hold onto the ball wheres he calmly holds on to it and releases it tö the right player. I want him to attack more but for a CDM he is ace. Their fans regularly vote him for player of the game (for Alaves)

I watched the Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia, and Granda matches.

He makes lots of tackles, but he seems way too rash. Not composed, everything seems rushed when he has the ball at his feet. Can't believe he hasn't been carded more based on the sheer volume of clumsy challenges.

Alaves are a scrappy team, and I think he suits their system well. I don't think he is close to being ready for RM, however.

One of the praises he has had this season is that he is very composed, he gets cheered by their crowd for this very thing. Rash he is not lol, he very rarely gives away fouls.

Are you sure it's M Llorente you've watched and not that blond defender?

That's my assessment of him so far, things can change. It's still early in his career

And Hala, I respect your view- maybe I just haven't seen enough of him or I am being too critical.

I just think of him in comparison with young players in his position- Carvalho, Weigl, etc. and he is not in the same league imo.

sportsczy wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:But again Sports he was brought back in to be the backup. Nothing wrong with that. The fact that you are finally admitting the Benz needs to be replaced is the real issue here.

I agree Bill.  I love him as a backup.  But the problem is that Benzema is not reliable as a regular anymore due to injuries... so you actually need someone who is a regular almost.

If we had Lewandowski then Morata would be perfect for example.

Purchasing Morata back is perfectly fine.  I think we need a 3rd CF is my point because I'm not certain Morata will be good enough if we need to use him for a lot of games.  If Benzema is down, all we have is Morata.  I don't understand that tbh.  It's pretty standard practice to have 3 CFs unless you consider Ronaldo a CF. Maybe the plan is to play Vasquez wide and put Ronaldo in the middle... I actually like Morata better at CF than Ronaldo lol.

Why you lot pretending injuries is why you guys want benzema out the team?

Bill religiously posting every transfer link of benzema for 4-5 years now nonstop.

you sports just hate him now cause I said pogba was meh everybody knows it, and pogba is meh af atm, have I been exposed yet?

PS stop selling the team short to cover up, zidane weaknesses in being unable to develop smooth build up play, its not the players fault only, like how mou is making pogba meh right?

Amazing how you guys keep a straight faced with all this hate.

Oh yeah llorente ain't ready and rushing him back just to shit on him, when he doesn't solve anything, is a waste of time.

"Doesn't solve anything" you mean being the only reliable backup we can get right now for Casemiro? Try again

30 min compilation of our boy Llorente. This kid is going to be big

There is nothing impressive about that clip bro

I think you summed it up the other day in another thread Nick. Now that the summer signing ban has been lifted, it's a whole different ballgame.

Llorente is developing and there will be no rush to have him return to Madrid, likely same with most other loanees.

Plus it now seems obvious that they are not looking for a defensive mid, but rather a CM with good defensive capabilities. The other day, Weigl was mentioned, now it seems Veratti is also being mentioned as a possibility (either of these will replace Casemiro rather than be his backup). Then there still is the possibility of Ceballos (Betis). He is the best young Spanish CM at this point and the club has had an interest in him for some time. He like Llorente would come as a backup to Casemiro unlike the other two.

Bottom line though is it's way to early for any reasonable decision to be made, wait until we see how season turns out. Plus you can be assured there will be more names thrown into the mix.

futbol_bill wrote:I think you summed it up the other day in another thread Nick. Now that the summer signing ban has been lifted, it's a whole different ballgame.

Llorente is developing and there will be no rush to have him return to Madrid, likely same with most other loanees.

Plus it now seems obvious that they are not looking for a defensive mid, but rather a CM with good defensive capabilities. The other day, Weigl was mentioned, now it seems Veratti is also being mentioned as a possibility (either of these will replace Casemiro rather than be his backup). Then there still is the possibility of Ceballos (Betis). He is the best young Spanish CM at this point and the club has had an interest in him for some time. He like Llorente would come as a backup to Casemiro unlike the other two.

Bottom line though is it's way to early for any reasonable decision to be made, wait until we see how season turns out. Plus you can be assured there will be more names thrown into the mix.

I wouldn't buy Ceballos, Llorente has played for Zidane and is homegrown, if it's Llorente or Ceballos i prefer Llorente, i think the next step for Llorente would be playing in a bigger club maybe a club that plays Europa League.

Claudio84 wrote:i think the next step for Llorente would be playing in a bigger club maybe a club that plays Europa League.

You mean, like, Man United?

Verratti as a defensive-minded mid is about as good an idea as playing Kroos there...  there's a reason PSG NEVER play him that close to the defense (in fact, they've moved him up the pitch to more of an attacking mid now).  He becomes a trainwreck that low.  He likes to dribble and it becomes suicidal in those areas...  and he gets caught often doing.

Tried the same on Italy NT and it was a disaster.

He's basically a Modric clone.

i would argue Modric is far more athletic than he is, and moves a lot more off the ball as well.

Than Modric? I disagree... severely in fact. Neither are good athletes really in terms of strength. Both have good work rate.

Verratti is a more immature version of Modric. Same talent level, which is great. But he most definitely is not a replacement for Casemiro as he is not a defensive minded mid at all. He was a turnover and fouling machine the few times he was tried lower.

One of the big reasons Motta was extended and keeps playing + Krykowiak was signed is that PSG didn't feel like there was anyone else on the squad to play that role. The best scenario would have been to make Rabiot a regular and move Verratti back, if it were feasible. It wasn't.

Do you get the sense, that Marca et all just put out names, that may be available? SO far we've heard Llorente, Ceballos, Weigl and Verratti. What does seem clear is club plans to sign another CM (in addition to a LB) next summer.

You can expect several more names before July.

They just look at well known names regardless of what their profile is.

I really don't see why we need to replace Casemiro.  We just need depth.  The way ZZ has managed things so far...  he would prefer to create depth with cantera players because he believes they would play hard due to being a cantera.  He's preaching a squad approach to things as opposed to just the top 11, which requires that we get players who have that mentality.

If we win major trophies, I actually doubt we do much of anything.  Since Nacho can back up Marcelo, I don't even see us doing anything there now.  It would be more about replacing people who leave...  like possibly James and Pepe.

I read an article this week in economista that there were seven possible exits this summer. I don't agree with this at all, but here is the logic behind this (keep in mind they said possible).

1. Coentrao - it's pretty obvious his futbol days are done and other than the versatility of Nacho and possibly Danilo, there is no backup for Marcelo.

2. Pepe - he was listed due to the contract issues, but given he is signing the one year offer, he would be removed from list.

3. Navas - this is because of the speculation of a younger portero, either Courtois or De Gea.

4. James - this is because he is the one player that has been fighting for a spot on team for 2 years now and can easily start elsewhere. His leaving frees up a MF spot.

5. Isco - this is because he is a quality player, that can't earn a starting spot and can elsewhere. (I really doubt this one).

6. Mariano - this one can easily be predicted. He was only kept (rather than a loan) due to Benz injury problems last August, plus Majoral out on loan is younger and better. Don't know if there will be a replacement (23rd player) for him unless Club decides they want to go with 3 strikers (in addition to Ronaldo).

7. Morata - likely added due to his recent play. This one likely comes down to do they go after someone to compete with Benz (or do they want a backup or is there a better backup available).

In other words the incoming possibilities are

1. A younger portero
2. A backup LB
3. One or two CM, one at least with good defensive skills. Who they get will determine if it is a backup to Casemiro or a challenger for that starter spot. If they get a second, it will be a backup role.
4. Possibly a striker / winger

Monchi on our boy Llorente:

I'd love to have Marcos Llorente at Sevilla and I wouldn't complain if they also gave me Theo Hernández. They are two jewels. Marcos Llorente has tactical prowess, "football", physical presence and he makes his team mates better. I'd love to have him on my team."

very good game against atletico. he's clearly a talented player, i like him more than casemiro. he still needs to improve though. he seems to take too many touches and keep the ball a bit too much.

Great video showing our boy's skills.

I really like that he has that ability to turn his body to evade pressure, he's no stiff trunk, he moves well.

He also has an eye for the diagonal long pass and i'll be looking forward to see how he further develops his passing game with us as with Alaves it has been his defensive game rather than creative game that has been most activated and developed. He's more of a holding midfielder than deep lying playmaker, but i think he can reach a tasty middle ground between the two.

I like his size and his ability to make that pass with both feet.

I think his weaknesses of being abit lightweight and not good in the air might just turn it in Casemiro's when it comes to who will have the starting role. Though with his passing skills they can still play together

But boy finally after years of beating round the bushes we are finally addressing the 2 areas we have refused to do for so long

Been a long time since I've seen this club produce a legit looking central midfielder. Had my fair share of Alaves matches, he is a good La Liga midfielder and would definitely provide healthy competition in that department.

I think we have produced good kids recently like Grsnero or Parejo but it does feel like Llorente is of a different ink, specially looking at how quickly he performed coming out of castilla